Reduced cost living - share your ideas?

[SpokeyDokey]

Interesting thread and the ideas to save seem worthy and well intentioned.

I can't, though, help thinking that saving on expenditure is a bit of a last resort. Surely the starting point should be how you utilise (spend or save) your money and logically the detail of your household finances follow from there?

If someone really has their back to the wall, or even if their back is some distance from the wall, maybe some forward thinking planning re how money flows out of your personal finances would be a good place to start. Maybe question what is really necessary and/or important for you to spend money on? Maybe try to understand the external pressures that drive you to spend on certain things eg peer group/societal/advertising pressures? Maybe question if your lifestyle is over-complicated and whether or not simplification would reduce outgoings? Maybe try to understand whether you control your expenditure or does your expenditure make demands upon you? Etc.

There are other ways to come at this other than the relatively simplistic 'cut back' approach - although I'm not saying that there is anything intrinsically wrong with that.

 

[Poacher]

Despite the cooking instructions on a pack of spaghetti, you don't need 3 litres of boiling water to cook 250gm of it! While on the subject, the price of pasta is likely to increase significantly in the next few months, and it has a long shelf life, so now would be a good time to stock up.

 

[presta]

.

I can't, though, help thinking that saving on expenditure is a bit of a last resort. Surely the starting point should be how you utilise (spend or save) your money and logically the detail of your household finances follow from there?

If someone really has their back to the wall, or even if their back is some distance from the wall, maybe some forward thinking planning re how money flows out of your personal finances would be a good place to start.

It's 25 years now since I decided to quit work and live off my savings. The first thing I did whilst making the decision was draw up a detailed budget to decide whether it was feasible, and could be expected to remain so, and the next job, when I quit, was to start keeping detailed accounts of everything coming in and going out. Even the 20p I found on the pavement will be in there somewhere.

Once you have the detailed information you can apply the Pareto Principle, and see where the biggest savings can be made with the least effort. (This is what I did when reducing the fat in my diet, without seeing the facts written down I wouldn't have known that cutting out 'junk' food on an ad-hoc basis would have given 20% of the benefit for 80% of the effort, rather than 80% of the benefit for 20% of the effort.)

Impulse buyers need to knock that on the head, buy what you need, not what you want, and only after careful consideration. When I bought a Dawes Horizon 21 years ago, it was a big decision, and one I'd considered for a year or two. Buying stuff like domestic appliances is only done when the old one's croaked, and uneconomical to repair, not when I fancy the latest model: almost all my stuff is either several decades old, or replaced something that had kicked the bucket after several decades. I still think of my freezer as the 'new' one, but at 22 years old, it's nearly twice the age of the previous one when it failed.

 

[Reynard]

Despite the cooking instructions on a pack of spaghetti, you don't need 3 litres of boiling water to cook 250gm of it! While on the subject, the price of pasta is likely to increase significantly in the next few months, and it has a long shelf life, so now would be a good time to stock up.

One kettle's worth is enough to cook three portions (225g)

I got lucky when they were clearing the "weird brands" after first lockdown, and was buying up kilo bags of pasta at 33p each.

 

[numbnuts]

Is that why you chose 'numbnuts' as your user name?

No and that's a long story

 

[SpokeyDokey]

.

It's 25 years now since I decided to quit work and live off my savings. The first thing I did whilst making the decision was draw up a detailed budget to decide whether it was feasible, and could be expected to remain so, and the next job, when I quit, was to start keeping detailed accounts of everything coming in and going out. Even the 20p I found on the pavement will be in there somewhere.

Once you have the detailed information you can apply the Pareto Principle, and see where the biggest savings can be made with the least effort. (This is what I did when reducing the fat in my diet, without seeing the facts written down I wouldn't have known that cutting out 'junk' food on an ad-hoc basis would have given 20% of the benefit for 80% of the effort, rather than 80% of the benefit for 20% of the effort.)

Impulse buyers need to knock that on the head, buy what you need, not what you want, and only after careful consideration. When I bought a Dawes Horizon 21 years ago, it was a big decision, and one I'd considered for a year or two. Buying stuff like domestic appliances is only done when the old one's croaked, and uneconomical to repair, not when I fancy the latest model: almost all my stuff is either several decades old, or replaced something that had kicked the bucket after several decades. I still think of my freezer as the 'new' one, but at 22 years old, it's nearly twice the age of the previous one when it failed.

Similar approach here some two decades back - I'll expand if I get a moment over the weekend.

Got a curry to cook now.

 

[BoldonLad]

May I add a third member to the "Budget Group" with @SpokeyDokey and @presta ?

When I took early. retirement (which meant a significant reduction of income, ie a 2/3 reduction), my main planning tool was a detailed budget. Fifteen years later, I still use a budget (updated naturally to reflect actual results), and, monitor my expenditure against the budget.

It has worked for me.

 

[Time Waster]

Aren't these saving tips just an extention of the budgeting and analysis? The nitty gritty end. Everyone can spot the most likely 20% giving 80% of the benefit. Once that has been done it's the smaller returns that can still contribute. Sharing the less know tricks is only going to help long term.

Doing the budgeting doesn't actually help if you don't take action. I'm interested in the action. Because while you're doing the big benefit stuff the little benefit stuff can still become part of the background of your more sustainable life.

 

[BoldonLad]

Aren't these saving tips just an extention of the budgeting and analysis? The nitty gritty end. Everyone can spot the most likely 20% giving 80% of the benefit. Once that has been done it's the smaller returns that can still contribute. Sharing the less know tricks is only going to help long term.

Doing the budgeting doesn't actually help if you don't take action. I'm interested in the action. Because while you're doing the big benefit stuff the little benefit stuff can still become part of the background of your more sustainable life.

Agreed, you have to act, otherwise, nothing will change, but, IMHO, having a budget, helps me keep control, whilst, as far as possible, maintaining my "lifestyle".

 

[PaulSB]

I'd better add my name to the understand one's living expenses and budget accordingly. Six years ago prior to retirement I was concerned as to whether it was affordable or not. Our net income would drop by 55%.

By downloading and analysing a year's worth of bank and credit transactions I was able to understand where we could make real savings and how we could afford to retire. Hard work but worthwhile.

 

[vickster]

I just like shopping and eating out and socialising over coffee and holidays
However I don’t ‘ waste’ much money on booze
(And actually I don’t mind working, although fewer days would be nice)

 

[Time Waster]

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." George Best.

 

[ColinJ]

I was spending £2,000+ a year on alcohol ten years ago. I gave it up when my body told me that I wouldn't last much longer if I carried on. That's over £20,000 not peed away!

If you spend anywhere near that on booze, your bank balance (and liver!) would benefit greatly from cutting down on it, or cutting it out altogether.

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." George Best.

Who died aged 59, presumably no longer laughing about it!

 

[Mike_P]

If you locally have a choice of supermarkets the moblile app Latest Deals has in its tools a supermarket comparison so you can compare prices (although it does not show Buy 2 etc offers) Similary make use of whatever store card apps there are - saved £2 on what would have been a £20.20 shop at Morrisons last night (done by ebike) and £5.27 on what would have been a £21.62 shop at Sainsburys today through the "Nectar price" that is applied when using a hand scanner.

 

[Time Waster]

Of course I've never taken financial or health advice from Mr Best.

I'm virtually t total now. I gave up a very low alcohol intake in support of my pregnant partner and even now we'll have one bottle of beer between us at home with a meal or a sherry glass size of wine with a meal at the weekend, specifically Friday or Saturday only. Never smoked or done drugs. So when I get asked such questions by the doctor or nurse during a medical I get the total satisfaction of seeing them clicking through pages of questions without asking them purely because I don't have the main vices that negatively affect health.

PS congratulations on making such a positive change to your lifestyle. Well done!