Am I very wasteful with my money or is it the norm these days

Bought my car 12 years ago still driving it today which helps to save a bit of cash.

Mortgage + Home Insurance + Council Tax + Bills + Mobile Phone + Internet takes to me about 36% of take home pay. I expect that may go up middle of next year as my mortgage is only 1.3% at the moment, with interest rates being higher I doubt I'll get that rate again but my equity is over 40%.

On top of that I need to cover car Tax/Service/MOT/Petrol but that is reasonable as I'm not paying for the car itself anymore. I need to cover some living expenses and food and stuff which aren't in the equation.

Whatever is left is disposable. I estimate I am left with about 40% each month to spend however I wish. I get some extra on-call payments roughly once a month that aren't being taken into consideration here, so that goes right into the disposable branch.

I am pretty good at ensuring I am getting the best out of my contracts. I will switch Insurance, ISP, Mobile, Energy, Mortgage providers etc at renewal if the new prices aren't competitive. I'll also use cashback deals and HUKD to get good deals on things from time to time. I'd have happily stayed on my Samsung S7 if I didn't break the screen for a 2nd time which forced me to get a new phone.

I don't like to leverage credit card debt too much, I have a manageable balance on one interest free card which expires at the start of 2020, my main spending card is pain in full monthly by DD.

At the moment it's comfortable enough. Working to eek out a living with no options to save doesn't strike me as an attractive proposition though, I prefer to live within my means.

I don't think enough people do as much as they could to save money, accepting renewal quotes without seeking other options, not remortgaging at the end of a fixed term deal, paying through the nose for Sky TV etc.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
Had some decent pub grub last night with drinks and the bill was under £40 for two people including a few drinks. The portions were big and even if puddings had been added it would have been £50.
I don't think I have ever spent >£100 on a meal out as it seems unnecessary.
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That’s cheap, I hope you enjoyed it, we live 15-20 minutes walk from Butlers Wharf, south side of Tower Bridge, there are quite a few ‘good’ restaurants there, that occasionally do specials, (2 courses for £17.50, 3 courses for £22.50, etc), by the time you put a couple of Kir, or Kir Royales on, plus a reasonable bottle of wine, and double espressos, plus service, you’re looking at £85-£95 easily, no big deal for a comfortable place, next to the twinkling lights of ships going by, and under Tower Bridge.
I’m used to that, part of the price you pay for living in a desirable part of a Capital city, and having lived in the area all my life, it’s something I’ve come to expect.
There was a time when we’d be in those places every week, now that I’ve retired, it’s more like once per month.
If I wanted to eat cheaply, I’d have travel to Deptford, or Stepney, but we find it easier to do a 20 minute walk each way.
 
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I don't really buy into the whole trendy coffee/greggs/food to go industry. Rather save my money for more purposeful substantial purchases.

I can go for days without even spending anything and I certainly do not spend £500+ a month on what is essentially nothing.
 
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I tend to have a zero fat yoghurt with fruit and oats or toast or cereal for breakfast when I work at home. For lunch, I will grab a sarnie or some soup and then we have a healthy dinner. If I am working outside of my home I am lucky as I can expense it so tend to grab something from the massive choices around my office but there is so much in our kitchens I do not even need to head out if I chose not to. Fresh coffee/nespresso, water, juices, pop all in fridges, snacks such as nuts, choccy, crisps and cereals and fruit loads and loads of fruit, just help yourself.

To add I do tend to do a lot of McDonalds coffee, usually my first stop when I leave the house as I have to pass one about 5 miles from home (near Rugeley power station).
 
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I honestly think people just need to learn how to cook properly. Overnight oats/porridge for breakfast with half a banana (plus nuts, dried fruit etc.), packup salad for lunch (even with ready-bought cooked chicken from M&S and nice grains to keep you going) probably only hits £1.50/portion. We cook from scratch most nights, once you have a repertoire of 15-20 or so dishes you can knock-up in 30-45mins for a weeknight you're all good.

Compare that to the girl who sits next to me at work who comes in with toast/eggs for breakfast bought from the local chain-cafe on her way (honestly, who buys toast!?), plus a coffee, then spends £6+ at Pret (or something similarly boring) every day. I know she's doesn't really cook either so I'd imagine she wastes a lot on takeaways or ready-made stuff. Even excluding dinners she probably hits £50/week on her breakfast/lunches. That's £200/month easy. Madness.

We should ditch the nonsense lessons at school -- and teach kids finance and proper cooking. Send them to Uni with the ability to cook 20+ easy dishes and watch everyone grow-up healthier and smarter.
 
I can be bad at spending but I'm aware of it so I try to restrain myself. I buy/have bought a lot of relatively expensive things that I've gone on to use only a couple of times, forget to sell then many years down the line are worth next to nothing.

We cook every night - I couldn't imagine doing anything else! - but I do buy my lunch probably 50% of the time. That's mainly because I don't often like leftovers (ie having the same thing the day after) and like a variety. The Boots meal deal is amazing, it's a tad more at £3.40 but with a load of salads, relatively healthy wraps, smoothies/juices etc it's great. I think depending on what you chose you'd actually struggle to make the same thing at home for less.

Still don't *need* to spend £3.40 on lunch, though.
 
Russinating said:
I do buy my lunch probably 50% of the time. That's mainly because I don't often like leftovers (ie having the same thing the day after) and like a variety.

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Why do you feel you need to take the leftovers to work? Why not take salad ? Or whatever ?

You have already made excuses as to why you buy boots meal deals :p
 
I do buy coffee as I drink lots of it at home so why change when out. When in London I will try to head to my mates business for a proper good coffee (plug incoming www.thenewblack.coffee) as they do a fantastic brew (check em out city boys and girls) and if on the road I will grab and butty/salad/rice bowl when hungry. I still try and watch my spending on rubbish, but that is more a health thing than money in my case. I do wonder how people can eat every day and night, that is a lot of spending.
 
easyrider said:
Why do you feel you need to take the leftovers to work? Why not take salad ? Or whatever ?

You have already made excuses as to why you buy boots meal deals :p
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Because making lunch at home in order to save money usually relies on having the same thing throughout the week, or at least multiple days. I've never been a fan of that, and I prefer to, for example, have sushi one day, a salad the next, then wrap, sandwich, etc, depending on what I fancy on the day,

Like I said I don't need to spend £3.40 on lunch but I want to, simple as that I guess!
 
Russinating said:
Because making lunch at home in order to save money usually relies on having the same thing throughout the week, or at least multiple days. I've never been a fan of that, and I prefer to, for example, have sushi one day, a salad the next, then wrap, sandwich, etc, depending on what I fancy on the day,

Like I said I don't need to spend £3.40 on lunch but I want to, simple as that I guess!
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M&S meal deals are noe £3.50 if this helps :)
 
Sparky__H said:
Double that in in the SE where I live if you want any kind of living standard after House, car and kids.
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This scares the **** out of me!

We’re thinking of moving further south in years to come for decent schools and comparing cost of living (read house prices) and compared to what we have now is truly frightening.
 
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