The whole 'wages getting smaller'/'everything getting more expensive' thing

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#1

Dunno about anyone else, but I’m really starting to feel like I’ve got less expendable income than I’ve ever had in my life; as in, I constantly seem to be on the back foot when it comes to allocating my monthly pay.

I’ve pretty much cut out every ‘treat yoself’ avenue, barely have a social life, have moved away from a ridiculously expensive city, and still can’t afford to save anything.

Anyone else utterly skint? What’s your best money-saving tip? I’ve pretty much got it down to a fine art, but fuck me it’s hard-going…

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#2

Yep

#4

Childcare costs pretty much put paid to all that, even before taking into account rising costs of everything else.

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#5

I live quite deliciously, which is very lucky, but it terms of savings or future planning I’ve got nothing. Should definitely get better at it. I intend to do a big online shop and plan meals for the week every single Sunday. Have I ever done it? No.

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#6

Work how much you need/want to save and work backwards from there, cutting shit out as necessary.

Planning what you’re going to eat in advance and being well drilled about it is a pretty good way of saving big. I mean everyone’s free to spend money on what they like but I don’t know how I could spend £40 on lunch per week for instance and still be able to do things I want to do.

#7

alright, black philip

wait this looks bad. it is a reference to a famous goat.

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#8

Indeed I am

#9

Yeah. I feel like when I was earning 20% less I had about 40% more money.

I think a lot of hidden costs, like my phone, Spotify etc

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#10

How much do you reckon you spend on lunches in the week (Mon-Fri)?

I reckon I’m down to sub-£20, but I don’t think it’s possible to go much below that unless you bring a packed lunch or you have a super-cheap canteen.

#12

£18 for me

#13

£15. £10 Mon-Thurs, treat myself to a £5 blowout on a Friday.

#14

Save on some things, end up blowing it on others. Don’t go abroad for 5 years, then decide to treat ourselves to a load of fancy dinners “as we’re saving on not going away!”.

One thing I was terrible at was never really looking at outgoings and trying to optimise them. Just sort of accepted that that was what internet cost, that’s what phone cost etc. Then just went through and trimmed everything. Ditched landline, changed my mobile plan and stopped upgrading for the sake of it. But like I say, I then just blow that saved cash on rubbish I don’t need.

#15

Had free lunches at the last place I worked at. So good. Well, they were rubbish, but it was good that they were free.

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#16

You’ll be pleased to hear that just half an hour ago I reduced my vouchers down by £200 as I have £2k stocked up and my wife has about a grand.

Didn’t close it down completely as I don’t want to be booted off the scheme.

#17

Trying to save for a wedding while your disposable income is shrinking is a barrel of laughs.

I’m so glad we’ve planned to get married post-Brexit - I’ll just make sure Mrs Horse gets the least irradiated rat available and everyone else can fight over the rest. Preferably not to the death given the occasion but on the other hand the extra meat would come in handy.

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#18

Save mountains of cash by not having a railcard or season ticket or anything (Saves nearly 2k per year. Obvs cycling everywhere isn’t for everyone but if you can manage it, it’s great). I reckon my public transport costs around London are less than £100 per year these days. It helps that I am extremely boring and do fuck all any more.

Have alerts set up when contracts finish for phones / broadband / utilities so I can switch to cheaper contracts.

Packed lunches: yeah, but I have given up on these because I cannot be arsed.

#19

I was just talking to my partner about this very thing. Where is all the money going? She earns what I think would be considered an above-average salary and yet no money at the end of every month. Maybe she’s got a secret smack habit.

#20

I’m on a decent whack but everything is getting more and more expensive. Essentials like food and travel would be crippling if I wasn’t doing alright
London folk don’t know how lucky they are having an intergrated transport system that saves so much money

#21

It’s a reference. To a film. With a talking goat. God read a book.

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#22

Although I’m earning a higher figure than ever before in my life it definitely feels as though I have less disposable income, yes. Part of it is that I have graduated to a more adult, and more expensive, accommodation situation. But that’s not the whole story.

The only reason I can keep up my vinyl buying habit is by finding stuff that’s cheap but worth more and selling on Discogs and only using my Paypal money for buying records for myself.

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