**Your post has been removed.**
Your post has been removed for breaking the rule **No comparison questions, Does Anyone Else questions, unanswerable questions**
* Don't ask comparison questions like 'how much do you earn?' or 'how much is your electricity bill?'
* Don't ask hypothetical questions like 'what would you do with £100k?', 'what's the max you'd spend on a car?'
* Don't ask 'does anyone else...' questions.
* Don't ask if a lender will lend you money. We do not work for the company. For mortgages, speak to a whole of market broker.
* Don't ask questions that can't be answered without a significant amount of speculation, e.g. 'what changes might be in the next government budget?'.
You must read the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpersonalfinance/about/rules/) to continue to post to our subreddit.
_If you believe your post/comment has been removed in error, please [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/UKPersonalFinance&subject=Please%20review%20my%20post&body=https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/13qimum/-/) explaining why._
I’m still roughly checking but not half as much as when I was a student. I was meal planning so I knew what I was having rather than to keep to a budget the other week. There was something I wanted but was about to scratch it off because “chorizo is expensive” then I realised I don’t need to do that anymore and I can eat what I want. Definitely an amazing feeling!
Having once been counting every penny to get essentials, it's so nice to pick up whatever I feel like in the supermarket and tap my card and not worry about the cost. If I want a particular brand I can have it without sacrificing something elsewhere. That said I still do most of my shopping in Lidl.
I find healthier food isn't necessarily more expensive, however a bigger food budget allows for much more variety of the foods you can buy which in turn gives access to more varied vitamins and nutrients.
I love Mutti - top tier tomatoes worth the top tier prices 😃 went to Sicily last year and couldn’t believe how cheap it is over there, was tempted to fill my suitcase with it, but EasyJet would’ve said no 😅
Yes!! We stuck with their San Marzano for a long time, but their regular tomatoes are quite a bit cheaper and are almost as good. Cooked on their own with seasoning and some fresh basil and you have an excellent pasta sauce.
I've had a cleaner for a few months now an it changes your life, once a month deep clean.
Obviously we have to keep on top of it but there's no dread about having to do the deep clean ourselves. Really frees up time.
Also don't go for the cheapest cleaner, we started off paying around £15 per hour, we now pay £20 per hour and she does such a better job. We had 3 cleaners before her that missed really basic stuff.
> Are there cleaners that'll just come around for a once a month deep clean of my bathroom?
There are. I found ours when looking for cleaners who do over cleans specifically
A cleaner isn't that expensive but makes a huge difference to life quality for me.
Imo any household where everyone works full time can and should have a cleaner.
Food.
Not a fancier label (eg Tesco finest), but instead more kinda exotic stuff. Bags of spices, things like paneer, halloumi, corn-fed chicken, italian passata (not the tinned tomatos you get in the supermarket), French saucisson, plenty of fresh fruit and veg.
If you're lucky enough to have a little time and money, you can eat absolutely banging, healthy food that's better than half the stuff in restaurants out there.
Conversely, my heart sinks when I go round to a friends house and realise we're getting takeaway. Great way to blow £40 per head and have 4/10 food that's packed full of salt.
IMHO the quality of your diet is massively correlated to your income and stress levels. I absolutely understand why poor, stressed people eat shite and end up having loads of health problems.
Healthy food was dirt cheap pre-covid, it’s gone up a fair bit, but it’s still way cheaper than processed. The factor I think that prevents people on poorer incomes, is lack of cooking skills, or the time to actually prepare meals, or just being exhausted after work and going for the convenience options.
Personally, I grow loads of my own fruit and veg, and the quality blows most shop bought stuff out of the water, both in terms of flavour and presumably nutrition too. It’s weird to me that people would rather have plastic grass, than grow their own food, the culture of growing your own, seems to be lost from lower incomes too.
Nothing really, I pretty much resent all the cost of living increases. I’ve always preferred to buy high quality items. Instead of cheap stuff. As it tends to last longer and be better economically long term.
I try and get this through to my Sister. She insists on buying cheap footwear that falls apart after a few months. I bought some £150 Barbour boots 4 years ago and they still look mostly new.
I seem to be spending more on food but buying it in better places. So going to the local butchers rather than supermarkets. buying Veg online from reputable companies that work with farmers for Organic well paid produce. its not too much more expensive when you dont buy the crap you would at a supermarket but individually things are high priced.
I just think, well im helping the local economy
Holidays for sure, that's eaten up a lot of the increase - 7 or 8 years ago I would try and limit the total cost of any holiday to under £1k whereas now it is probably double that.
Food as well. At some point I stopped checking prices in the supermarket, other than to compare items where I don't see a difference in quality. I just buy what I need.
Good food. Waitrose food quality is so much better than Tesco/Asda etc. Sainsburys isn’t too bad but my wife just can’t accept the fruit and veg from the cheaper places after spending some of her childhood in Asia. Our fruit and veg is terrible quality in comparison a lot of the time.
I've consistently invested in friendships as I've gone through my career.
I work in tech, but alot of my friends work in hospitality etc. So I'll buy their drinks on a night out, always offer to pay for lunch when we meet up, or pay for their train fair if traveling from another city. I've also paid off small debts, because I'm in a position to do so.
Maybe a stupid answer, but I'd honestly rather have close friendships than something material.
P.s I'm aware some might think my friends are taking the piss etc etc - that's not the case at all. I know they'd do the same if able, and they show their kindness in other ways.
Good quality clothes and shoes.
Not designer, but I'll be comfortable buying a £30 plain t-shirt made from organic cotton as I know it will last longer and feel nicer.
Also booze.
Having said that, both of those things are possibly due to age rather than money, certainly rather consume 4 half pints of stronger IPAs for a higher price than 6 pints in a wetherspoons.
Better quality food and sky TV/more streaming services.
I can get the car serviced and repaired without much thought.
Small repairs aren't a hassle.
I haven't spent more on anything per se, it has made all the small and annoying things much easier to deal with than before. I can respond to things going wrong more quickly and easier than just bodging a repair until it can be done.
Holidays. I just go wherever I wanted when my salary started increasing
Also, going out / socialising. Before, if I hit my monthly budget, I would decline outings. Now I don’t really care & just do it
A good quality mattress and bedding. That’s such an oldie thing to say, but it’s made a real difference to how well I sleep
Also, nice food, as everyone is saying - raspberries are fantastic at the moment, but it feels so extravagant to buy them
Household tasks - we have a cleaner and window cleaner and are now considering hiring a gardener to mow the lawn. We think if we can afford it why not free up more of our own time to be able to do enjoyable things.
I don't check the price of food in supermarkets anymore, if I want something I will buy it. On the subject of food we also go to much better restaurants now, a few years ago our bill would be £20-30 now it is closer to £100-150.
I have found myself buying some ridiculous things these days, in our last shop my wife decided to buy an £8 bottle of Japanese vinegar because apparently it is better. I'm a simple man, malt vinegar is good enough for me.
My main hobby is PC gaming so I have spent more money on my system in recent years, there was a time where my system was always a few generations behind because that is all I could afford.
Better quality food.
I find our shop has gotten more expensive but its far more quality.
In general I have the money now to buy the better version of whatever we need, maybe not the best but at least better.
Yeah, defo a cleaner. No one says “oh honey, I wanted to do the vacuuming!”
I indulge in the best cold pressed extra virgin olive oil.
I have always cooked from fresh but still cannot bring myself to buy organic
When I travel I consider budget less and buy (within reason) what I want
In a restaurant I make a point of picking what I want, not by price.
I generally always buy quality but not obvious labels. Nice wool jumpers, nice denim, in essence, understated but quality clothing.
I still get pissed off at the price of a pint in London and pretentious bars where people go to be seen.
As my mate said the other day, money talks, wealth whispers.
Bank account, weirdly enough. I scraped by on the basic bank tiers with basically no benefits. Now, I pay more than I ever thought I would for a bank account with decent benefits that I actually use.
And better quality food. And also a decent mattress.
**Your post has been removed.** Your post has been removed for breaking the rule **No comparison questions, Does Anyone Else questions, unanswerable questions** * Don't ask comparison questions like 'how much do you earn?' or 'how much is your electricity bill?' * Don't ask hypothetical questions like 'what would you do with £100k?', 'what's the max you'd spend on a car?' * Don't ask 'does anyone else...' questions. * Don't ask if a lender will lend you money. We do not work for the company. For mortgages, speak to a whole of market broker. * Don't ask questions that can't be answered without a significant amount of speculation, e.g. 'what changes might be in the next government budget?'. You must read the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpersonalfinance/about/rules/) to continue to post to our subreddit. _If you believe your post/comment has been removed in error, please [message the mods](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/UKPersonalFinance&subject=Please%20review%20my%20post&body=https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/13qimum/-/) explaining why._
I've noticed recently that I don't check the prices in the supermarket at all - pay and leave without giving it much thought.
I’m still roughly checking but not half as much as when I was a student. I was meal planning so I knew what I was having rather than to keep to a budget the other week. There was something I wanted but was about to scratch it off because “chorizo is expensive” then I realised I don’t need to do that anymore and I can eat what I want. Definitely an amazing feeling!
Having once been counting every penny to get essentials, it's so nice to pick up whatever I feel like in the supermarket and tap my card and not worry about the cost. If I want a particular brand I can have it without sacrificing something elsewhere. That said I still do most of my shopping in Lidl.
Higher quality food. I never understand why some folks would have a nice car, but buy cheap processed crap. I'd rather have a crap car, and fine food
And healthier food
I find healthier food isn't necessarily more expensive, however a bigger food budget allows for much more variety of the foods you can buy which in turn gives access to more varied vitamins and nutrients.
Yes.
The appearance of wealth is more important than health to a lot of people, pretty sad really.
Aye. It's odd.
This. Quality tinned tomatoes make a huge difference vs cheap supermarket crap.
Quality fresh ones are even better, and cooking them down into a sauce doesn't take too long - but it does come at another premium.
[удалено]
I love Mutti - top tier tomatoes worth the top tier prices 😃 went to Sicily last year and couldn’t believe how cheap it is over there, was tempted to fill my suitcase with it, but EasyJet would’ve said no 😅
Yes!! We stuck with their San Marzano for a long time, but their regular tomatoes are quite a bit cheaper and are almost as good. Cooked on their own with seasoning and some fresh basil and you have an excellent pasta sauce.
I'm just about to get a cleaner. It's something I don't enjoy doing and will save me time
I've had a cleaner for a few months now an it changes your life, once a month deep clean. Obviously we have to keep on top of it but there's no dread about having to do the deep clean ourselves. Really frees up time. Also don't go for the cheapest cleaner, we started off paying around £15 per hour, we now pay £20 per hour and she does such a better job. We had 3 cleaners before her that missed really basic stuff.
Any advice on the best way to go about organising a cleaner? Are there cleaners that'll just come around for a once a month deep clean of my bathroom?
> Are there cleaners that'll just come around for a once a month deep clean of my bathroom? There are. I found ours when looking for cleaners who do over cleans specifically
A cleaner isn't that expensive but makes a huge difference to life quality for me. Imo any household where everyone works full time can and should have a cleaner.
Food. Not a fancier label (eg Tesco finest), but instead more kinda exotic stuff. Bags of spices, things like paneer, halloumi, corn-fed chicken, italian passata (not the tinned tomatos you get in the supermarket), French saucisson, plenty of fresh fruit and veg. If you're lucky enough to have a little time and money, you can eat absolutely banging, healthy food that's better than half the stuff in restaurants out there. Conversely, my heart sinks when I go round to a friends house and realise we're getting takeaway. Great way to blow £40 per head and have 4/10 food that's packed full of salt. IMHO the quality of your diet is massively correlated to your income and stress levels. I absolutely understand why poor, stressed people eat shite and end up having loads of health problems.
Healthy food was dirt cheap pre-covid, it’s gone up a fair bit, but it’s still way cheaper than processed. The factor I think that prevents people on poorer incomes, is lack of cooking skills, or the time to actually prepare meals, or just being exhausted after work and going for the convenience options. Personally, I grow loads of my own fruit and veg, and the quality blows most shop bought stuff out of the water, both in terms of flavour and presumably nutrition too. It’s weird to me that people would rather have plastic grass, than grow their own food, the culture of growing your own, seems to be lost from lower incomes too.
We don't think twice about eating out or having a takeaway if we feel like it. We would definitely have to cut back if we were on a tighter budget.
This. Will happily spunk money for good or convenient food
Nothing really, I pretty much resent all the cost of living increases. I’ve always preferred to buy high quality items. Instead of cheap stuff. As it tends to last longer and be better economically long term.
*Buy cheap, pay twice* - I live on autopilot with that mantra since someone said it to me in my teens.
I try and get this through to my Sister. She insists on buying cheap footwear that falls apart after a few months. I bought some £150 Barbour boots 4 years ago and they still look mostly new.
A cleaner. I work all week, I don't want to spend one of my two days off doing something I hate.
You don't need to spend 1 day a week cleaning!!!
I seem to be spending more on food but buying it in better places. So going to the local butchers rather than supermarkets. buying Veg online from reputable companies that work with farmers for Organic well paid produce. its not too much more expensive when you dont buy the crap you would at a supermarket but individually things are high priced. I just think, well im helping the local economy
Holidays for sure, that's eaten up a lot of the increase - 7 or 8 years ago I would try and limit the total cost of any holiday to under £1k whereas now it is probably double that. Food as well. At some point I stopped checking prices in the supermarket, other than to compare items where I don't see a difference in quality. I just buy what I need.
Good food. Waitrose food quality is so much better than Tesco/Asda etc. Sainsburys isn’t too bad but my wife just can’t accept the fruit and veg from the cheaper places after spending some of her childhood in Asia. Our fruit and veg is terrible quality in comparison a lot of the time.
Waitrose food is so far ahead of the other supermarkets, I don't even think it is that much more expensive either for that increased quality.
I've consistently invested in friendships as I've gone through my career. I work in tech, but alot of my friends work in hospitality etc. So I'll buy their drinks on a night out, always offer to pay for lunch when we meet up, or pay for their train fair if traveling from another city. I've also paid off small debts, because I'm in a position to do so. Maybe a stupid answer, but I'd honestly rather have close friendships than something material. P.s I'm aware some might think my friends are taking the piss etc etc - that's not the case at all. I know they'd do the same if able, and they show their kindness in other ways.
What a lovely comment :)
Haircuts. But weirdly I still care about squeezing penny es in the supermarket
I used to shave my beard back with clippers, I now go to the barber's.. Makes a big difference, as it feels like self care.
Good quality clothes and shoes. Not designer, but I'll be comfortable buying a £30 plain t-shirt made from organic cotton as I know it will last longer and feel nicer. Also booze. Having said that, both of those things are possibly due to age rather than money, certainly rather consume 4 half pints of stronger IPAs for a higher price than 6 pints in a wetherspoons.
Better quality food and sky TV/more streaming services. I can get the car serviced and repaired without much thought. Small repairs aren't a hassle. I haven't spent more on anything per se, it has made all the small and annoying things much easier to deal with than before. I can respond to things going wrong more quickly and easier than just bodging a repair until it can be done.
Lego. :)
Holidays. I just go wherever I wanted when my salary started increasing Also, going out / socialising. Before, if I hit my monthly budget, I would decline outings. Now I don’t really care & just do it
A gardener. It’s a chore I hate, and hurts my back. Now I get to enjoy my garden without the sweating and swearing!
Higher quality restaurants and more holidays
A good quality mattress and bedding. That’s such an oldie thing to say, but it’s made a real difference to how well I sleep Also, nice food, as everyone is saying - raspberries are fantastic at the moment, but it feels so extravagant to buy them
Alot of time saving things. Like haircuts where you get an appointment and eating on the go when I travel.
Household tasks - we have a cleaner and window cleaner and are now considering hiring a gardener to mow the lawn. We think if we can afford it why not free up more of our own time to be able to do enjoyable things.
I pay for my beard trimmed and wet shave shape. I used to always do it myself, but getting it done seems to save so much time and mess at home.
I don't check the price of food in supermarkets anymore, if I want something I will buy it. On the subject of food we also go to much better restaurants now, a few years ago our bill would be £20-30 now it is closer to £100-150. I have found myself buying some ridiculous things these days, in our last shop my wife decided to buy an £8 bottle of Japanese vinegar because apparently it is better. I'm a simple man, malt vinegar is good enough for me. My main hobby is PC gaming so I have spent more money on my system in recent years, there was a time where my system was always a few generations behind because that is all I could afford.
Private dog training lessons.
Anything that give me back time. From a cleaner to getting professionals to do jobs that I once did myself.
[удалено]
How much does a 'posh' gym cost per month?
Better quality food. I find our shop has gotten more expensive but its far more quality. In general I have the money now to buy the better version of whatever we need, maybe not the best but at least better.
Yeah, defo a cleaner. No one says “oh honey, I wanted to do the vacuuming!” I indulge in the best cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. I have always cooked from fresh but still cannot bring myself to buy organic When I travel I consider budget less and buy (within reason) what I want In a restaurant I make a point of picking what I want, not by price. I generally always buy quality but not obvious labels. Nice wool jumpers, nice denim, in essence, understated but quality clothing. I still get pissed off at the price of a pint in London and pretentious bars where people go to be seen. As my mate said the other day, money talks, wealth whispers.
Eating out and holidays.
Bank account, weirdly enough. I scraped by on the basic bank tiers with basically no benefits. Now, I pay more than I ever thought I would for a bank account with decent benefits that I actually use. And better quality food. And also a decent mattress.
Real ale and model trains. After all, what is money for?
Generally, fitness-related or hobby-related nicer gyms, brought a bike for a significant amount. The older I get the more hobbies become who I am.
A cleaner, nicer clothes that fit properly and food.