Financial situations

[Melusine]

I think it's fair to say that in a lot of countries, there has been a bit of an economical decline. In others, it's been bad for several years already. So for those of you who've any reason to watch out how you spend your money, do you? Have you found you need to take more care in what you spend your money on, recently, or hasn't the economical situation in your country had any effect on you so far? And if you do take care with your monthly expenses, in what ways?

BTW - in some cultures people have trouble talking about their own financial situations. I can imagine that, but I don't really have any qualms with people knowing how I fare financially, so I'll start

I am not sure if it's the introduction of the Euro (which in my country means everything seems roughly twice as cheap in comparison with the old currency - i.e. I need to multiply new prices by roughly 2.2 to get the price in my old currency) or with the economical decline, but it does seem as if things have gotten more expensive, and often this really is the case. I'm a student at the moment, but I have an illness that until recently forced me to stay at home on welfare. Right now I receive a student's grant and some money to get by from my parents since I am not (yet) well enough to have a job AND study. My boyfriend has a weekend job and studies too, so he gets a student grant as well. We're practically living together so we share all meals which helps a lot in expenses.
Anyway, for us it's obviously important to watch what we spend.

So, ways in which I save money:
shop at the local supermarket which luckily is one of the cheapest in the country, make shopping lists and get groceries for the entire week instead of going to the store for every little thing. Usually we have lunch at home before going to the stores, because I know from experience I buy a LOT of junk food when I'm hungry.
I also hardly ever buy anything with a brand name, expect when there are no good alternatives. Mostly though brandless stuff is just as good.
I haven't taken a holiday in years - the last two times I went somewhere it was through the generosity of others (mind, it was practically forced on me, I didn't ask for it because I hate being in people's debts, which I feel I am in these cases). The only exception to this is when my boyfriend was in Scotland for his study this year (for half a year). I booked airline tickets with Easy-Jet to be able to visit him three times, but it only cost me 50$ or euros for each return flight, one of which I got for my birthday, too.
I don't have to watch out with the gas, water or electricity bills, since it's included in the rent. I share the internet connection with my boyfriend and make few phonecalls.
When we do something recreational, it's sooner something free than something that costs money. We'd sooner rent a movie than go to the cinema (and when we do, there's a cheap one for students near here). Sooner go to the beach than to a swimming pool, etc.

Ways in which I fail to save money:
Every once in a while I get shopping spree tendencies, and will spend money on books or clothes. But I buy most books second hand or with a discount, and most clothes at H&M's which is cheap yet great-looking. There's also a drugstore here that sells surprisingly good-quality classical CDs for low prices, so those are the only CDs I buy.
Sometimes on such a spree, I am drawn to McDonalds and crave burgers... Bad habit
Gifts. No matter how broke I am, if it's a gift for someone else (mostly for birthdays, our equivalent of Christmas Sinterklaas or just to cheer people up) I don't pay any mind at all to how much money I can safely spend. I've got this particular trait from my Mom, which means she often presses gifts on me too while I try to convince her she shouldn't have.
Sporadically, we succumb and order pizza (maybe once every 2-3 months) or go to the local Greek restaurant (on special occasions like birthdays/anniversaries)


Anyway, now the rest of you should have no problems at least giving a general account of whether you pay attention to what you spend at all, and whether the current economical decline forces you to make adjustments in your spending pattern. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[johnny]

Well, i never had any problems getting by, but ever since we have the Euro, things don't seem to be more expensive, they ARE. For a glass of beer you now pay 2 Euro in a bar. That friggin 4,40 in Guilders. That's just robbery. Bought a pair of jeans lately ? Same thing, the Euro is slowly becoming the guilder. They better double my salary, or else i'm in trouble every end of the month.

I do pay attention to my shopping and stuff. For instance, you can get almost twice as much for the same amount of money at the Edah, as at Appie Heijn, so that's where i do my grocerieshopping. I hardly ever go out eating in restaurants, i prefer to cook my meals myself. And instead of going to clubs like i used to do a lot, i invite my friends over at my place, or i'll go over to theirs.

Saving money was never my strongest feature, everything goes down the drain, every month again, that's just my way of living.

That also means that whenever the moment comes that my TV calls it quits, i'll have to get a new one in payments. I simply don't have enough cash at hand to pay off a new one in one time. Same goes for the PC. This one is only a couple of months old, but i'll be paying for it the coming three years.

I'm not complaining though, i'm doing okay.

[skywalker]

My wife and I have a very focused, followed plan for retirement and have set goals for each year until then. Though neither of us make a whole lot of money, we do hope to gather a million dollars by the time we reach 65. It looked extremely possible before 2001, but I still think we will get there. Unfortunately it looks like our goal may not be enough for the economy of 2025.

Mark

[Timber Loftis]

Unchecked, I spend a lot. But, my wife is very frugal. She hunts bargains, clips coupons, and acts as the gatekeeper to my spending.

We save approximately 10% on our grocery bill with coupons, often using $14 or more in coupons for a $140 grocery purchase. Add in buying store specials , and it makes a big difference. Today, for instance, I just won on eBay $35 worth of MorningStar Farms coupons for $5.50.

I almost never buy clothes at retail prices. I shop nice stores, and wear mostly Banana Republic and other similar clothes, but I never walk in one of those stores and buy at retail. I only check the sale tables/racks, and I only buy from them. Of course, I discovered an BR outlet store that gives me incredibly discounted clothes now -- Usually 50-75% below the retail price is what I'll buy. This is true with suits, too. A few years ago, I was able to pick up a $2000 suite for $500 by going to a sale at the manufacturing warehouse.

Any purchase of electronics or other expensive toys does not happen for us until we watch the Best Buy and CompUSA sale fliers for a few weeks to find what the good deals are.

We also use coupons when we visit museums. If I want to go to a club, I go online and find one where I can pre-register and avoid/decrease the cover charge (and skip the line). We get these big coupon books containing coupons for restaurants in the area -- and when we want to go out to eat we choose from the book.

Anyway, I consider it very important to be frugal. Only the truly wealthy can walk around spending money without looking at price tags.

[mysticelt]

My situation has turned upside down and inside out. After working 2 jobs most of my life, being the major breadwinner, then having a sucessful company and seeing a clear path towards retirement... Now, I have none of that but I am happy. The Starter husband got the company!

I can maintain the mortgage on the house (good asset in todays market) My wonderful new life has come together and the dog's won't starve! (humor!) I was a steel buyer for the last 10 years so I know how to haggle - I never buy retail. Bartering services is a great way to get things accomplished for little or no cash. Attitude is the key to everything - being happy is worth everything I went through (don't tell my starter husband that lol)!
Mel is right - some things you can do without - prioritize!

[Moiraine]

Mel, I just can't let pass the debt thing - you granted us with your radiant presence, which is worth so much more than what mere money can buy. Truly it is us who are in debt. [img]graemlins/kittynow.gif[/img]

Now to answer the question - yeah, the Euro made most things more expensive, no doubt about that. My husband had a consequent raise of salary two years ago, so we are currently not on a tight budget. I manage the family budget, so I almost never go on shopping spree, since it inevitably pops backs to my face and the pleasure is kinda spoiled ... well, that's not exactly true, I never go on a shopping spree for me, but I can't resist buying gifts and inviting people, and then I feel I must give the best there is ! [img]smile.gif[/img]

I could possibly not pay much attention to prices when I buy basic stuff at the supermarket, but I hate being fooled - so I pay attention to prices. Plus, I have watched a very interesting documentary about what supermarkets do to have you buy what they want you to buy (of course, it was applauded as cleverness in the documentary, I still call that cheating on people anyway ) - well, one interesting thing to know if they put the stuff they prefer you would buy at eye level - so naturally I always look up and down, and really things are usually much cheaper up or down there !

Plus, I may be tempted to buy brands for, say, some foodstuff, but really, paper tissues or detergent ? No way ! [img]smile.gif[/img]

One exception though - I always buy fair trade products when they are available (and THOSE the supermarkets put upper than up ). I can afford them, it's the least I can do. Surprisingly, they are only about 10% more expensive - some people must really make heaps of $$$ on others' misery. We only have fair trade for very few products alas - yet, I hope : coffee, tea, sugar, and bananas apparently but nowhere in Grenoble ...

[Melusine]

Moiraine, as you know you are a total sweetheart, and my debt with you won't be gone until you've come to stay in here in Amsterdam with your family! [img]smile.gif[/img] Same goes for the other collective sweethearts, of course.

It's great that you buy fair trade products, BTW! Maybe I should too, but then I never drink coffee and I do donate to two charities instead.
But I think it's a great initiative, fair trade goods. I don't think about those things often enough - for instance, I think people should actually check whether companies use child labour, whether cosmetics have been tested on animals, etc. I don't do that enough because I usually figure "they wouldn't allow that to happen would they?" But in actuality, I'm sure a lot of brands of clothing still employ people under inhumane conditions.

Mysticelt, you're very right about being able to go without a lot of things (you actually said you agreed with me, but I don't think I actually literally said that in my post, so I'll just agree back with you )
Even though I live on what a lot of people consider "little money" and even though I do have to pay close attention to what I spend, I've never considered myself to be in a bad situation. In fact, when I consider that I can spend 5 or 10$ without really noticing it, on food or a drink or a book, I realise I'm still rich and much better off than many! If I really had a money problem, I wouldn't be able to buy anything but the bare essentials. The only thing I miss is being able to go on a holiday in the summer. But then, the reason for that is not just financial - my boyfriend and I haven't really had an opportunity to go on a holiday together the last couple of years, and so we didn't even start to save up money for it. The next year, we'll probably will have time so if I can manage to work soon and we both save up for it, even that shouldn't be a problem. [img]smile.gif[/img]
But apart from that I feel there's nothing lacking in my life that I could solve with money. In ten years or so of course I do want to be able to take a holiday now and then, and I would like to live somewhere bigger, but I honestly don't think that if I suddenly had lots of cash, I would change my lifestyle radically (I know everybody says that, but I honestly think it's true for me).

[Melusine]

Moiraine, about the way in which supermarkets work, you're so right! I don't really consider it cheating since the customer *is* there too, and he/she isn't forced to buy the more expensive products. It's their own responsibility to compare prices well and to only buy what they really need. But I absolutely agree it's a very sneaky way of dealing with us customers.
Not only do they use the eye-level trick, they often plan the supermarket in such a way that to reach the counter, you have to go through every single aisle to get there. They often pile quick-to-grab sweets and snacks near the counters, so that hungry people waiting in line will throw in some bags of sweets on an impulse. They often do the same with "sale" items, to tempt people to a last-minute buy, even though the products are often not that cheap anyway. What they also do a lot is put "child-sensitive" items like candy and toys on the eye-level of children - lots of fed-up mothers and fathers will allow their whining children to buy some just to shut them up.

[Moiraine]

Mel, I call it cheating because it deals with the unconscious part of the brain - it is somewhat akin to driving cattle along, isn't it ?

The 'up and down' part though is less obvious than the supermarket map forcing you to go through all of it before reaching a counter or the 'impulse stuff' near the counter where they keep you waiting. I personally find that my own most efficient way to counter the 'cross all rows' mandatory path is to bring a list along. And I buy only what is written on the list !

As for the children-attracting sweets, I explained to my son fairly soon that people you don't know who go to you usually have no other goal but that your money passes into their pocket. You may call it cynical - I call it self-defense. I somewhat pity his future first banker ...

[Melusine]

ROTFL!! I can totally imagine it. I thought he was a smart kid anyway, not the kind to whine and hang on your arm begging for sweets in the supermarket.
And if he were, I sort of imagine you would stamp out that kind of behaviour in no time.

I didn't know it actually worked subconciously, though. I think a prudent person will make a shopping list anyway, and check the prices of all products, including the one on lower/higher levels. When we first came to our supermarket, we found out almost right away what the cheapest brand of pasta was - it was on the lowest level, near the ground. Tried it once to see if it was OK, now we never buy anything else.
I guess yuppies in a hurry will rush through the aisles grabbing anything on eye-level, but then they don't pay attention to what they buy anyway.
And then there's also people like my father: pennywise but poundfoolish. Actually he's not even that pennywise, since he has no real idea about supermarket prices and he thinks he saves money by going to the most expensive supermarket there is and buying all the bargains there. But of course that doesn't work. But anyway, many people shop at all the cheap stores and buy only bargains, but then they spend their money outrageously on stuff they don't need (like clothes ) so in the end they are no better off.
To some extent, people allow themselves to be fooled. If they'd stop and think about it for a minute, they'd realise that three expensive shirts for the price of two will still make you spend the price of two shirts when you don't really need them.