Outside of bills, utilities etc, what do you spend your money on?

version

Well-known member
I started buying more sandwiches recently after publicly mulling it over on here. A definite improvement.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I spend money on food... drugs obviously (including booze), now we have two cats they are surprisingly expensive with all the food that they eat, the litter they get through super quickly and flea prevention and various other inoculations and vet bills etc. And now we got a car we spend money on petrol (and the Clockwise-esque journey we had to the Algarve at the weekend which I may describe once the horror has subsided a little) and insurance and so on. But we spend much LESS on the car each month than we did on Uber so... I dunno how long it will be before that saving wipes out the cost, plus you get extra costs built in like the cunt who knocked off our wing mirror etc
Records, books, don't buy half so many as I used to but I still buy a few of each every month. I virtually always order old books or buy them from charity shops etc so they cost about 50p and if I order them I always get the cheapest delivery method so they turn up three months later or so. They'll just go on a pile so as long as they turn up someday I am happy with that system of remembering there is something I'd like to read by ordering it.
What else... went to the cinema about three times last year but aiming to do more this year. I like going to the cinema even if the film isn't that good... though maybe that's only cos I go so rarely. Um... playing football costs two euros or so a week.
 

Leo

Well-known member
unlike you lucky lads with your NHS, we have to pay monthly health insurance premiums. I can't even bring myself to tell you how much it is per month, let's just say it's sizable. Employers offer health insurance (with employee contributions) but since I'm self employed, I have to pay the full whack. luckily my crafty accountant finds ways to minimize the damage at tax time.

Food at the grocery store can add up. We don't go out to eat that often -- maybe dinner 3-5 times a month -- but tend to go to decent restaurants where it's easy to drop $90-150 for two.

I don't buy much vinyl or cds anymore, but still some. I go through phases where I spend on clothes, but $100-300 spent one month is usually followed by six months of none.

My family who live outside NYC save a lot more than we do, cost of living for everything is so much lower: food shopping, home prices, etc. Probably similar to London versus the suburbs/countryside. But we don't own a car, which sucks up $$$ in gas, insurance, repairs, loan.
 
Last edited:

DannyL

Wild Horses
I've hardly bought any records for the last few years but that was previously a big expense. After a while though if you're sensible and not too much of a hoarder you can leverage up, sell shit to buy some big pieces that always have resale value. If you're on forums etc and around the scene in general, you can get in early on some stuff that appreciates in value. Most of this shit, I've sold now, but was a good income generator for a minute.

My biggest monthly expense is nursery. Back breaking. Bigger than the mortgage. My thoughts on Corbyn on here are well documented but the free nursery care they proposed would be massive boon for families. Shame it wasn't part of a more convincing package. I found Labour's offer overall a bit "win a microwave and a speedboat!" - if they'd emphasised a few simple but lifechanging policies like nursery care, they've might've won a few more votes.

My other big expense that I imagine isn't shared by others here has been therapy. I had to do 35 hours per year for 3 years as part of my MA at an average of £40-£60 per session and four and a half years of private therapy before this. This is kinda why I don't have much in the way of savings but it can be invaluable for what it can deliver. I do think the stuff I had to do on the MA was interesting, good experience, but unnecessary for the most part and bit of a therapy ponzi scheme run by the big counselling organisations. The good stuff though - fuck. Best money I've ever spent. I didn't know it was possible to feel like that, that good.
 

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
i try to spend as little as possible because i don't like working. so most of it just goes to food. anything else i buy cheap or second hand, such as books and clothes. i always spend gigantic amounts of money when i'm drunk because i become a nihilist, taking taxis, buying coke, giving rounds.
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
What type of therapy?

The therapy I did the most/got the most out of was Reichian (based on the works of Wilhelm Reich) though my therapist was pretty eclectic and would bring in different things. Have also done (as part of the MA) existential and focusing therapy. The existential woman was also a Zen practitioner and taught mindfulness as part of her approach though we didn't do much of that. Focusing is quite interesting, comes out of the work of Eugene Gendlin and allows is about tuning into bodily sensation and letting visualisation arise (if appropriate).
 

DannyL

Wild Horses
You're in Berlin aren't you? There's probably a Reichian scene there though it'd be German language so I wouldn't have much access to it. When I was there, I travelled out to meet a bloke called Bernd Senf who's a Reichian therapist, now retired. He's written about economics from a Reichian perspective.
 

droid

Well-known member
Dont really spend any money on myself. Couple of hundred a year on bike maintenance. A little bit on music and music gear when needed, studio rent, mortgage. Most disposable income goes on children.
 

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
If only. I drive a tatty silver Citroën C3.

But, yes, you're right, I also spend money on petrol.

crazy i would have sworn i read somewhere you had one and i had always imagined you driving it some twisty cliff road in wales like in basic instinct. well, a citroën c3, not bad either.
 

luka

Well-known member
Yesterday I bought some onions, yoghurt, cheese, carrots, celery, pasta, green beans, pinto beans, canned tomatoes, gherkins, lagers
 
Top