Do you find this purchasing pattern wasteful/unusual?

[Laura Corin]

I'd be interested to see what you think.  One pound is worth about USD1.34

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/29/can-you-really-save-for-a-deposit-by-ditching-coffee-and-avocado-toast-i-tried-to-find-out

 

If you don't drink alcohol, substitute other hostess gifts, entertainment expenses, etc.

[regentrude]

I am stunned by the amount she spends on eating/drinking out. Often she eats out for both lunch and dinner, and has coffee and/or snacks. $360 per month? (I assume the totals below are for a month, even though she does not list every single day?) For a single person?

And I cannot even imagine spending $240 on a haircut.

 

Definitely wasteful. Whether it is unusual or not, I cannot judge; certainly nobody in my circles spends like this.

Edited January 29, 2018 by regentrude

[MIch elle]

Yes, compared to our family spending of 2 baby boomers and 2 millennials. We are a frugal family.

[SparklyUnicorn]

She spends crazy amounts of money on eating out. 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

She certainly doesn't have a savings mindset. I find this thinking dynamic fairly common--a sort of "might as well treat myself as I am never going to be able to own a home/retire/take a real vacation anyway". It's a self-perpetuating down spiral.

[Farrar]

And I thought we were overspending on eating out. Sigh.

 

I think she is not unusual though - at least among young, single, urbanites.

[TrixieB]

Based on conversations of co-workers and acquaintances (who are mid 20's, single, urban, and have a similar or somewhat lower income), I find the writer's purchasing habits to be similar to theirs.

Edited January 29, 2018 by TrixieB

[Bluegoat]

I missed reading that myself, I thought it was about something a bit different - so thanks for posting.

 

Do I find it odd - yes and no.  In one way I look and I am thinking - wow, that is a crazy lifestyle, and she is spending an incredible amount on luxuries for someone who feels skint.

 

However - if I think of people I know with similar lifestyles, like my sister who is a single working women, I am less surprised.  Or her age - still less.  

 

It is often something that strikes me when people that age say they will not be able to afford a home - it's not really that I don't believe them - some can't.  But I do think at 26, it isn't uncommon to have some blind spots about your spending and what actually counts as a necessity.

[Twolittleboys]

Actually, I don't find the spending wasteful/unusual given the circumstances. I just skimmed the article, but lunch seems mostly to be at work/fairly inexpensive. Then the author goes out quite a bit after work for dinner/drinks. Obviously, most of us are in a different phase of life but for someone that age without family it doesn't seem unusual (nor do the amounts seem excessive). 

 

Of course, it would be possible to save money but it doesn't sound like the writer spends more than she earns (she even manages to save a bit). Saving up for something big doesn't seem a huge priority and honestly, while it is great to own your own home it isn't absolutely necessary (especially for a single person). Also, assuming she wants to stay in London the cost for a decent place is probably so high that it would take quite a while and a lot of saving to manage it. Honestly, I am not sure I would advise someone in their twenties, living in London, going out with friends etc. to completely cut all that out and to save up for the next 20 years.

 

ETA:

 

When I was a bit older and living in LA, I definitely ate lunch out most days (think Chilis, TGIF etc.) and had take-out etc. for dinner. Granted, I rarely had to pay as it was part of work and generally paid for by the client but as far as the lifestyle is concerned it seems fairly normal. I am somewhat boring so didn't go out that much on the weekend etc. but obviously most young people would do that. And depending on work hours, it rather makes sense. I generally left for work at 8 am in the morning and rarely got back before 10 pm. Unless you love cooking, it doesn't seem to make sense spending the little free time you have in the kitchen (especially for one person which often isn't that economical anyway).

Edited January 29, 2018 by Twolittleboys

[MaeFlowers]

I only read the expenditures, not the article.

 

 

She does spend quite a bit eating out but she doesn't seem blow it other places. She's also single and eating out is probably better for her. She doesn't have to cook for one and she gets the social experience.

 

I don't know. She could be more frugal with her dining but I'm not judging. If she's happy and has to money she needs for other things, does it matter?

[Bluegoat]

She certainly doesn't have a savings mindset. I find this thinking dynamic fairly common--a sort of "might as well treat myself as I am never going to be able to own a home/retire/take a real vacation anyway". It's a self-perpetuating down spiral.

 

Yes.  And I think this is what older people mean sometimes when they say - maybe you should stop eating that avocado toast if $$ is a problem.  

 

I thought the expert she spoke to was on the money when he pointed out that even if the house was out of reach, she could be saving a lot now for other things - saving once she has more commitments is likely to be more difficult, and there could be other ways to get ahead financially.

 

No one likes to go without any luxuries and I don't know that it is usually necessary, but I think people do self-sabotage by assuming it will make no real difference.

[Scarlett]

I'd be interested to see what you think.  One pound is worth about USD1.34

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/29/can-you-really-save-for-a-deposit-by-ditching-coffee-and-avocado-toast-i-tried-to-find-out

 

If you don't drink alcohol, substitute other hostess gifts, entertainment expenses, etc.

 

 

I haven't read all of her diary yet, but she is certainly living the life.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where she could cut back and save a significant amount.  Maybe never enough for a flat in London since those prices seem similar to NYC or San Francisco....but a nice little nest egg would be good to have.

[Bluegoat]

I'll point out that this article was in response to another (maybe two) talking about how it is impossible to save enough, even by giving up luxuries like avocado toast.

 

It isn't really about whether she is spending too much as it is about whether financial stability is out of reach for that generation.

 

 

[hornblower]

crazy level of consumption on frivolous dining & coffee. Make your lunch, drink coffee at the office or at home before leaving, meet up with friends at home once a week or doing cheaper things like going to a movie or catching up at that gym she got a membership for. This coffe/lunch/dinner eating out thing almost every days is crazy luxury. This woman is the poster child for tossing money stupidly and then whining about not being able to get ahead. 

 

And she still has student loans!  This is one of those articles where I think - whoa, you're really proving you're a ditz. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

She's not frugal.  I don't think that is "wrong" per se but perhaps not wise for some of the reasons he gave (ie. having money for emergencies etc.). 

[solascriptura]

Well, she could easily find ways to cut her spending, but her habits aren’t unusual for a single person in their 20s. My spending was pretty much the same and I am from a previous generation. Most of her seemingly unnecessary spending comes from social activities and she probably needs them since she’s single. The people I know that weren’t like this in their 20s usually married young so their goals were different and they had someone at home to cut down on their social spending.

[Carol in Cal.]

Here's what I don't know--I don't know what prices are like where she lives.

 

I get my hair done every 8 weeks and it costs about $150.  I have a hard time with that, but it looks like I want it to look and it wouldn't any other way.  I have always been pretty low maintenance--didn't get my hair cut for decades, shaved my legs myself, never got facials or fancy lotions or anything, so it's been shocking to me to need help with my hair and also to have to get my legs waxed because when I shave them now I get unbearably itchy, but most people would never have been as frugal as I have for a long time; still, some would criticize those two expenses now as nonessential.  Maybe that same hair work would cost $500 there.  I just don't know.

 

Also, I don't know how much she would save by buying food and cooking it at home, or by 'having folks over' rather than going out.  

 

So her numbers look really high for entertainment food/drinks, but I don't know if it would be that much cheaper to refrain.

 

Context is everything.

[HomeAgain]

It's wasteful, but not unusual.

 

When dh and I started doing Dave Ramsey, we kept a purchase journal for the first few months to get an idea of a realistic budget.  It came to light that dh was buying his coffee out each day - one on the way to work, and often another at lunch.  Sometimes with a small snack.  $1.50 doesn't seem like a lot, but it added up QUICK.  The next month we invested in a nice machine, grinder, and a few large thermoses.  We spent about the same amount, but after that his coffee habit dropped from the budget down to a $10 bag of beans every two weeks.

I see the same thing with my friends.  They post about dinner out 2-3 times a week, or running for coffee, or "restocking" their oils/leggings/whatever for the next season...and then wonder why it's so hard to save.  Same income as us, different spending habits. We do a no-spend January every year, too, which serves as a financial check so we better monitor what is necessary and what isn't.

I don't mean this to sound uppity.  It's just we realized the path we were heading down when we were putting necessities on a credit card because we thought two incomes didn't stretch that far.  This has been a long journey of ours.

[Bluegoat]

She's in London, I would not be surprised if that's about what you have to pay for a professional level haircut.

 

However, I think you could do a lot better by taking your own lunch to work, having dinners at home etc.

 

I think drinks out is something I might keep doing in her position because of the social element.  But meals out a few times a week - including canteen lunches which aren't exactly awesome anyway - is kind of silly for someone who wants to make big ticket purchases.

[Farrar]

I think it's important to add as well... she needs to save, but she's also not wrong that saving isn't going to help her buy a house. She is always going to be behind. I understand how that creates a certain mindset where it's harder to save - there's nothing to aim for - or the things to aim for are so distant that they seem impossible, like retirement.

[Bluegoat]

I think it's important to add as well... she needs to save, but she's also not wrong that saving isn't going to help her buy a house. She is always going to be behind. I understand how that creates a certain mindset where it's harder to save - there's nothing to aim for - or the things to aim for are so distant that they seem impossible, like retirement.

 

Didn't the expert tell her she probably could get a house?  Especially if she found a partner, but even if she didn't it actually looked a lot better than he thought it would?

[Catwoman]

When I was her age, I spent way more than she did. I don’t drink alcohol, but I was into fashion, makeup, jewelry, and sports cars, which were far more expensive. The price of her haircuts didn’t surprise me, because I spent that much on a haircut back in the 1980’s. The dining out didn't surprise me, either. She is a single person who probably eats out all the time to socialize with her friends and co-workers and to try to meet new people. Her friends probably have similar lifestyles, so it’s normal for her. It was normal for me, too.

 

But... I made more money than she does, and I still managed to save quite a bit. If I hadn’t been able to save money, I would have cut back on some of my expenditures rather than save less. That said, though, this young woman has no debt other than her student loan, which she is paying off, so it’s not like she’s driving herself into debt by living her current lifestyle. If anything, she is probably more sensible with her money than many people — she spends quite a bit, but she doesn’t spend more than she can afford to spend.

 

Honestly, I don’t see anything shocking in her spending patterns, particularly considering her age and the fact that she’s single with no children. And she doesn’t strike me as being particularly entitled, because she isn’t whining about how someone should just give her a house because she wants one. She is living within her means and she doesn’t seem to be complaining about it. I have a feeling that if saving for a house (or something else) becomes a big priority for her, she will be smart enough to figure out where she needs to cut her spending so she can start putting money away for the future. Should she be saving now? In my mind, yes, she should, even if it’s a small amount each week... but it’s her money and her decision, not mine.

[Carol in Cal.]

I don't know that it matters so much WHAT the cost is, as much as it matters how often she's incurring that cost.  

Well, again, I get my hair done every 8 weeks, but I remember reading that Lady Di got hers done 3X weekly, so maybe in London every 4 weeks is frugal.  I just don't have any basis for comparison.

[Annie G]

I think it's wasteful, but not unusual.  But some things do really stand out to me...food and alcohol for one month cost her 519.01 pounds. Holy cow. That is a lot of money for one person.  

 

If she wants to live the lifestyle she's living, it's her money and she can choose that route.  But if she wants to own a home or have a healthy savings account, she has to make changes. It's totally her choice, but I'm kind of tired of hearing people say they 'can't' do something when they really mean they don't want to. There are plenty of people who can't cut out lattes and avocado toast because they don't have a budget that includes that kind of indulgence. They're already living frugally. But this girl is not. 

 

One of my dc is a millennial who thinks she might as well live large because she'll never be able to afford to live like her dad and I do. With that attitude, no, you will not. We sacrificed and made changes when we saw how living large wasn't allowing us to meet our goals.   All millennials aren't like my dd but I do know a fair amount who are. 

 

 

[Tsuga]

The food seems really cheap for a big city like London but apparently groceries are really expensive here!

 

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&city1=Seattle%2C+WA&country2=United+Kingdom&city2=London

 

This explains why it doesn't pay to cook as much in Seattle, LOL. I mean, we do cook, but I save maybe $350 at an absolute maximum, not eating out.

 

We'd have to go vegetarian and eat a much more limited diet in order to save more on food, than from eating out at work-subsidized cafeterias.

 

These lists always depress me. It's so much easier to just raise my income, than to eat PB&J every single day, and instant coffee, and save $400/month on food. Like, that's great, it will only take me six years of that to get enough for a 10% down payment on a house approximately 1.5 hours from Seattle. If I want to get 20% down, that's 12 years of needing to economize by $400 on coffee, and then if you account for inflation, about 15 years or possibly never since around here, prices are going up by like 5 - 10% each year.

 

So, I get it. You kind of just want to buy a freaking cappuccino and avocado toast and enjoy your life because with the rate of inflation it's not like you're ever going to be ahead of the market.

 

But the amount she spends on her hair is a little freaky. Here you can get a perfectly acceptable haircut for $50 plus tip. That's a real benefit of living in the Pacific Northwest I guess.

[Catwoman]

I think it's important to add as well... she needs to save, but she's also not wrong that saving isn't going to help her buy a house. She is always going to be behind. I understand how that creates a certain mindset where it's harder to save - there's nothing to aim for - or the things to aim for are so distant that they seem impossible, like retirement.

Why would she always be behind?

 

If she is still young and is already making a good salary, I don’t think she should have a defeatist attitude and assume she will never be able to buy a house.

 

Realistically, if she is already doing well in her chosen career, there is no reason to assume that she won’t advance to a better position and earn more money.

 

And I disagree with you that saving isn’t going to help her buy a house. Sure, she won’t be able to buy it tomorrow or maybe not even five years from now, but if she starts saving now and saves more money as she progresses in her career, I wouldn’t assume she won’t own a home in the future.

 

If she was much older and unemployed with no education, no skills, and no experience, I might agree that she has a long way to go before she could ever even think of home ownership, but this woman is young and is already relatively successful for her age, so I think the only thing that would prevent her from owning a home in the future would be having such a defeatist attitude about it that she doesn’t even try.

[Arcadia]

From the article,

 

“Rent and other recurring expenses £1,107.19

Groceries £136.70

Public transport £122.60

Workday lunches £85.19

Other eating out £136.60

Tea and coffee £47.50

Alcohol £113.02

Clothes £191.48

Holiday £213.87â€

 

I stayed with my parents rent free at her age or my rent cost would be as high or higher, similar cost of living as London.

 

I didn’t cook so no groceries to talk about. Workday lunch and dinners would have been around $8 per day twenty years ago so easily $192 just for weekdays (assuming 24 work days per month). My other eating out was either paid by my parents or a business expense reimbursed by my employer but that was the nature of my former job at that age (lots of business lunches and dinners on company tab). Public transport to work was around $5 per day so $120 for weekdays. My former workplaces had free flow of drip coffee and Lipton tea so that helped. My journalist friend has plenty of work lunches so it would be odd for her to brown bag lunch and eat at the staff canteen every work day even though her staff canteen isn’t going to kick her out for bringing outside food. So not knowing the work culture at the writer’s workplace, it’s hard to say if eating at the staff canteen is a necessity or a luxury. My husband’s current staff canteen cost about $8 for lunch (excluding drinks) and there is no staff discount so most people bring their own lunch and eat at the small pantry (flexible lunch hour).

 

The haircut was either a luxury or necessity depending on her job nature, my hair was difficult to cut and I paid $80 for just a cut before a job interview and more before taking wedding photos so while her cost of $240 is on the high side, it isn’t unusual for a difficult haircut + wash and blow + highlights in a high cost of living area.

 

I don’t drink but I can see spending that amount on soft drinks or coffee during the weekends. Clothes (including shoes) and holiday expenses would be in the normal range for me when working.

 

I do agree it would be hard to buy a house/flat in London as a single her age if 20% downpayment is required. For my first home, I contributed around $45k and my husband contributed a lot more to make up around $160k downpayment and we had five years of work savings and my husband’s college scholarships savings at that time. Her pay range was my pay range more than twenty years ago and my parents didn’t charge me rent.

[SKL]

Yes, I find that extravagant behavior.

 

The housing costs she cites do sound discouraging.  Maybe she could go in with a housemate for the down payment, and then buy them out later / be bought out and then there would be $$ for a downpayment on her own.  Or she could look for something more modest as a first home, keep it nice, and sell it for a bigger down payment later.

[SKL]

I do agree that this attitude "I'll never have a house anyway" is too common among younger people.  At least in my world (noting I come from poverty and my fam / friends tend to be of modest means), it is definitely not true that you can't buy if you set your mind to it.  But you have to be flexible in your thinking.  You might have to buy a less-than-perfect dwelling and do some work on it, or share with someone you aren't married to, or live in a neighborhood that isn't impressive.  Very few people I know over age 30 are in rent - including people who dropped out of school to have babies etc.  (I have no idea how much of that translates to the UK though.)

[Catwoman]

I think it's wasteful, but not unusual. But some things do really stand out to me...food and alcohol for one month cost her 519.01 pounds. Holy cow. That is a lot of money for one person.

 

If she wants to live the lifestyle she's living, it's her money and she can choose that route. But if she wants to own a home or have a healthy savings account, she has to make changes. It's totally her choice, but I'm kind of tired of hearing people say they 'can't' do something when they really mean they don't want to. There are plenty of people who can't cut out lattes and avocado toast because they don't have a budget that includes that kind of indulgence. They're already living frugally. But this girl is not.

 

One of my dc is a millennial who thinks she might as well live large because she'll never be able to afford to live like her dad and I do. With that attitude, no, you will not. We sacrificed and made changes when we saw how living large wasn't allowing us to meet our goals. All millennials aren't like my dd but I do know a fair amount who are.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say she doesn’t want to change her lifestyle in order to save money.

 

It’s all a matter of priorities and this young woman’s priorities don’t really include wanting to buy a house. She doesn’t seem to really care about it. If she did, she would start cutting back on some of her expenditures and start putting that money aside. She’s not a stupid person, and she lives within her means, so she does know how to manage her money. I am confident that if she decided that she really wanted a house, she would be able to figure out a plan to eventually reach that goal, whether it would be to save more money, work more hours, get a second job, or whatever else she needed to do to get that house... but right now, she’s more interested in having fun and being more carefree, and if that’s her priority, that’s fine.

[marbel]

Wasteful?  Sure.  Unusual?  Other than the amounts, because I can't compare with 30+ years ago, her life looks a lot like mine when I was single in my 20s.  I ate lunch out everyday, and dinner out more often than not, though it was not unusual for dinner to be happy hour appetizers - free - or out with sales reps from work - they would pay.  Probably my alcohol consumption was less overall. 

 

I still remember an epic lunch hour shopping trip at Macy's where I spent $400 on clothing.  Suits and dresses for work, and that was not a frequent thing, but...ahhh memories.  LOL.

 

(Macy's then was a higher but not highest end department store. A notch below Nordstrom.  Can't compare with UK stores.)

[prairiewindmomma]

I know I commented above, but in round 2: I think her expenses, relative to her income, are quite high. I've seen quite a bit of millennial financial diaries (it's an ongoing series, I think), and I would've assumed she had been more in the 80-100k range with some of her splurges.

She could just as easily have a couple of eggs or a pot of yogurt for breakfast, packed a salad, and cook on Sundays for the week, saving the leftovers.  She could splurge with a Friday or Saturday night out with friends.

 

We now live in a HCOL area, and if she were my child, I'd be recommending cutting back to build up a nest egg.  Life changes, but having a good cushion takes some of the punch out of life's blows, even if she never plans on being able to afford her own home.

 

[vonfirmath]

The basic question of the article is.....can she save up enough to have a down payment on a home just buy cutting her spending.  And in the end, the answer was yes.  So, it's not really about passing judgment on her spending habits and what she should or shouldn't buy.  It's about the math.  According to the expert in the article, the math says that yes, if she cuts her spending, she can save for a down payment.  So if that's what she wants, as she says, then she will have to cut her spending habits, regardless of whether or not her spending habits are typical for someone like her.

 

I have never seen that word.......I am assuming this means she bought a coffee maker?

 

I did a google search. It's a French press -- a way to make fancy coffee. I liked the conclusion.

Edited January 29, 2018 by vonfirmath

[prairiewindmomma]

Here's a link to the series I read:

http://www.refinery29.com/money-diary

[Catwoman]

The basic question of the article is.....can she save up enough to have a down payment on a home just buy cutting her spending. And in the end, the answer was yes. So, it's not really about passing judgment on her spending habits and what she should or shouldn't buy. It's about the math. According to the expert in the article, the math says that yes, if she cuts her spending, she can save for a down payment. So if that's what she wants, as she says, then she will have to cut her spending habits, regardless of whether or not her spending habits are typical for someone like her.

 

Yes, absolutely.

 

Fortunately, many of her expenditures are for things she could easily do without or that she could replace with cheaper options. It’s not like she is spending thousands a month because she has huge medical bills or is paying for Grandma’s live-in nurse. She’s eating out, drinking quite a bit, and getting expensive haircuts, which are all very nice but could be modified if she wants to save money toward buying a house.

[Catwoman]

I know I commented above, but in round 2: I think her expenses, relative to her income, are quite high. I've seen quite a bit of millennial financial diaries (it's an ongoing series, I think), and I would've assumed she had been more in the 80-100k range with some of her splurges.

She could just as easily have a couple of eggs or a pot of yogurt for breakfast, packed a salad, and cook on Sundays for the week, saving the leftovers. She could splurge with a Friday or Saturday night out with friends.

 

We now live in a HCOL area, and if she were my child, I'd be recommending cutting back to build up a nest egg. Life changes, but having a good cushion takes some of the punch out of life's blows, even if she never plans on being able to afford her own home.

If she was my child, I would be recommending that she save money, as well. I wouldn’t even tell her she should be saving for a house. I’d be telling her that she needs to put money aside in case she ever loses her job, gets sick, or is injured and unable to work, so she will be able to pay her bills.

 

Life can be pretty unpredictable, so it’s a good idea to be as prepared as possible.

[Laura Corin]

We have tenants in London who live like that. We find it a bit mysterious. There is never anything in the fridge.

The £4.50 for lunch in the work canteen is what surprises me most. It doesn't sound like a fun expense, just expensive. Even if you don't bring in your own food you can buy a perfectly okay salad or sandwich for a lot less than that.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254279183

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/296016736

Edited January 29, 2018 by Laura Corin

[Alessandra]

I see that kind of purchasing all the time, and I find it very wasteful. I tend to amortize things in my head -- a cup of coffee out once per day will cost xyz over a lifetime. Buying a good quality $$$ kitchen pot will amortize at $ per year over a lifetime. I remember calculating the lifetime cost of cigarettes when I was about 15 -- not that I was actually planning to smoke -- and it was awful. But I don't regret the big, long-lasting purchases I made at a young age. My humble opinion.

 

I think there is a difference between having a meal with friends on occasion, which is fine, and not being able to fill a thermos with coffee at home on a daily basis. Some intentional luxuries are lovely, imo, but her spending seems mindless.

 

That young woman needs to learn about the rewards of delayed gratification. Frugality is not the same as miserliness. Personally, I view the term 'affordable luxury' as a marketing ploy, lol.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Completely off topic...I'd be as big as a whale if I ate out that much.  That's another thing I was thinking.  Of course it's also difficult to get healthy stuff in restaurants and cafeterias around here (unless you spend a lot of money).  Maybe that's not the case where she lives.  I don't know. 

[Annie G]

Here's a link to the series I read:

http://www.refinery29.com/money-diary

 

Holy cow. So far I've only read the recruiter from Chicago who makes $35k. That's a low salary for living in Chicago and yet she's paying people to walk her dog, getting blowouts (which also means she's buying dry shampoo for in between blowout visits), spends a ton on Uber even though she pays for an unlimited transit pass, and spends a lot eating and drinking out.  

 

Also, she seems to have a lot of guys! 

 

Thanks for the link- it's interesting!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you say she doesn’t want to change her lifestyle in order to save money.

 

It’s all a matter of priorities and this young woman’s priorities don’t really include wanting to buy a house. She doesn’t seem to really care about it. If she did, she would start cutting back on some of her expenditures and start putting that money aside. She’s not a stupid person, and she lives within her means, so she does know how to manage her money. I am confident that if she decided that she really wanted a house, she would be able to figure out a plan to eventually reach that goal, whether it would be to save more money, work more hours, get a second job, or whatever else she needed to do to get that house... but right now, she’s more interested in having fun and being more carefree, and if that’s her priority, that’s fine.

 

But, isn't she the subject of the article because she sought out some financial advice?  (I'm not familiar with the author or series).  If so, wouldn't that mean that she has some desire to buy that house even if she's not putting her money where her mouth is (see what I did there?) 

[Catwoman]

But, isn't she the subject of the article because she sought out some financial advice? (I'm not familiar with the author or series). If so, wouldn't that mean that she has some desire to buy that house even if she's not putting her money where her mouth is (see what I did there?)

I don’t think so.

 

In the article, she said she was “testing an assumption†that an average twenty-something would ever be able to afford a house.

 

I suspect she had an article to write and thought it would be an interesting topic.

[SKL]

Yeah, in that season of life I used to walk down to Brueggers Bagels and buy one raisin-and-cinnamon bagel for lunch each day.  It was not the cheapest option, but I was not disciplined enough to make a pbj at home each day.  :P  Gradually I found a variety of affordable options I could walk to from my downtown office building.  And after that, I gradually came up with a daily lunch I enjoyed bringing from home.

 

When I was really poor (i.e. didn't really earn enough to pay my student loans), I did make pbj for lunch each day, and did a lot of other things to cut corners.  I had an elaborate spreadsheet where I tracked my expenditures to the penny over a long time period.  I would keep revisiting "fixed" expenses to consider whether there were ways to reduce already frugal amounts.  It became sort of a hobby.

 

Even though I now "could" spend ridiculously, on a daily basis my main foolishness is that I don't cook to the extent most parents do.  And my main worry about that is that I'm not teaching my kids to avoid being in the OP journalist's situation in 15 years.

[Twolittleboys]

II honestly don't quite understand why most here seem to think the spending is excessive/wasteful. I absolutely do agree that she could save money but it doesn't seem like she is spending more than she makes (she saves a small amount every month I believe). 

 

We have tenants in London who live like that. We find it a bit mysterious. There was never anything in the fridge.

The £4.50 for lunch in the work canteen is what surprises me most. It doesn't sound like a fun expense, just expensive. Even if you don't bring in your own food you can buy a perfectly okay salad or sandwich for a lot less than that.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/254279183

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/296016736

 

In my experience, eating in the work canteen is often part of the job. I have had various jobs where everyone eats there and you would definitely be the odd one out. I once had a colleague who did bring in food instead to save money and of course it is okay - but it also seems a bit "unfriendly". Most places I have worked at, people in an office/team stop working at say noon and go to eat together. Not going along would not necessarily be conducive to good working relationships (not necessarily horrible but just a bit strange). Often people also talk about work stuff there, it is a chance to get the manager better etc. It really is almost a necessitiy.

 

If she was my child, I would be recommending that she save money, as well. I wouldn’t even tell her she should be saving for a house. I’d be telling her that she needs to put money aside in case she ever loses her job, gets sick, or is injured and unable to work, so she will be able to pay her bills.

Life can be pretty unpredictable, so it’s a good idea to be as prepared as possible.

 

Again, it depends. Obviously, saving is always good but life is quite a bit less precarious in Europe. Not sure about the UK but assuming it is the same as where I live, people rarely get fired (unless down-sizing of company or doing something really wrong), you get paid (maybe a bit less but still) if sick even if it is for a longer period etc. Of course stuff still happens but if you are healthy, well-educated, and young, there isn't much need for existential worries (especially if there is some family in the background that would help if absolutely necessary).

 

Also, most of her "excessive" expenses are ones she could easily cut out (holidays, going out etc.). I would be much more concerned if she bought an expensive car, furniture etc. and had to pay them off. 

 

I am not saying that saving would be a bad idea or that she couldn't cut down but I think her lifestyle seems fairly typical and as she does still save money and does not spend more than she can afford it seems fine to me.

[regentrude]

Holy cow. So far I've only read the recruiter from Chicago who makes $35k. That's a low salary for living in Chicago and yet she's paying people to walk her dog

If she's at work all day and cannot pop home at lunch to do it, maybe that's necessary? Can dogs handle not being able to pee for 12 hours?

[Pawz4me]

If she's at work all day and cannot pop home at lunch to do it, maybe that's necessary? Can dogs handle not being able to pee for 12 hours?

 

Most healthy adult dogs can, but IMO it's not good for their health to do so on a continual basis.

[freesia]

I think that it shows the blind spots a lot of 20 somethings have (and had back on my day). The little things do add up. On $24000 starting teacher salary in the early 90s in DC, I was able to pay off $10000 school loan in two years. How? Bringing my lunch, walking to work when I lived close enough, not buying coffee out. I shared houses with at least two other women. I still had a gym membership, bought plenty of new clothes, but I went out for dinner only about once a week, if that and went to the bar once a week for happy hour with the other teachers.

 

She is indulging herself with luxuries that seem normal when you have money. Since she had the money I would say it's not morally wrong--but she could save for a house, for sure.

[Annie G]

If she's at work all day and cannot pop home at lunch to do it, maybe that's necessary? Can dogs handle not being able to pee for 12 hours?

 

I've never had a dog so I don't know. The first dog walk was because she got up late and didn't have time to walk her dog before work. The second time was because she got a notice from the app that since they were in her neighborhood they would walk the dog at a discount. So the first was her own scheduling issue and the second seemed to be because it was a bargain price- though she did say she was 'planning' to get the dog walked. 

 

Some days she never mentions the dog at all, though it seems she's been gone all day or home sick. So who knows how long the dog can be home alone. 

[SKL]

I feel sorry for her having such large costs to get to & from work.  Then again ... I had to pay for parking when I worked downtown, which was half of what I paid for rent when I was in rent.  Either way, it's jacked up.  :/

[Laura Corin]

I feel sorry for her having such large costs to get to & from work.  Then again ... I had to pay for parking when I worked downtown, which was half of what I paid for rent when I was in rent.  Either way, it's jacked up.  :/

 

I wonder how far away from work she actually lives?  Bus plus tube might be a dog-leg.  When I lived in London I walked about 2.5 miles in around 45 minutes each way to and from work.  It saved money and I didn't have a gym membership.  Most of London is pretty safe to walk.