I agree with all this.
It always used to puzzle me that my brother, who earns about the same as me, always has his shit together, always has the means to do what he needs to do - eg, he just moved house, and immediately paid £4,000 in cash for new windows (one of his friends runs a window company).

We never used to have a pot to piss in, and had nothing more to show for it.

It's what you say. He is very aware of what they spend. He tracks his finances carefully. He reviews his insurance / TV packages etc regualarly, and shops around.

His wife does all the Christmas shopping in March.

I've already said this, but in the last couple of weeks, and with some prompting from here, I have changed insurance policies, utility bills and my Virgin subscription. That's £80/month for making 3 or 4 0800 phone calls.

I think the point is, if you can't say what you're spending your money on, you're probably wasting a lot of it.

Having said all that, one of the reasons for wanting to save money was a knackered car. We bought a new one last weekend on zero percent finance . . . so I'll still be skint.
(username failed moderation, Wed 16 Nov 2011, 11:45, 1 reply)

0%
zero percent isn't really a great deal. You're still paying for the loan, they just don't add it up explicitly for you. Try paying cash, and you will get a nice discount.
(Simian Typewriter Supplies Pty. Ltd. is house hunting in the neighborhood of infinity, Wed 16 Nov 2011, 12:08, closed)

Seems about the
same, I negotiated it all down a bit anyway, got metalic paint thrown in, etc.

'course, you're right - no such thing as a free lunch. It just feels like a good deal.
(username failed moderation, Wed 16 Nov 2011, 12:36, closed)