The average-consumer spends an astronomical £3126.63 a year on what I call consumer frivolities per year. This completely unnecessary expenditure includes spending on:
- restaurants and hotels (£791.32), which consists of weekly or monthly treats out and holidays. Actually a bit less than I expected, probably due to the cost of living crisis nerfing this expenditure area!
- recreation and culture (£1275.67), which for most people means the cost of purchasing audio-visual equipment and subscriptions to various services, and also includes the cost of entrance to things such as cinemas, concerts and festivals.
- And 'miscellaneous goods' (£1059.64), which in the ONS family spending survey mainly consists of beauty products and jewellery, and finally recreation and culture (£111.06).
Maintaining this for 10 years would result in expenditure of £31 263.30.
So what does the average person get for this £31, 263.10 over ten years. ?
Well, the consumer gets whatever frivolities they want for the money they've got, assuming the market can provide it. Some people will choose a house full of antiques, others a house full of gadgets, and still others closets full of clothes and boxes full of jewellery.
Increasingly likely, though, is that money will be spent not on stuff, but on experiences, such as playing the dating game, or weekends away and longer holidays, supplemented by such products as fake tan and sun cream to prevent an actual tan.
To many people, such consumerist experiences are the very purpose of life: the products we buy define us, mark us out, and the events we purchase play a crucial part in our weekly, monthly and yearly life-course – they are things we look forward to, and back on, the events which help to maintain and define our relationships with our friends and family and give us something to talk about with all of those other people who we aren't so keen on interacting with.
I've managed to resist the urge to be utterly cynical about the role which consumption plays in most people's lives, because just recently I've come to perceive most ordinary consumption as tragic, and in this context cynicism seems inappropriate. Those people who define themselves through their stuff become tied to it (and possibly require a bigger house in which to stuff their stuff), and for those who define themselves through their experiences, it seems to me that the way in which many people consume such events involves them not really being present because they're too concerned with acting for the sake of sharing the experience via social media, and for me if you're not actually present, then you're not really even alive.
Being frugal could knock a year and a half of yer retirement age!
In contrast, the frugal-consumer rejects the trivial, shallow and short-lived fake-joys of consumerism and instead engages in meaningful, productive and either free or very cheap activities when not working. The frugal-consumer is not, however, a total anti-consumer, and maintains an expenditure level on 'consumer frivolities' which allow them to avoid being completely cut off from ordinary society. This is mainly because I could not, hand on heart, say that I am ever likely to cut out consuming frivolities all together myself, cut down radically yes, cutting out altogether, highly unlikely.
So let’s say the frugal-consumer spends just £60 a month on such frivolities, allowing for £20 a month on restaurants and hotels (so basically no hotel stays and one trip to a restaurant a month), £20 a month on furniture and furnishings, given that this category includes spending on basic household items such as Hoovers, a further £20 for 'miscellaneous goods' because everyone needs a little something extra, and a whopping £30 a month for recreation and culture. This amounts to an annual expenditure of £1080 a year, a total of £10 800 over 10 years, representing a saving of £20, 463.10 over 10 years.
If we compound that amount monthly for 10 years then we end up with £29 244. That is equivalent to around 18 months of living on the frugal consumer’s low annual income needs of £18K a year.
NB If this looks unrealistic, or even unbearable, approximately the bottom fifth of the population of the UK in terms of income live such a life out of necessity, rather than as part of an early retirement strategy, so it is possible...
Sources
ONS family spending survey 2022
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Crazy to see! I noticed the difference in person during lockdown while writing my phd thesis. Spent inside just eating and sleeping to stay alive while writing for the rest of the hours. My net worth upped as fast as never before! Got me a serious down payment to my first home! Since then I’ve been slacking it and your post reminds me to reevaluate 😅
Nicely done, it is easy to slack though!
Back to it!
BEER
One of my favorite sayings in life is:
Oh I like that!
BEER
It is not mine but it is a good one!
I thought you would like it. :)
That's nuts. When you see the numbers all added up. Boggles the brain.
Much as I am for being frugal and avoiding waste, I did think reading this, sure but I could also die of a coronary at 50. Never reach retirement, early or otherwise. Would probably regret (in an abstract sense) denying myself of all these frivolities, you know?
Restaurants- most such outings also have a social aspect. Sure, you can have people over and so on but not always.
Holidays and hotels- for many of the 9to5ers , those brief two weeks or less on the beach in Spain or whatever are the highlight of their year.
As for cultural life, concerts, shows, theater etc...I'd say I couldn't imagine my life without. I can. It was called the pandemic and it was horrible.
But I get where this is coming from, I really do. I view a lot of other people's "frivolities" (e.g. spending money on crap at the mall or paying for fancy gym membership) as a foolish waste of money.
For me, it always comes down to "would i be okay with missing this occasion/getaway/event" and "is this worth the x hours of work it requires not to put a dent in my finances " :)
Very thought provoking. Thank you. Hope your digital detox thing is going well:)
I think we all have something that get's us spending - mine's beer probably!
Those holidays which make working a 9-5 worthwhile, makes me shudder if I'm honest!
This kind of savings routine can be brutal, the trick is to find stuff to do which is free, maybe that's easier said than done?!?
Or better yet, side hustles one enjoys that make money.
I've just joined a drumming circle, the woman who runs that has a fucking great time and earns money, now that's my sort of thing!
Nice to get a reminder of getting back to the DD - Sunday is good for that!
We have a proverb;
It becomes a lake drop by drop.
I like that!
There is a balance. Reality is the less we have and want the more free we are from the 9 to 5 job. Earn less we consume less. Although I totally agree with your approach where the more one saves the less they have to work. The challenge is to find the balance and still be happy.
I'm not anti spending, more anti-having-to-work...
The more you can save earlier the freeer you are from the later sooner!
I was always staggered by your beer budget 😜
Amazing how low it is, what can I say, I am super disciplined!
BEER
You live really frugally for years and be better off later on, but it could mean missing out on a lot of experiences. It's all a matter of balance. I treat myself to some things, but I don't smoke, I don't drink a lot, I don't buy many clothes, I have a basic phone and I don't go out every week. But I do go to some concerts and have the odd nice meal. Our consumerist culture does encourage people to define themselves by possessions and consumption, but I try to resist that. Social media may play a part in this as our habits can be more visible. If only people knew they could be earning from it :)
Yes I'm not entirely against spending/ events, I get it, it all depends how awful work is whether it's worthwhile on balance!
Bonkers to think we get rewarded for doing well, this!
Best possible outcome is to being naturally born frugal - and also admit that. Something which you not force on yourself, also knowing that you can spend less than more if you need it gives psychological advantage.
Interestingly just somehow having it, it gave me a lot of piece nowadays.