What's your approach to money?

Afraid I am with you as long as the bills are paid,I am noti irresponsible with money but don't seem able to hang on to it either....life is too short not to have treats....and you can't take it with you...

I was brought up fairly, though not lavishly, affluent so it's quite difficult to adjust to living on a pension.

I have had quite a topsy turvy life but because of insecurity, I've had to be fairly frugal. I go for writing a shopping list; turning lights off etc. etc. All those things that are talked about on TV. Make sure you eat before food shopping and stick to the list (unless there is a very good offer). I budget an amount for food weekly and try not to exceed this. As we don't have a car I use the buses but use an all day ticket and do most things on one day (roll on my bus pass in 2 years time). I have been buying warm winter jumpers (not acrylic) and Woolovers is good value - not fancy, so I can turn the heating down.

I like my treats too. My favourite just now are scones with strawberry jam. I have one when I get home from work.

Perhaps deciding what your next treat will be and saving an amount each week could help. It's a great feeling when you have reached your goal.

All the best

I enjoy budgeting - I have worked out what my monthly outgoings on food, petrol, electricity, insurances, internet/telephone and management charges for my flat are, allowed some extra for yearly bills like water and property taxes, and then I transfer anything surplus to my deposit account which pays for repairs to household/car and my travels. Some months I have to buy replacements, like tyres or a new fridge, so I can't put anything on deposit that month.
I have always been prudent with money - my mother was hopeless at budgeting her very small income and my sister tells me that when I was about eight I was already reminding her that she needed to put something away towards the gas/electricity bills. My parents never had a bank account and both got paid weekly in cash.
I got married at 18 and took over the household finances - my ex-husband was completely impractical and wanted to change his car every few months. (I didn't let him!)
A member of my family has addiction problems, which include over-spending and getting heavily into debt. This has involved me in considerable losses which is galling when none of it was spent on me.

We have had to be very frugal at times in our lives so I have kept the habit for everyday things. We add sweaters rather than putting the heat up and close the doors of the rooms we don't use and turn those radiators off.

In the supermarket we buy things on special offer and freeze things like meat so we always have variety. I never pay full price for washing powder, fabric softener, coffee, toothpaste, baked beans, cereal etc., etc., as we buy them when on offer and keep until we need them.

This means that when we want to go out we can do so and don't need to scrimp. I do buy clothes in sales sometimes but if I really like something I buy it because as someone else said, you can't take it with you and we have done our best for our boys so it is our turn now. We have much better holidays now than we did when the boys were around as we can afford them now.

I really don't see the point of saving for a rainy day now, we might not live that long.

I'm afraid my general approach to money can be described as 'cavalier'.

I am more of a budget person myself. However I don't mind as I like charity shops rather than ordinary shops in general. As for clothes my size means I only have the likes of Bon Marche and Evans to shop at. I do spend money on shoes though or if there is something I like very much.

It has always been DH and mine approach to life and thank goodness we were like it. We are in a comfortable place for us, not a lot but enough and as we get older we do not spend so much. As long as we get a holiday and a couple of weeks away in England we are quite content. We also take the GD on a Sun £9.50 break as she loves the caravan, how many GN',s go on them?, not many I think, more cruises for you gals.

I'm glad to see DD has followed our suit too. She is a good with money but I think we are all going to have to be over the coming years because of world economy. I do fear for me GD because of that but I feared for DD too, so no change there.

Like Annobel I'm afraid my approach is cavalier too! But I am married to a wonderful man who has organised, planned and saved so that we are in a very comfortable place now. Mind you, I worked long and hard for it , and so did he, but he sorted it all out, with only the occasional sigh in the past over a credit card biil. I do appreciate all this so much, bless him.

Way to go Annobel! Me too!

One of my biggest sadnesses was to see my dear old Dad save all his life and then become too old & infirm to enjoy the benefits. He realised this himself and commented that his savings may as well have been 'stones in my pocket' for all the use the money was to him in the end.

My own view is that life's not a rehearsal and that once the bills are paid, we must grab the opportunity to enjoy our lives, while we can.

I am with you Ruth. I think I was saying 'Do it now' long before Nike! Once you have provided for the essentials go out and enjoy as you don't know what is waiting round the corner to bite you. DH and I agree that aking memories together is the most important thing so that if one of us dies the other has lots of happy times to remember.

I like to spend a bit when I feel like it. But I like to feel our old age has been well catered for. Really don't want to be hard up in later life.

I have a rubbish relationship with money. I very rarely have any to spare and on the rare occasions that I do you can bet your bottom dollar that something will happen or breakdown that I will have to pay out for.

To be honest I have never expected to be or wished to be rich I just wish sometimes there was a little bit spare for a treat or dare I say a holiday. At the same time I can never see the point of hoarding money and examining bank balances just for the thrill of seeing the noughts and believe you me I know people who do just that ! I would give anyone anything and always fall for anyone'e hard luck tale so probably would always be broke anyway.

As I'm [still] having my 'clear out' I'm finding so many things that I regret buying, usually clothes that have been bought for special occasions and then hardly worn. At such times I tend to go into town and get carried away, not sure what to buy and purchasing far too much, whereas I'd be better spending money on everyday clothes that I would get wear out of. My feet are my main problem; as soon as I find shoes that are comfortable and stock up on them something else goes wrong with me feet and I never wear them again. Bought a beautiful pair of shoes for my daughters wedding that looked so chic I couldn't believe that a] they didn't hurt and b] I could walk in them, only for my knee to go wonky which put paid to heels. Stocked up on Nike Air trainers whenever they were in a sale only to find one day that they hurt horribly, and this is after years of wearing them with no problem. As for everyday things I find that splashing out occasionally on something that I know will make me happy [I'm thinking at the moment about buying a pair of greyhounds [not real ones!] to put over the fireplace as I know I'll look at them and feel uplifted]. CD's are awful; am I the only person to have the world's largest collection of rubbish music? Like Nigel Kennedy [why oh why?]. As for food, the S.O. loves shoping and gets all the Sainsburys bargains so we're quite frugal in that respect. And I've stopped backing the horses because it was costing me more in petrol to get to the bookies than I was winning [sob]. 3 for 2 purcheses are a pain also; I think Waterstones have stopped that now [?] as I have piles of unread books. Maybe I should go into town more often and then I wouldn't go into a sort of buying frenzy when I do? Oh, and I'm very careful with using loyalty cards [good old Boots] and the the banks NEVER get interest out of me !

......blimey; just dug Nigel out from the back of the cd shelf and it's quite listenableto; must've been into something else when I bought it [it was when he was on telly all the time years back].

crimson music is only rubbish sometimes and perfectly good at others depending what mood you are in. I drag old cd's out wondering "what the hell was I thinking when I bought that" and then other times I might stumble upon it and really enjoy it.

We recently moved house to be nearer grandchildren (never again) and couldn't believe the cr*p we had collected over the years !

I've just dug Elton. DH out on Wednesdays so I can let it blare. (No close neighbours!)

No. Don't ditch your cd's.

DD2 was mad on Nigel.

Got beyond track 2 and realised..it was rubbish after all. Will try Black Rebel Motorcycle Club next.

I hope that those of you who have husbands who take care of your finances do still know all the necessary information, about bank accounts, insurances, wills, pensions, etc.
When I worked in Brussels as a financial advisor, I was amazed at how many seemingly intelligent women had no idea of their family's financial situation - sometimes not even the name of their bank! I don't know what they would do if their husband died unexpectedly. One silly woman told me it was morbid to discuss insurance!

I find it much more cost effective to buy my paperbacks from a supermarket

One of my all time favourite CDs is Nigel Kennedy's Doors Concerto - Riders On The Storm. Absolutely beautiful.

Oh, Greatnan you are so right! I have my own ISAs etc, and my own credit card and bank account as well as the joint one; I am perfectly happy for Theseus to be my accountant but do need to know details. He is so happy to tell me! (At length, sometimes, until I call a halt and give him a Jamiesons)

Oh dear Greatnan perhaps you should tell DH that. I took over the finances 2 years after we married when I found out we were paying interest on the credit card. At one point when I wasn't working all our savings were in my name to save on tax and now all DH has is his ISAs, I have the rest.

I have everything on a spreadsheet with review dates when introductory bonuses run out etc. but can't get him to look at it all. I suppose he will just have to sort it out if I go first.

DH worries about money but I don't as I know what we have. I keep telling him not to but he still does.

I was also the one who bought and sold all our various houses as we moved around. I think he would be lost if he had to do these things.

When my husband knew he was dying I insisted he made lists and got everything up to date.
Seems hard I know, but am I glad idid!