Lara Joanna Jarvis

[RobinsNest]

These 'I saved' blah articles are always "I bought a house at 12 because mummy and daddy bought it for me" or "we saved loads of money because we have massive incomes". I'm tempted to start a thread on the finance youtubers. The American ones in particular are fascinating.

Do! There definitely needs to be some sort of discussion about this. Did anyone watch that show "mortgage free"? They took 6 or so people who didn't have mortgages and explained how they did it. Many, were people who bought houses in the 70s/80s, sold in the boom and made enough to pay off an entire new house. The rest were given a chunk of land from their grandparents and were assisted in building some little cabin by their uncles the carpenter and the electrician.

 

[Millennial Pink]

Do! There definitely needs to be some sort of discussion about this. Did anyone watch that show "mortgage free"? They took 6 or so people who didn't have mortgages and explained how they did it. Many, were people who bought houses in the 70s/80s, sold in the boom and made enough to pay off an entire new house. The rest were given a chunk of land from their grandparents and were assisted in building some little cabin by their uncles the carpenter and the electrician.

Finance/Debt-free Influencers | Tattle Life set up here. I'm really curious to see if that community is popular (or hated, I suppose!) with Tattle posters.

I don't think I saw that one, but I remember there was a similar one on Ch4 a while back where people were mortgage free by buying and living in a canal boat. Each to their own but I'd prefer a mortgage and brick walls.

I watched her latest video and noticed this at the bottom of the description:
The information discussed on this channel is for educational & entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered advice. Please do your own research and I encourage you to seek professional tax, legal, and financial advice, before making your own actions and decisions. All notes believed to be accurate at the time of posting but not guaranteed.
Was that always there? I don't think that would hold up considering she does 0 research and consistently gives incorrect info. Do we know what her career background is? I suspect it wasn't finance

 

[ChartreuseAndPink]

duck me. Her tips are:
- "Ditch the holidays". But she hasn't. Not only is she not ditching the holidays, she's getting free ones?!
- "Shop your wardrobe". Hers is overflowing. This is great in principle, but it seems like she is always buying new clothes and she constantly shows decluttering videos where we can she has more clothes than my entire family has put together.
- "ditch the daily coffees". Sounds like the boomer "you don't have any savings because you buy too many lattes". Who IS still buying those £5 coffees every day of the year? She reckons you can save £1,186.25 on coffee alone and I find that absurd.
- Paid surveys My family do this religiously. They have not made £600 a year between them, no way.
- Cashback. I find it hard to believe anyone is getting 3k back. I use mine for everything, the biggest rewards are switching bills and insurance. i do mine every year but I've made £1000 in 3-4 years ish. This suggests you're already spending A LOT of money to get the cashback.

Then there's 6k in "dinner plans". She forgot to factor in babysitting and stuff when she says "dinner is £50 a week if you eat out". A meal is easily £30, if not more, so the true figure for most parent couples would be a lot more per week, or they'd do it much less frequently.

And 6k on holidays. Apparently that's for 4 people and 2 holidays per year. Like, maybe do some actual work and suggest cheaper holidays? And maybe 1 a year? Or every other? I find it insulting that she's suggesting to people who follow her to actually save money because they need to go on less holidays when they're probably not able to afford a holiday, let alone 2, in the first place.

That whole piece is misleading, patronising, and lazy.

I'm buying the £5 coffees oh the shame.
There are definitely things i could and should ditch to improve my spending. But don't go out socialising with friends and if you do go early, order tap water and then leave before the food arrives... just beyond depressing. Yes, don't live and spend beyond your means but allow yourself to enjoy life.

 

[Stickystickystickstick]

The ‘tip’ to order tap water made me laugh. As if she’d skip a blogger friends brunch at the Ivy and just meet them for a glass of water afterwards I guess that’s why she’s not got her house yet…

 

[Gossip lockdown]

The tip that Lara has failed to grasp is that you can only save if you had the money in the first place. If you don't have the money to get a coffee each day or eat out your not saving by simply forgoing these treats, your still in the same place financially. I don't have take away coffee and I always take my own lunch to work but I can't put £5+ into my savings each time I do this as the money's not there.
Also surveys don't pay that much, mostly they pay less than £1. I've done them for 18months I've earned £350 which I'm grateful for but it's nowhere near the amount she's claiming.
Generally I think she's ok, I just don't understand her nobuy nonsense when she still has her beautypie subscription, sky, gusto and expensive holidays etc. The mind boggles!

 

[RobinsNest]

Finance/Debt-free Influencers | Tattle Life set up here. I'm really curious to see if that community is popular (or hated, I suppose!) with Tattle posters.

I don't think I saw that one, but I remember there was a similar one on Ch4 a while back where people were mortgage free by buying and living in a canal boat. Each to their own but I'd prefer a mortgage and brick walls.

Thank you!!

And yes! I think it was that one. I kind of liked the boat, but it's not practical for most. You still need to have the money to live somewhere while you build it, and then have the money to build it. That's the problem most people have saving for a mortgage-it's really hard to save anything when yo'ure also paying sky high rent.

I'm buying the £5 coffees oh the shame.
There are definitely things i could and should ditch to improve my spending. But don't go out socialising with friends and if you do go early, order tap water and then leave before the food arrives... just beyond depressing. Yes, don't live and spend beyond your means but allow yourself to enjoy life.

Ha, every day?!!? I'm all for people prioritising the things that bring them the most joy, and if that coffee makes you happy, it's not really denting how much you save for a deposit. Just saving that £1,400 a year on coffee would still be like, 20 years of not having coffee to get a whole deposit and that's a joke. And I think it's so rare, that it's not something you can list on general advice for everyone.

The tip that Lara has failed to grasp is that you can only save if you had the money in the first place.

And this for sure. She said she saved £25k a year. That's pretty much the average salary and she's sure as tit not living for nothing. Her housing costs are MUCH lower than that of most people, so taking into account real rent, and bills. Especially if you're in a high cost of living area. Single people are screwed, we could only buy our place because my husband's job is decently (not massively) well paid, so we basically lived off his salary and saved mine for 5 years (and had no coffees, no dinners out and no holidays, and it was a crappy and boring way to spend your 20s in hindsight).

 

[ChartreuseAndPink]

Thank you!!

And yes! I think it was that one. I kind of liked the boat, but it's not practical for most. You still need to have the money to live somewhere while you build it, and then have the money to build it. That's the problem most people have saving for a mortgage-it's really hard to save anything when yo'ure also paying sky high rent.




Ha, every day?!!? I'm all for people prioritising the things that bring them the most joy, and if that coffee makes you happy, it's not really denting how much you save for a deposit. Just saving that £1,400 a year on coffee would still be like, 20 years of not having coffee to get a whole deposit and that's a joke. And I think it's so rare, that it's not something you can list on general advice for everyone.




And this for sure. She said she saved £25k a year. That's pretty much the average salary and she's sure as tit not living for nothing. Her housing costs are MUCH lower than that of most people, so taking into account real rent, and bills. Especially if you're in a high cost of living area. Single people are screwed, we could only buy our place because my husband's job is decently (not massively) well paid, so we basically lived off his salary and saved mine for 5 years (and had no coffees, no dinners out and no holidays, and it was a crappy and boring way to spend your 20s in hindsight).

No not every day, I was exaggerating, 2 or 3 a week. My new year's resolution to cut back, mainly for the waistline

 

[Pushyplumb]

Lara is hardly Martin Lewis is she. It is either an AD or basic stuff she has got from other money saving experts. Lot of the information either out of date or inaccurate.

When she have brought a house or done a true no buy year without gifted or as she calls them #presstrip holidays come back and offer advice.

 

[hlc123456]

She has only ever been able to save money because she is gifted numerous items ans holidays including Cornwall last year. She also deceptively shares refer a friend links for Hello Fresh and Topcashback etc. Whilst not exactly an ad or paid for promotion by tellibg her followers to follow the link she gains refer a friend free money and hello fresh boxes. This she does not make clear-she just appears to be being helpful by sharing the website link.

 

[Popcornshovel]

Do! There definitely needs to be some sort of discussion about this. Did anyone watch that show "mortgage free"? They took 6 or so people who didn't have mortgages and explained how they did it. Many, were people who bought houses in the 70s/80s, sold in the boom and made enough to pay off an entire new house. The rest were given a chunk of land from their grandparents and were assisted in building some little cabin by their uncles the carpenter and the electrician.

Yes I remember this! Especially the bit where they got free land at their parents farm or something (most parents just have a small garden!) and built one of those crap, cold 'tiny houses' on it. That's not exactly most people's definition of a normal, comfortable home.

 

[Popcornshovel]

In the latest vid she talks about gratitude. She mentioned being grateful for this pot in the bedroom.

Not sure how far that attitude has got her, given she's viewed about a million houses and not bought one? She must be really picky!

 

[Tickalatock]

I watched her latest video about how much money she has saved this month and i cant get my head around it!! So she says if she might have bought a coffee then that is saving £5. She was asked on a night out with friends, she said no and thats a saving of £65. So does this mean if I think of a luxury holiday somewhere hot but dont book anything then i have saved £5000!!! Am i just being thick??

 

[Swipeuptobuy]

I went and looked at a car at the weekend …..didn’t buy it as it wasn’t quite right. I only bloody saved myself £30k I’m so proud of myself ….. Thick as mince that one. Here’s an idea …..get a bloody proper job then you’ll be really earning not fannying around garden centres having brunch with the other Wannabe’s. And also living in a council house paying a subsidised rent also helps. God help them when they have to pay a hefty mortgage…….

 

[GoldSilver]

I watched her latest video about how much money she has saved this month and i cant get my head around it!! So she says if she might have bought a coffee then that is saving £5. She was asked on a night out with friends, she said no and thats a saving of £65. So does this mean if I think of a luxury holiday somewhere hot but dont book anything then i have saved £5000!!! Am i just being thick??

We’ve been doing it wrong all these years!

 

[Millennial Pink]

And also living in a council house paying a subsidised rent also helps. God help them when they have to pay a hefty mortgage…….

I think that's a big reason why, consciously or not, they haven't bought anything yet. Reality will hit them hard if they did ever complete.

 

[Pushyplumb]

In that case Lara has saved herself £500000 + by not buying a house even though she has been looking for three years. Money saving expert my arse!

 

[Popcornshovel]

In that case Lara has saved herself £500000 + by not buying a house even though she has been looking for three years. Money saving expert my arse!

Omg this made me spit out my coffee. Lara is a money saving queen based on this calculation

 

[Banoffeebabe]

It’s cost avoidance not saving. To some extent it’s always going to be a matter of degree - if you usually buy a coffee on the way to work and start taking one from home you will have a tangible saving, but if you decide you’ve saved £5 every time you walk past a coffee shop and not bought anything it’s not a true saving.

 

[Dont swipe up!]

I think that's a big reason why, consciously or not, they haven't bought anything yet. Reality will hit them hard if they did ever complete.

And a really rough house and estate she lives on the worst in Basingstoke
She is so desperate to get out of there and have her insta worthy house like all her chums but she is just so picky it isn’t going to happen

 

[Swipeuptobuy]

Well she is banking every month as it’s a council house with reduced rent ….she shouldn’t be in it. It’s morally wrong but heho old Lara can spend on her nails and eating at gobshite garden centres ….