living thrifty

[Grabspopcorn]

Like all influencers eventually do, living thrifty has become a caricature of herself online. I'm sure she's a lovely person in real life but her account is just too much of a parody now. They all seem to jump on these insignificant ideas and praise them as 'life changing'. The amount of posts I've seen about these jars is ridiculous, people are spending more time marketing the idea as The Next Big Thing, than actually working on their procrastination issues.

Also, no one needs to batch cook porridge, overnight oats is one thing if you're eating it cold the next morning (I do this sometimes) but porridge takes 3 minutes to make in the morning.

She is a very minor Instagram influcner so she flies under my radar a bit but her recent posts laying bare all her savings seemed in poor taste at the moment when so many people are struggling. There was no benefit to anyone in sharing those posts, other than to pat herself on the back and get praise.

However, those are my only irks and generally I think she's better than a lot of money Instagram accounts. Phew clearly I needed to get that off me chest

 

[LucyLu2]

The other day she was going on and on about her “spending money” for the month. She had £100 I think it was of “fun” money. It made me feel sick. With the effects of lockdown etc we are desperate for money right now. There simply is no fun money. If I manage to scrimp and save enough I might find a little to stretch to a chocolate bar or similar to make home schooling that tad easier, but the idea of just having £100 to splurge on anything (after all her bloody saving pots) is just so not in keeping with how people are really living right now.

when I started following her she seemed relatable, but the last few weeks have demonstrated the opposite of that.

 

[bigglebopperey]

I don't understand why they scrimp and save so much on things like food but then she fritters money away on absolute tat because it's second hand?! Makes no sense.

 

[C_u_l8a]

How is she living thrifty if she buys a robot hoover and doesn't use it for 6 month?

 

[Anotherct]

The other day she was going on and on about her “spending money” for the month. She had £100 I think it was of “fun” money. It made me feel sick. With the effects of lockdown etc we are desperate for money right now. There simply is no fun money. If I manage to scrimp and save enough I might find a little to stretch to a chocolate bar or similar to make home schooling that tad easier, but the idea of just having £100 to splurge on anything (after all her bloody saving pots) is just so not in keeping with how people are really living right now.

when I started following her she seemed relatable, but the last few weeks have demonstrated the opposite of that.

I didn’t like the way she worded it as ‘I usually have £300 a month but I don’t need that so I’ll give myself £100’. It infuriates me as she’s studying and doesn’t even work full time.

I am frugal, I get bargains on anything I buy and I make my money stretch further BUT there’s not a chance in hell would I rather save money than enjoy my holidays or life. Imagine going to New York and not spending money because you want to look good with a big bank balance. She sits there and goes on about how she’s decorated her house cheap (got a sofa bed instead of sofa) and oh look it needed replacing not long after. That is NOT thrifty. Buying an expensive item that will last longer at a reduced price is thrifty.

also, why does she need fun money? We’re in a pandemic. Why does she need to buy clothes and shoes when she’s at home all day?

 

[JoeBloggs]

I didn’t like the way she worded it as ‘I usually have £300 a month but I don’t need that so I’ll give myself £100’. It infuriates me as she’s studying and doesn’t even work full time.

I am frugal, I get bargains on anything I buy and I make my money stretch further BUT there’s not a chance in hell would I rather save money than enjoy my holidays or life. Imagine going to New York and not spending money because you want to look good with a big bank balance. She sits there and goes on about how she’s decorated her house cheap (got a sofa bed instead of sofa) and oh look it needed replacing not long after. That is NOT thrifty. Buying an expensive item that will last longer at a reduced price is thrifty.

also, why does she need fun money? We’re in a pandemic. Why does she need to buy clothes and shoes when she’s at home all day?

They really don’t read the room. I walked away from my freebie/bargain Instagram account last year because of all this.

I have a very healthy saving bank balance, have a few side incomes which have kept me a float during this pandemic thankfully. But I decided to remove myself from it all as I just wasn’t interested anymore. Instead of claiming freebies I didn’t want i have cleared my house out and donated to charity, sold and made donations and collected for the food bank. There are quite a few in this money saving community who are so money grabbing it’s sickening. Taking all the freebies, screwing over companies and boosting about it!

Like Emma, I wouldn’t want to live their lifestyle despite how #goals it appears.

 

[tagliatelle]

The thing that baffles me is that she admits she has a complicated relationship with food and would like to lose weight. Well, why the ever loving eff don’t you prioritise food and well-being by buying yourself healthier, fresh food.

Also, I would love to have a proper look at her actual income. How does she maintain so many savings pots? Someone needs to remind her how much tax she’ll be paying on her village of houses, too. I’ve never seen her mention it.

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

I didn't study in the UK, so I'm very ignorant about this topic. But considering that Lisa has managed to to save £20k, why does she feel the need to take out £8k annual student loans? It doesn't make sense to me to get into any sort of debt when you have so much money at your disposal?

 

[Anotherct]

I didn't study in the UK, so I'm very ignorant about this topic. But considering that Lisa has managed to to save £20k, why does she feel the need to take out £8k annual student loans? It doesn't make sense to me to get into any sort of debt when you have so much money at your disposal?

Because with a student loan you pay so little. I had a student loan that was 3k a year and then I got the living costs so my total was about 20k and I only pay £20 a month. Most people never pay the student loan off and it gets wiped after so long.

The thing that baffles me is that she admits she has a complicated relationship with food and would like to lose weight. Well, why the ever loving eff don’t you prioritise food and well-being by buying yourself healthier, fresh food.

Also, I would love to have a proper look at her actual income. How does she maintain so many savings pots? Someone needs to remind her how much tax she’ll be paying on her village of houses, too. I’ve never seen her mention it.

I think she’s living off her wife’s wage more than she lets on so her wife doesn’t have savings but she does.

 

[tagliatelle]

Because with a student loan you pay so little. I had a student loan that was 3k a year and then I got the living costs so my total was about 20k and I only pay £20 a month. Most people never pay the student loan off and it gets wiped after so long.


I think she’s living off her wife’s wage more than she lets on so her wife doesn’t have savings but she does.

This would make sense. It always makes me squirm when she says how Steph is much more generous with buying things. Right, so you’re letting your wife buy you takeaway because you’re too cheap to?! To be honest, I find them very odd: they moved from London, iirc, to Manchester purely for a reduced cost of living. What about their families? Friends?

I didn't study in the UK, so I'm very ignorant about this topic. But considering that Lisa has managed to to save £20k, why does she feel the need to take out £8k annual student loans? It doesn't make sense to me to get into any sort of debt when you have so much money at your disposal?

Your student loan repayments are directly tied to how much you earn. Everything you earn over £18k or £25k (depending on which student loan you have) is essentially taxed at 9% and the repayments are taken straight from your payslip. If you don’t earn that much, you don’t pay anything, and there are no penalties for not paying, other than the interest rate. Given that most people’s are on course to be wiped after 30 years anyway, the interest rate makes very little difference.

 

[Snarky]

Yeah it all has to be paid back. I am paying back my student loan but luckily my degree is a qualification so I cant do my job without my degree which makes paying it back easier. Too many people doing mickey mouse courses that don't get any qualification and getting into big debt just so they can go to uni. They just think oh sure I pay back minimal each month but wants the point of doing all these university courses unless you want a good paying job.

I dont understand these people who do undergraduate, then go on and do masters and then PHD without working in between. Some of them just want to be eternal students. Not sure what route Lisa has went but don't think she knows herself what she wants at the end of it all

 

[Penelope Strawberry]

I dont understand these people who do undergraduate, then go on and do masters and then PHD without working in between. Some of them just want to be eternal students. Not sure what route Lisa has went but don't think she knows herself what she wants at the end of it all

Lisa is doing Gender Studies. Curious to see what job she lands with that - I'm assuming she'll remain in academia.

 

[tagliatelle]

Yeah it all has to be paid back. I am paying back my student loan but luckily my degree is a qualification so I cant do my job without my degree which makes paying it back easier. Too many people doing mickey mouse courses that don't get any qualification and getting into big debt just so they can go to uni. They just think oh sure I pay back minimal each month but wants the point of doing all these university courses unless you want a good paying job.

I dont understand these people who do undergraduate, then go on and do masters and then PHD without working in between. Some of them just want to be eternal students. Not sure what route Lisa has went but don't think she knows herself what she wants at the end of it all

Tbf Student Finance loan debt isn’t debt in the traditional sense of the word, and it doesn’t make financial sense to make additional payments (unless you know you’re going to clear it before it’s wiped). So no shade from me for taking the additional loan payments.

However, I completely agree with you on Lisa’s lack of direction. For someone who talks about her life goals (chateau in France, etc) so often, she never talks about her career goals (which you’d think would be a big part of a personal finance Instagram account). This leads me to think she doesn’t have any - or, at the very least, they’re ill-defined. She seems chronically disorganised in other areas of her life, too (poor diet, no routine - lol, a baby will be a shock!), so it doesn’t surprise me.

 

[bigglebopperey]

Anyone remember when she went vegan and lasted like 2 weeks?

 

[Anotherct]

Anyone remember when she went vegan and lasted like 2 weeks?

The same as all her diets?

 

[bigglebopperey]

I've just remembered the time she made rags to wipe her a with

 

[itsnotmyfaulthonest]

Oh god, those wipes were grim!

 

[Anotherct]

Does anyone remember when she made all her family paving slabs for Xmas? Literally painted a bleeping paving slab.

 

[Lonelystarbuckslover]

Does anyone remember when she made all her family paving slabs for Xmas? Literally painted a bleeping paving slab.

Yeah then spent like £200 on tickets for something for her wife

 

[itsnotmyfaulthonest]

Paving slabs??? Must have missed that