Pay packet

How much do you actually have for yourself once you have been paid?

This month hurt for me and got me thinking…

My motor cost me like £500 in repairs this month… Which I only use to go to work.
I also spent like £10 today on food (MSA) prices which I wouldn’t of if I werent at work most days I spend between 5-7 on food/drink.

Heck most of my expenses are work related.
Just something I’m pondering about… :grimacing:
What really confuses me is when I see people who admitley spend £400+ on cars/bikes just so they can get to work. Admittedly I did do this briefly until some wise sole pointed out my stupidity now I drive a POS.

PS. Ye I know I could buy 2kg bags of pasta and live off that but I don’t really call that living.

I suspect I lose about 20-30% of my income on just feeding/clothing and driving myself to work each month.

Nothing.
I’m married, you see.

you drive a POS !!! what the hell is one of they ■■

■■■■■■■■■■■■■

adam277:
I also spent like £10 today on food (MSA) prices which I wouldn’t of if I werent at work most days I spend between 5-7 on food/drink.

You wouldn’t have to do that with a bit of forward planning.

I go to work with a home-made ham, cheese, tomato and onion sandwich which costs about 80p to make, a packet of Walkers crisps from a supermarket six-pack at 20p and a litre of squash which costs about 5p.

Harry Monk:

adam277:
I also spent like £10 today on food (MSA) prices which I wouldn’t of if I werent at work most days I spend between 5-7 on food/drink.

You wouldn’t have to do that with a bit of forward planning.

I go to work with a home-made ham, cheese, tomato and onion sandwich which costs about 80p to make, a packet of Walkers crisps from a supermarket six-pack at 20p and a litre of squash which costs about 5p.

And that is why Harry is semi retired !
Some people never learn do they Harry

My reply to many over the years has always been how much value is your shiny flash motor losing each week sitting in the yard .
I have always run bangers as I refuse to travel more than 15 miles to work and hate the thought of something losing £100 per week just sitting not being used .
It’s something many don’t take into account when changing jobs .
Most of my cars cost me less than 3 months payments of a new lease or pcp motor .
A cool box and supermarket shopping gives you great eats on the road , MSA food is so depressing and expensive .

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

Must admit,I’m careful with my money.
If I want owt,I buy it.but I certainly don’t throw it about.

I’m 21 and live at home. My mum makes my lunch everyday lol.

I always used to buy good used cars and keep them until they were scrap. The car I have now wasn’t new but was only 6 months old with 3,000 miles on the clock. I estimate that it costs around £2k a year in depreciation and If I can get it up to 30 mpg I am happy, but since we do less than 6,000 miles a year it isn’t a huge expense.

My point is that we all have to decide for ourselves what we want to do with whatever resources we have. I chose the car because it fits our circumstances and we could afford it. When I was working, the most important thing about a car was reliability; it’s no good having a cheap banger if it won’t start at silly o’clock on a frosty morning.

Incidentally, I remember when pay actually came in a packet with a fold-down corner so you could check it was right before you opened it. As a child, I remember my father paying soldiers - he would sit at a table with the troops lined up. A sergeant would call out a name and a soldier would march up and salute. The clerk would count the money out into his hand, the soldier would sign or make his mark and then march off.

I’ve owned my present car an 05 Fiesta for a year. Lowish mileage for its age and my lad gave it a full service and cambelt.
I’ll keep it as long as I can, and if it ever has an expensive breakdown I shall just bin it off and buy something similar.
The odd battery and tyre or two is no big issue, and it’s reliable enough to take on a long run.
When I was working I always took a sandwich box and a flask; occasionally buying something extra if it was a long day.
It all helped towards my early retirement. :wink: :smiley:

I spend about £10 per week on food/drink just for when I’m at work, and it’s more interesting than just boiling a big batch of pasta and having that every day. A bit of planning and you can save there easily.

When I was tramping it was a different story though. I’d spend loads on MSA coffees at the costa machines, or a cookie from Greggs every time I stopped.

Msa coffees are usually what fudge me as they cost like £2.60 from Costa… I know if adds up, :unamused:

Drempels:
Nothing.
I’m married, you see.

As above.

I’m like Harry, a sandwich or two, a yogurt and a few pieces of fruit in my little Colman coolbox and 1 litre of diluted apple and black current juice. The occasional 20p coffee from a vending machine is the only other thing that I have

I very rarely buy anything whilst I’m out on the road, I take my own food, my truck has a generator to provide parked A/C or engine heat and it powers a 3000w inverter which allows me to run a George Foreman grille, a slow cooker, microwave and an espresso machine. I vacuum pack meats and home made sauces at home to keep them fresh.

To be honest though I dont do it to save money, I do it for the convenience and to get a decent meal inside me, rather than eat truckstop slops all week. Saving a few quid helps of course, but that’s just a bonus.

I bought a new F150 in November 2014, that’s paid for in a year and because it’s only got 30,000km on the clock, it’s only depreciated 17k so far, so if that stays as it is, it should have cost me 4k a year by the time I pay it off, plus running costs, which would be the same for any similar vehicle, regardless of age and value.

So all in all, it’s quite cost effective really, obviously there’s a cost to be recouped from the equipment needed to cook in the cab, the APU (Auxiliary Power Unit cost me 13k, but I didn’t buy that so I could cook in the cab, that again is just a bonus.

Running a new personal vehicle is not much more expensive than running a banger in the long term and I get to smoke around in something decent as a bonus. Obviously I have to find the payments and wait a few years for it to be a cost effective way of doing things, but I can afford it right now, so why not? I’ve had plenty of times where I haven’t had a pot to ■■■■ in and it could happen again, so I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

Drempels:
Nothing.
I’m married, you see.

Me too … More or less :blush: ,I never see a penny :open_mouth: ish :wink: ,and I can count on one hand how many times I get snap made , I frequent good old fashioned cafes ,use them or loose them !

Its time you got wise stop using MSA and buying coffee.Buy a plug in kettel ,get yourself a water container,get a jar of coffee and sugar from your supermarket make your own.Get yourself a cool box to store a few bits for a couple of days and make your own your sandwiches or nip into a supermarket somewhere they are usually cheaper than MSA

adam277:
How much do you actually have for yourself once you have been paid?

This month hurt for me and got me thinking…

My motor cost me like £500 in repairs this month… Which I only use to go to work.
I also spent like £10 today on food (MSA) prices which I wouldn’t of if I werent at work most days I spend between 5-7 on food/drink.

Heck most of my expenses are work related.
Just something I’m pondering about… :grimacing:
What really confuses me is when I see people who admitley spend £400+ on cars/bikes just so they can get to work. Admittedly I did do this briefly until some wise sole pointed out my stupidity now I drive a POS.

PS. Ye I know I could buy 2kg bags of pasta and live off that but I don’t really call that living.

I suspect I lose about 20-30% of my income on just feeding/clothing and driving myself to work each month.

You don’t call eating pasta living but admit to eating overpriced crap at MSAs? …ok right. :laughing:
And you say you don’t spend money on food on days you are not at work? :open_mouth: are you fasting for Ramadan or summet? :smiley:

I’m assuming you aint a tramper here btw… …as Harry says make yourself a decent and healthy packed lunch with food bought from a supermarket rather than living off MSA dog ■■■■.

I do tramping, so I take pre packed home cooked food with me to re.heat, and a couple of decent meals out.
But on a Tues (first day of my week) my Mrs makes me a packed lunch of either fresh sarnies or tortilla wraps with various fillings. …got a good lass. :sunglasses:

As for cars I usually use a cheap but reliable motor for my trip to work.
Earlier this year in a moment of madness I bought a fancy Nirvana pick up (made me look like a butch trucker :smiley: ) but I thought why tf am I parking about 6 grand’s worth of motor up all week to sit in a yard, so I went back to my X plate van which cost me 200 quid over a year ago, and it got through the MOT for about 90 quid just last month, I put 20 quids worth of fuel in every 2 or more weeks.

As for your clothing expenditure,… does your firm not buy your work clothes and boots? or is your clothing expense referring to your Armani undercrackers. :smiley:

I view being at work as a means of earning money, not saving money. I’m here for a good time not a long time so if I want something I’ll buy it, if not I won’t. I refuse to compromise living one section of my life in order to fund another section of it.