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COMMENT
As someone who works from home I have easy access to endless cups of tea and coffee throughout the day as well as the contents of my fridge. And if I want to take a break and read the newspaper for a bit, I just head for the relevant website. Which is why when I get to the end of the day, I have just as much money in my purse as I did when I woke up. Lucky me. Obviously the food in my fridge and my constant cuppas have cost me a few pennies out of my grocery budget -- maybe even as much as a quid. But it's not nearly as much as I spend when I toddle off to London for a day in the office. Typically, I'll get my dosh out for the following 'unnecessary' items... Arrive at my local train station where, for the journey, I buy: Arrive at London Paddington where I pop into Sainsburys on the station concourse to buy: After work, I'll probably go for a drink with a couple of colleagues where I'll typically spend, say, £10 on buying a round. Then, back to London Paddington where, for the journey home, I'll buy: How much have I spent (not including the train ticket) by the time I get home? Yep, a grand total of £22.85 - just in one working day. Even if I don't go for a drink after work, I'm still likely to have spent more than a tenner. I could take a flask of my own coffee, some home-made sandwiches and a book to read on the train. But I don't -- mainly because it doesn't happen often enough for me to feel I'm wasting tons of money and yet people who commute can easily spend £50 a week or more on these 'petty cash' items that get us through each working day. That's well over £2,000 a year! It's why we often advocate that people who want to tackle their debts start by keeping a spending diary for a month. Writing down every single item of expenditure can be a real eye-opener! As the old saying goes: Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. Find out more about how to tackle your debts.
