I hate headlines like this.
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@afewbugs “The two rarely had takeaways and always took packed lunches to work. ‘We were £40,000 better off over 10 years from just that one lunch habit," says Alan.’”
Works out that between them they were spending over £75 *a week* on lunches before going DIY.
‘Aside from their good incomes, their extreme saving habits meant they were able to retire early.’ Though the article doesn’t mention their salaries outside of ‘good’ so it kinda renders the whole piece redundant.
@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs 75 a week isn't _that_ hard to achieve if you go out and buy lunch every day at some deli or lunch counter or even the petrol station. That's 15 a day for two people, that's certainly not nothing but it's not millionaire territory either.
So fine, that saves you 40 grand over a decade. That's significant.
But 40 grand isn't going to get anyone from age 40 to retirement age, so the lunch thing is far from the whole story and just a stupid clickbait headline.
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@afewbugs Grrrrr. This exactly. Without recognizing the privilege they started with.
@afewbugs oh and a further thought, in the US, you can’t easily retire early even with $1M in savings as health care is tied to employment. Some jobs, if you work there long enough, you get to keep health care when you retire. Otherwise, for healthy folks, can’t get state Medicare until 65.
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@amenonsen @catch56 I'm now wondering if it really is that big, if it's foreshortening or if the whole picture is AI
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I hate headlines like this. You read the article and discover she works in finance, he runs a life coaching business whatever that is, and they retired once their savings hit £1 million which didn't come from making their own sandwiches.
Meanwhile out in the real world most of us have been bringing packed lunches to work since the 2010s at least and are still one unexpected vet bill away from a couple of months of home haircuts.
These two undoubtedly came from privilege to begin with. They absolutely reek of it.
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@amenonsen @catch56 I'm now wondering if it really is that big, if it's foreshortening or if the whole picture is AI
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@afewbugs Grrrrr. This exactly. Without recognizing the privilege they started with.
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@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs
£40k is the median salary in the UK. To save £20k each they both need to be in the top 10%.
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@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs
£40k is the median salary in the UK. To save £20k each they both need to be in the top 10%.
@svavar @SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs
I was made redundant, and effectively 'retired' - it's not easy to find new work when you're over 50! - 20 years ago. I never earned over £25k a year (I think I got to the giddy heights of £24k...).
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@afewbugs It's a big steaming pile of bullshit. For the reasons you say. But also because a million at 40 will probably run out before you are 70 assuming two people drawing minimum wage and 2% inflation.
@keefeglise @afewbugs that’s a really good point. Even if we assume they’re mortgage-free, £1m won’t last their literal lifetimes. Have they effectively saved their way into cosplaying poverty for the next 40+ years…?
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@MiaMarkTwo @aegir @afewbugs ah, the ol’ save money by making all your Christmas decorations. You’ll just need this die-cutting machine (£££), an array of artisanally aged woods (from one bespoke supplier in the Outer Hebrides) and stuff you’ve probably got laying about the house, like gold leaf and Swarovski crystals.
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I hate headlines like this. You read the article and discover she works in finance, he runs a life coaching business whatever that is, and they retired once their savings hit £1 million which didn't come from making their own sandwiches.
Meanwhile out in the real world most of us have been bringing packed lunches to work since the 2010s at least and are still one unexpected vet bill away from a couple of months of home haircuts.
@afewbugs The title is incredibly misleading. They didn't pack lunches as part of their job. It wasn't for charity, either.
They simply brought their own food to work, which most people on this planet do, anyway, because you can't go out to lunch every single day.
Journalism has become a BIG FAT JOKE.
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But I think the thing I really hate about these type of headlines is how they feed into victims blaming. People aren't poor because they don't have enough money for a decent life and it's really hard to claw your way over life's obstacles without money rather than having them knock you back further. They're poor because they spend too much money on sandwiches instead of making their own, the lazy idiots
Bloody good rant @afewbugs
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@afewbugs to reiterate, saving £40k over 10 years is over £75 *a week*. Just on sandwiches between the two of them.
Edit: they *saved* over £75 a week, so the initial lunches were higher
@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs So they saved £7.50/day per person on lunches - so back in 2009 they were spending that much on lunch. Each. Pret had an egg and cress sandwich for £1.50 back, then, and the 99p filter coffee. Pret. Not a supermarket takeaway section.
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@stevewfolds @afewbugs hey, I’m sure you worked hard, but the couple in the article had to wear *jumpers* in the winter, real sacrifice there. (/s just in case you didn’t realise)
@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs
That house had an addition that we dated to 1860. Family’s place on East side of the state was built in 1790s. It had a Franklin stove in the fireplace when I lived there in 1949-50. Electricity had come in 1941. -
@keefeglise @afewbugs that’s a really good point. Even if we assume they’re mortgage-free, £1m won’t last their literal lifetimes. Have they effectively saved their way into cosplaying poverty for the next 40+ years…?
@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs They have a grift of course! So not actually retired. None of it adds up though.
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@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @nusher @afewbugs I don't know why they never tell us exactly how it was done - what is their income, what are their housing costs etc? The boast is about a number, so why not show us the other numbers? I wouldn't mind the headline so much if it didn't tell us something that can't possibly be true, then fail to show the actual truth (which, who knows, might be interesting and informative).
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@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @nusher @afewbugs I don't know why they never tell us exactly how it was done - what is their income, what are their housing costs etc? The boast is about a number, so why not show us the other numbers? I wouldn't mind the headline so much if it didn't tell us something that can't possibly be true, then fail to show the actual truth (which, who knows, might be interesting and informative).
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@afewbugs @mewsleah @therivercrow
Also due to Charity shops putting up prices, it's cheaper to buy new from temu etc.Our shop has staged a mini rebellion and we now have a wired crate where all clothes are a £1 before we send them off for recycling if they don't sell.
When I started volunteering Oxfam specified the shops were to support the local community as well as making money, their policy has changed for the worst.
*Edited to remove the glaring typos
@debbie @afewbugs @mewsleah @therivercrow the "personal responsibility" diversion has disempowered people and discouraged improvement campaigns for centuries and is still an effective tactic today
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@SquirrelwithaninvisibleW @afewbugs They have a grift of course! So not actually retired. None of it adds up though.
@keefeglise @afewbugs and *this* is part of them promoting it? Marketing ain’t their strong point.
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I hate headlines like this. You read the article and discover she works in finance, he runs a life coaching business whatever that is, and they retired once their savings hit £1 million which didn't come from making their own sandwiches.
Meanwhile out in the real world most of us have been bringing packed lunches to work since the 2010s at least and are still one unexpected vet bill away from a couple of months of home haircuts.
@afewbugs You nailed it....
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