Britain's Spending Secrets

It's amazing what you can find out about someone when they start talking about money. Many are happy to share what they have bought with their money, for example showing their new car, phone or even lipstick, but less so when the nitty gritty of what exactly we spend our money on in terms of finances etc.

Having recently watched the two part series on BBC One, Britain's Spending Secrets presented by Anne Robinson, it was incredible what the topic of money can bring out in people.

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Episode 1

Anne meets single mum Charlotte who lusts the luxury lifestyle - she paid over £2000 for a fridge freezer - despite being on benefits, who says why shouldn't she be allowed to have the luxuries in life, as she comments they make her happy.

Possibly the highlight for me was the interview with the incredibly rich Alfie Best, an entrepreneur who despite having buckets of money to live a very extreme lifestyle, still has the same beliefs as he did when he was young living in a caravan. He is strongly against sending his son off to a private school such as Eton, and wants him to learn the value of money and appreciate it. I found him so refreshing and really respected what he believed in, as it's nice to know there are people out there with tonnes of money with still a level head.

The show also shows that even someone who has inherited wealth, such as Baroness Jenkin, they still hunt for bargains and don't like to spend ridiculous amounts of money on things they know they can get cheaper. In this case, coffee; placing Aldi coffee granules in an expensive brand tin and using kitchen roll as a filter.

The extreme was also shown in the programme, presenting Jedi, an "eco-warrior" who likes to spend as little money as humanly possibly on anything - yes, the other end of the scale where bins are raided in order to eat a meal.

Repeatedly stated throughout the programme was how we love to judge other people's spending habits. To satisfy us, Anne delves into two families finances, who are, it's fair to say are on each end of the spectrum. We meet the bargain hunters, the Addicots who's £25,000 a year finds them constantly struggling each month to feed their family of six. In contrast are the Stevens, who earn £100,000 a year, spend a fortune on family holidays and have a house bursting with the latest gadgets and technology - who crave more money to fund a private education for their children. One thing the father of the Stevens' family bought up when overlooking the Addicot's spending habits was the fact they fork out for 9 clubs a week for their children, yet are rarely out of their overdraft. When he advised them to think about cutting back on the, what I think is a staggering amount of clubs (I struggled with Brownies every Friday night), the mother of the Addicots was quick to shoot down such a, for her, prosperous idea. Granted, as she said, she wants to give her children everything she can and doesn't want to say no to them, there's no way I would allow such a situation to happen.

Episode 2

There are dozens of quotes from, "money can't buy happiness" to, "who ever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop" and in the second episode Anne focuses on whether money can actually bring us happiness.

She questioned whether John Caudwell, after his jaw dropping tour of his home a £90 million home (may come as no surprise, he is of one of the richest men in the country) was he one of the happiest people alive? Again, the programme not only focuses on the mega rich, but also the other end of the scale and shows Brian, one of the many people who rely on a food bank to survive.

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The show is well worth a watch and it's really stuck with me, something that's hard to do with such mind numbing TV on at the moment.

I would 110% recommend giving it watch.