For years, I thought I was being sensible. I didn’t see “£150 to Legal & General” in one scary lump on my statement. Instead, it looked like this, spread across the month:
- £18 – hob & hood
- £28 – washing machine
- £22 – fridge
- …plus a few more bits, adding up quietly in the background
Nothing dramatic. Just £18 here, £22 there. Different dates. Different references. Easy to skim. Easy to ignore.
Why It Never Looked Like a Problem
Most of us don’t sit there adding these up. We just:
- Scan the statement
- See familiar names (Legal & General, warranty, cover, etc.)
- Think, “Oh yes, that thing,” and move on
Because the payments are small and scattered, they don’t ring alarm bells. There’s no big red “£150” shouting at you. Over about 6.5–7 years, though, all those tiny, “responsible” payments added up to around £12,600.
That’s money I will never see again.
What I Actually Got for That Money
There were a few engineer call-outs. The inside of the washing machine was basically rebuilt at one point. So it felt like, “Well, at least I’m using it.”
But here’s the uncomfortable question I didn’t ask for years:
“If I’d just put £30–£50 a month into a separate ‘Appliance Pot’ instead of paying them… where would I be now?”
Answer:
- I could have paid for those repairs out of my own savings.
- I could have replaced old appliances with better brands on my own terms.
- I would still have money left in that pot.
The Real Mistake (It’s Not What You Think)
The real mistake wasn’t “buying a warranty.”
It was never reviewing it.
- Not tracking the total.
- Not asking, “Is this still worth it?”
- Not seeing that all those little lines were actually one big £150 every month.
This is exactly how budgets leak: familiar, “normal-looking” charges that never get questioned.
How to Spot Your Own “£150 Ghost”
This is where budgeting basics (and your tools) come in:
-
Copy Paste your statements into a tracker
Use your budget or savings spreadsheet and list every direct debit/standing order. -
Group by company or cost category 'Warranties'.
Add up everything going to the same provider (like Legal & General) – not line by line, but total per company. -
Ask: would I choose this today?
If you were starting from scratch right now, would you still pay that total each month?
If the answer is “no” or “I don’t even know what half of this is anymore,” you’ve found your version of my warranty story.
The Budget Upgrade
Instead of:
- £18 + £22 + £28 + … disappearing into the cover plans
Do this:
- Set up a small “Repairs & Appliances” sinking fund in your spreadsheet
- Put £30–£50 a month into it automatically
- Let you hold the money, not a company
Then, in your trackers:
- You’ll see that line every month as a conscious choice
- You’ll watch the pot grow instead of vanish
- And when something breaks, you pay from that pot without panic
One-tab Monthly expenses tracker in Google Sheets
That’s the heart of the story:
Not “I’m stupid for buying warranties,” but “I didn’t track, so I didn’t notice.”
