Must stop spending

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 29 August 2016 at 9:28PM

Had a lovely long weekend. My flat is all tidy and we spent the weekend catching up with friends and family. We had two meals out which cost me £20 but today was an NSD

Spends:
£17 on baby present and card.
£2.50 boots
£32 hair treatment
£20 Saturday meal out (hubby paid for the meal in Sunday)
Scary how it all adds up

Bought a present for my friend who's due her baby any day now. My other friend has a baby shower coming up so need to get a present for that. How much do people spend on baby shower presents?!
Other than the present I'm hoping for a working week of NSD's.

Need to start making some budgets for birthdays, Christmas and honeymoon...

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 30 August 2016 at 5:11PM

Woop only 3 days til the weekend!

Always wishing my life away :rotfl:

Anyway not an NSD because I bought my friend a present for her baby shower. I've spent £25. I don't know what the normal amount is. I was thinking of getting a little extra something but I don't know.
Also spent 45p on milk for my tea at work this week.

£100 dd went onto card 2 bringing my debt total down to £6850 :j

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 31 August 2016 at 4:25PM

Our honeymoon is less than 2 months away and we really need to start budgeting and working out what spending money we need to take.
I know this is a really silly question but any idea what might be a good amount for a week in NY??

It dawned on me this morning how close Christmas is and there is only 3 more pay days so I opened an easy saver account on my current account and transferred £50 over. I have reduced my dd on cc1 down to £300 from £400. Lol will I ever make the £400 payment?!

Marina2016 · 31 August 2016 at 5:02PM

Just read through your diary, it looks like you are doing well in reducing your debt :j in quite a short space of time. Hoping I can do the same!

DD265 · 31 August 2016 at 5:24PM

Well done on your progress so far. I agree with you that the "wait" in between making payments is by far the worst bit.

For a week in NY I'd want to take around £700 between you but it depends how many meals you'll need to pay for and what your taste in food is like, plus what you want to do activity wise. If you know some specifics you could maybe check ticket prices online and even book them early for discounts?

I think you've probably spent enough on the baby shower present and babies always seem to end up with far more cute little outfits than they can possibly wear anyway. If I recall correctly I gave £20 towards a group present a couple of months ago and the person organising got many practical items as well as nice things.

I also recommend YNAB - as long as you'll actually stick to it. I have a bad tendency to spend according to my bank balance, rather than the budget, then I have to go "oh sh*t" and move things around. It's always an option, but I think it sort of defeats the object of setting a limit in the first instance. If I can get through September without drawing money out of my savings account I'll be happy!

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 31 August 2016 at 5:30PM

Thanks DD!

Ah that has made me feel better about the present

I just feel embarrassed because she's quite well off and so are her friends and I really hate the part where we all sit round and watch her open the presents! So awkward.

Thanks on the advice for NY. I've started looking at rices for attractions. I guess it's just the food we need to be careful with. We are happy with burger and chips but I know this can still add up. i don't really drink and we're not really into fine dining so hopefully won't spend too much

enthusiasticsaver · 31 August 2016 at 5:31PM

You are doing really well in reducing your credit card and I have just read through your diary. Well done on budgeting and seems like you really getting the hang of it.

Re NY, my husband and I were there a few years ago for 5 days prior to a special trip to Hawaii and food was relatively cheap but entertainment varies. We wanted to do a Broadway show and there are cheap ways of getting tickets if you are not too fussy which show you want to do and like London do a matinee rather than Friday or Saturday evening. Tourist attractions like Empire State building, boat trips or going to top of Rockefeller Centre was pricey but you can buy passes to do several things at a discount. My advice would be to check the price of these online before you go. Our favourite trip actually was a cycle ride around Central Park. It all depends on what you want to do. Travel is cheap as well and most people walk a lot, just like in London.

Jumblerina · 31 August 2016 at 8:49PM

You're doing so well LMSTM :-) it's all the little things that really add up, you know you can do this with your progress last year. I agree £700-800 will work for a week in NYC, my top tip is to go to eat/drink in the villages either East or Greenwich. That's where the locals go, so not as expensive and there's a nice, chilled vibe. Some fab comedy clubs and bars there too, you don't have to go far from the tourist spots to find good places to eat or hang out - if you want any recommendations - give me a shout

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 31 August 2016 at 9:17PM

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

You are doing really well in reducing your credit card and I have just read through your diary. Well done on budgeting and seems like you really getting the hang of it.

Re NY, my husband and I were there a few years ago for 5 days prior to a special trip to Hawaii and food was relatively cheap but entertainment varies. We wanted to do a Broadway show and there are cheap ways of getting tickets if you are not too fussy which show you want to do and like London do a matinee rather than Friday or Saturday evening. Tourist attractions like Empire State building, boat trips or going to top of Rockefeller Centre was pricey but you can buy passes to do several things at a discount. My advice would be to check the price of these online before you go. Our favourite trip actually was a cycle ride around Central Park. It all depends on what you want to do. Travel is cheap as well and most people walk a lot, just like in London.

Thank you so much for the encouragement

and also for the NY tips. I work in London so I should be quite savvy in NY. It's our honeymoon so we want to enjoy and see and do lots of things. We both love walking so that's not a problem

little_miss_spendtoomuch · 31 August 2016 at 9:22PM

Jumblerina wrote: »

You're doing so well LMSTM :-) it's all the little things that really add up, you know you can do this with your progress last year. I agree £700-800 will work for a week in NYC, my top tip is to go to eat/drink in the villages either East or Greenwich. That's where the locals go, so not as expensive and there's a nice, chilled vibe. Some fab comedy clubs and bars there too, you don't have to go far from the tourist spots to find good places to eat or hang out - if you want any recommendations - give me a shout

Hey Jumblerina

Thank you for the encouragement. It's funny coz last year it seemed easy... I just set up direct debits and watched the debt go down each month. However as I was saving for my wedding I wasn't paying off as much as I can now so now I really want to make a dent and get these debts cleared as quickly as possible.

Thank you for the New York tips!! I haven't been for a few years and it's my husbands firs visit so we want to do all the touristy stuff. That's a good idea about eating meals in the non tourist areas and the comedy clubs sounds like fun!

Must stop spending

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