Diary of a compulsive spender

clouds21

Hiya Lindsey,

I realise this has been mentioned before but I would defo look into Virgin or TalkTalk for your free broadband/ TV/ 'phone. I moved to TalkTalk (£14pcm for BB & phone whereas BT was £29) from BT in November and it is brilliant. Switchover was really smooth. Does go up to £16 pcm but because you get free calls it does remain at £16. Brilliant for making international calls, and my line is much, much better both BB & phone. Oh, and go through Quidco you get cashback!

Also, the £14 pcm for your c/a are hefty and I reckon that would save you a packet by going to a normal fee-free c/a and buying all the trimmings through quidco or getting some freebees through MSE.

You can definitely do it, girl! :j The people on here are really helpful and have some great advice. And we're all right there with you. :A

clouds21

ThinkingOfLinking

HI there,
I have never had much debt but I do have a low income and sometimes get a bit carried away, like today I spent £20 on CDs just because my friend recommended them.
I reduced my outgoings by getting rid of the TV so no longer paying the TV Licence, and I switched my mobile to a PAYG one from 3 because you can get Stretch which is where they triple the value of the top up you buy; I get the same for £15 a month as I did for £30 on contract before.
I also figure out how much I am going out in the week; if I am only going out once, I do not buy a buss pass; this saves money.
I hope these things help a bit.

Kerfuffle

Hi Lyndseyf584,

You haven't posted for a while, I hope everything is ok.

Toodles.

Kerfuffle

Sorry, Lindsey with an 'i' but it won't let me edit now.

Lindseyf584

Hi all,

Not been in for a few weeks as I have been trying to sort my life out a bit.

Finally got another job so I will be starting on 16th March but probably wont get paid until end of April depending on payroll dates!

I have enough money in my bank at the moment to pay everything for March it's just April I need to get through.

I sold loads of things on Ebay and Amazon and got about £300 but going to the post office every day and annoying newbies on Ebay driving me mad so I don't want to do anymore on there at the moment.

I am waiting for my accountant to get back to me when she has sorted out my Company accounts and hopefully there will be a few thousand left in the business when I shut it down that I can have to tide me over but I don't know how long it takes to get the Company struck off etc. so may have to wait.

I still need to find money for the school fees in April but my sister should be able to give me a temporary loan (interest free of course!) until I get paid.

Hopefully it will all work out but I am not sure at the moment exactly how much the annual salary comes to each month so I will have to see.

Mrs_Jones22

Hiya, glad to see things are getting a little bit better for the furture.

I used to spend and buy like crazy..

I started from December 08, every time i bought anything, i wrote it down on a bit paper in my bag at the checkout when i made the payment, (used to get some right weird looks but who cares) i didnt add it up for the first week but after week 2 i did and was shocked to see how much i wasted. Tips from here of course

I'm a right spendthrift now, shop about for better bargains, think do i really need that??

Ive not gone without anything ive needed so looking at every penny really does help as they have said on here.


Ive cut my insurance down by £11 a month, have showers rather than baths i treat myself to a bath once a week..you can cut down in areas you didnt think possible.

Good luck keep going your doing really well :beer:

The_Golden_Goose

Good luck and you can do it. Just need to be strict with yourself.

If you get tempted to spend on frivoulous (sp?) just keep thinking then its £62k plus whatever is now my new debt balance if I buy X, Y or Z. This way of thinking is certainly working for me!

The_Golden_Goose

Ps- we switched our Sky package from the full works to just Sky+ and no movies and no sport and its £21 a month. As we don't have a social life particularly (random nights out here and there - maybe 2 a month MAX) then we justify it that way.

Lindseyf584

Thanks for all the tips!

Although my outgoings still seem high I got a letter from mortgage company today dropping my mortgage to £525 a month which will help.

I may be burying my head in the sand a bit but I think I can now afford the things I currently have in my SOA and pay a reasonable amount extra each month towards my debt so I am hoping I can still splash out occasionally as long as I set myself a target of when to have everything paid off by and stick to it...