What can't you BELIEVE you used to spend money on?

Gerradene

My biggest thing was going out to get milk and bread from the local shop and coming back with bags of 'treats' and not just for me, i would get something for everyone at my home (friends) that night. Spending £20-30 when it should have been £2 max!

I also used to believe i deserved treats - hehe!:rotfl:

I went way over the top at Christmas, seeing something i knew they'd like and then going round the shops to buy more presents for everyone else 'to make it fair'!!

Keeping a spending diary has really curbed my spending as i know i will have to write down everything i spend

wigginsmum

Taxis were my worst extravagance. I don't drive and would pay £12 for a taxi instead of waiting for a £1.50 bus or getting the Tube.

Buying all kinds of absolute rubbish on Ebay - books, clothes, make-up, plants, DVDs ... I bought so much that my c/card company kept phoning me because they suspected fraudulent use of my card.

Take-aways if I was too tired to cook after work - we'd have 3 or 4 a week. Not any more - they're a special treat now. Now I do batch-cooking so I've always got a pot of something we can eat.

ozzyfan_2

scottishspendaholic wrote:

I am also really working on the fact that I am a hoarder by nature - I hate getting rid of stuff. Its so extreme that I even hate using the foods in my cupboards/fridge/freezer - its so stupid - I drive myself mad!scottishspendaholic x

Me too SS!

My worst case of hoarding was when I went to Makro & spent £350 in one day stocking up on food & non-perishables. It took 2 trips in the car to bring it all back & I could've opened a corner shop with what I had bought :rotfl:

I ended up giving most of it away as I couldn't find room for it all :rolleyes:

loubie_lou

Oh my god I can so relate to many of these posts!! Here are some examples:

• Spending several £s a day on crap at work (food, fags, mags!)
• Buying lots of things I didn't need whilst food shopping
• Buying clothes (some still have the tag on!)

Any too many more to list!!!

piptiddlepip

I've never been one for lots of clothes or cosmetics, and I'm deaf so I don't buy CDs. But I would pick up DVDs regularly, and books, and I would waste cash buying my lunch in the company canteen instead of taking 5 minutes to make myself a sandwich to take with me to work. (Canteen lunch would usually be accompanied by a chocolate bar or similar, too, thus ensuring I put on scads of weight).

Also, if I only popped into the shops for one or two things, like bread and milk, I'd end up buying biscuits etc. And I didn't freeze bread at the time, so it lasted 5 minutes and went mouldy and then I would go and buy some more, and spend more money...I buy it reduced now, and freeze it. It lasts ages and is easier on my pocket.

Leothecat

For me it was ciggies! Approx. £5 per day!!
Thank goodness I stopped on 3.1.05!!

bizzy_lizzie

I cringe to say that i have bought those 'limited edition' plates from the Sunday supplements Or rather OH did but I didnt stop him) by the bucket load. They are still in the attic though and will be ebayed when i get to them.

Also shopping on Saturday morning in clothes shop, more as a sport than a necessity. So many bags of clothes have gone to charity or are still festering in the attic.

Ah, well. At least we learnt.

Bizzy Lizzie

ladywood

Spending a fiver on lattes and lunch at work - now take lunch with me and drink fruit tea (my own tea bags) - nicer, MUCH cheaper, and healthier!

Spending £120 a month feeding the dogs! :eek: Changing from Burns and Naturediet to Autarkys (still good quality ingredients but VAT free "working" dog food) has reduced that to under £34 a month!

Ready meals - when I am perfectly capable of making the same things myself!

Chocolate!

LookingAhead

First off: well done to all the people who have quit smoking!! :T

I was mad for clothes & accessories. Spent a small fortune.
Clothes that looked good but I never had the occasion to wear them...or clothes that I had the occasion to wear them but they were "mediocre" at best, so after a few wears I would think "I don't look very good in this" and it would be given away!

Luckily I have sold any remaining things like that on EBAY now and have learned what suits me/colours etc from reading Trinny & Susannah's valuable advice.

I also used to love going out for meals, clubbing, pubbing, weekends away, beauty treatments...I lead a very hedonistic lifestyle for a few years after splitting up with a long term boyfriend....paying for it now though :eek:

I also used to go to Supermarket without thinking what I needed. New OH is really strict about meal planning and what we buy....he's a Godsend!

Callisto

I had an Ebay 'addiction' a couple of years ago - I thought I was getting such good bargains, that I kept buying and buying from there (clothes, cosmetics, jewellery etc)... and about 90% was stuff I didn't need!

Also wasted so much money on buying new magazines, books, CD's, DVD's and PC/Xbox games, my Saturday wasn't complete without going to WHSmith, HMV, Game and Waterstones in the high street. Haven't bought any of the above for at least two - three months now. I do love games though, so do occasionally treat myself to a 'budget' one, I never buy new release games now (around £40 a time! ) I also cancelled a £40 annual magazine subscription and I haven't missed it at all!