Help!

belfastgirl23

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

I am gonna try and to my energy bills tomorrow if the phone lines are open!

There is a good thread here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=23962891#post23962891 where we are all trying to bring down our energy usage. We also all use this website http://www.imeasure.org.uk/index.php to keep track of usage. I've managed to bring my usage down about 20% this year. Although we don't have any options on suppliers in NI, we only have one for electric and one for gas so there's no competition, the only way I could bring bills down was by bringing use down.

Well done on the savings so far :T:T:T:T

Shoe_Gal

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

So far I have saved:

Mobile £14
SKY cancellation £36.50
Life Ins cancellation £31
Council Tax £25
Home and contents £36

Total £142.50 per month

Those are brilliant savings in a week :j Well done you :A

spendaholicinseattle

Hmmm my momentum seems to have slowed a bit. I am becoming more and more aware that the real problem is SPENDING! I can make all the changes to my monthly outgoings I like, but if I don't stop spending things will not get better.

I am going to look at switching energy suppliers today, then I will have done most of the things I can on my SOA I think.

Bananasplit

If you see something in a shop you want, stop, go away for a while and think about it. 9 times out of 10 you won't go back!

Good luck with your energy switching.

belfastgirl23

How's the spending diary going??

spendaholicinseattle

It is a bit patchy to be honest BFG - I have done some days and not others. I think I need to commit to doing it - don't think it's coincidence that the days I've spent I haven't really wanted to do it.... need to commit to it and put it first

belfastgirl23

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

It is a bit patchy to be honest BFG - I have done some days and not others. I think I need to commit to doing it - don't think it's coincidence that the days I've spent I haven't really wanted to do it.... need to commit to it and put it first

Sounds very familiar to me I'm much the same myself. In the end up for quite a while I allowed myself a budget against particular categories (eating out being my biggest waste of money) and made myself make decisions based on that. But you do have to be able to see your danger points first of all...maybe you already know some of them though?? What do you spend on?

spendaholicinseattle

I probably spend on sporty stuff like gear for my bike or golf stuff - nice clothes sometimes - nothing I need but stuff that makes things more comfy etc. I am learning not to always go for the brand/ most expensive option, but it is not easy!

I was looking at rightmove.co.uk and realised I could afford a motgage for a nice house if i downsized my car! Obviously need to get out of debt and get a deposit together first though... that has to be the goal alongside a holiday - quite motivating to see it is within reach!

What do you spend on?

I like Bananasplit's idea, exactly right...

Shoe_Gal

spendaholicinseattle wrote: »

It is a bit patchy to be honest BFG - I have done some days and not others. I think I need to commit to doing it - don't think it's coincidence that the days I've spent I haven't really wanted to do it.... need to commit to it and put it first

Sounds like my diary - I have been soooooo naughty this week :eek:

belfastgirl23

My spending is def eating out. Which is not good. The bit I've been most successful in curbing is my Boots addiction - I'm gradually working my way through the thousands of bath products I've bought over the years I've also cut way back on books - I don't have time to read them anyway if I'm honest and it takes me all my time getting through the ones people have loaned me.

Well done on spotting and trying to curb your bad habits