What I spent in 2009

Odette

nearly 500 quid on p0rn? isnt that what broadband internet is for?

crawley_girl

Don't forget the chat lines too... I wonder if he ended up speaking to an MSE lady who does sauciness on the side to pull in the extra pennies!!!

Barneysmom

£32.23 - Tablets (I get through lots of Rennies!)

Hi Noselfdiscipline, I hope you've had a good day depsite the nasty weather!
I think you might need to see the doctor you know, are you stressed out, I only ask due to the Rennies thing........
I don't mean to offend you?

crawley_girl

Barneysmom wrote: »

£32.23 - Tablets (I get through lots of Rennies!)

Hi Noselfdiscipline, I hope you've had a good day depsite the nasty weather!
I think you might need to see the doctor you know, are you stressed out, I only ask due to the Rennies thing........
I don't mean to offend you?

Oh I missed that one... definately go see a Doc about that... could be something else that needs other type of treatment

property.advert

If you have this in Excel, then using the expense headings to project a budget for the forthcoming 12 months is easy. If you don't have it in Excel, consider doing so.

Obviously all the kids comics, DVDs, games, lotto, texts to TV shows etc should go and if you are going to get back on track. This is more important than worrying about the extra pie from Greggs !

You spend 2k more than you earn and have debts. You need to cut out 5k per year. All the baby things have to go. Men don't need comics or video games or paying for !!!!!! (it is free if you want it) or collectibles or lotto and SMS waste. Nor DVD rentals if you are paying for V+.

You'll need some money for a GF one day as well !

Noselfdiscipline

The heartburn just comes from a crap diet, and rennies are about £3 a box! Its not all the time though.

Yes I have all this in excel, it doesnt stop me overspending, but I can see exactly where its gone!

pink_numbers

First, let me say that I think it's truly great that you managed to keep track of all this spending, you deserve to change your name from Noselfdiscipline to BucketLoadofDiscipline!

Here are things that I noticed:
£1,111,12 - Booze - you said that you only go out couple of times a month, so does that mean you spend £50 on booze at a time? That is scary!

£226 - Gym Membership (not a whole year) - How many times have you actually gone to the gym? now divide £226 by that number.

£455.74 - Virgin Media
£169.34 - DVD Rental
£584.71 - DVD's/Blu Rays
£386.96 - Books
£246.33 - Video Games
£413.84 - Magazines
£250.53 - Comics
£182.01 - CD's
£80.24 - Xbox Live
£20.60 - Cinema
£467.93 - XXX (use your imagination!)

Ok, these are what I call "escapism". Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that everyone that buys A CD is trying to run away from something. But spending £3800 (coincidently, far more than what you are over spending by) a year, IS escapism. What are you running away from?

You spent £71.50 - Bingo and £299.50 - Lotto, and you gained £153.80 - Lotto Wins... so you actually LOST £217.20... which would've paid for your gym membership?

£565.67 - Exercise Equipment - after you paid £226 for it for a gym membership? Surely, one or the other has to go!
`
HOWEVER, all credits to you for keeping the log in the first place, because it's WAY more than most people can manage, and if it wasn't for your effort, you wouldn't been in a position to make analysis of your spending, nor would anyone else be able to help you in the ways they have (all be it a bit painful). You have made an amazing start to your saving, I can't wait to see how well you will do this year!

Barneysmom

Noselfdiscipline wrote: »

The heartburn just comes from a crap diet, and rennies are about £3 a box! Its not all the time though.

Yes I have all this in excel, it doesnt stop me overspending, but I can see exactly where its gone!

Get the supermarket's own brand for now, I keep Asda antacid tablets in our fridge, they taste like sweets the fruit flavoured ones and they're much cheaper. £1 for 80, and they are in 3 packets in the box.

Noselfdiscipline

pink_numbers wrote: »

But spending £3800 (coincidently, far more than what you are over spending by) a year, IS escapism. What are you running away from?

Thats an interesting observation! Have you read "Your Money Or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez? He says we spend money on "Escape entertainment" to decompress after spending all day in jobs we may not like. However, I just think I lack self discipline! If I see something I want, I just buy it!

rictus123

Noselfdiscipline wrote: »

Thats an interesting observation! Have you read "Your Money Or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez? He says we spend money on "Escape entertainment" to decompress after spending all day in jobs we may not like. However, I just think I lack self discipline! If I see something I want, I just buy it!

appropriate username. Just need to find cheaper ways of entertaining yourself. I think the internets the best one. No need to buy dvds or the like.