Not having credit cards as a safety net

Toomuchdebt

Finding this very difficult..my attitude in the past has been oh well I'll do the shopping on the cards to keep some money in the bank and now I see my bank account getting to under £20 and start panicking that I'll run out.How can I get past this fear?I am sticking to my budget but just have this constant feeling that it's not enough.

joolz43

I have to agree with you there toomuch debt. But perhaps we have to relearn that whole way of life that was living to your means and not in excess of them. You have your £2s if you really have no food to eat. I think it would do everyone good to have to live on a budget.

kathfisch

Experiencing the fear and then realising you can manage is all part of it, i reckon. Its always good to have a bit of money aside for genuine emergencies but other than that... having to make some adjustments and actually stick to a budget because more money is not available is a good lesson

angelsam1984

I find the best way to deal with my food budget is online- do two or two and a half weeks shop at once apart from bread and milk, normally cost around £100 and I try and find a £15 tesco voucher online so that I get free delivery and £10 off the total shop.
My Credit cards and cash cards are in my jewellrey box as I guess I used them as an accessry to life and in there I forget about them and just concentrate on paying them off!
Because my OH gets paid monthly I transfer the money left into an online account and only transfer it back when I know I need to buy something food/petrol. I always leave £10 in there though and the £100 overdraft buffer but with the other account online money is never readily accesible and I can have a big think on wether we should actually buy something or not

Sam

postingalwaysposting

thankfully i havent got a tight budget/food/many bills, but i see where you are coming from but for me its simple, if i run out of money (from my spending account then tough) if i run out of money in my bills account (i should never do anyway) then i take money from my spending account to make up the loss, and then i have less money that month, my tough luck. I have a £50 overdraft on both accounts but i never go into them and if i do then i am really angry :mad: with myself...

....i think sticking and learning to stick to a budget is the best thing you can do :T

jcr16

we don't have any overdraphs or credit cards to fall back on. we used to say once we got to £50 left in account we would view this as empty and it really made us think about spending, and did we really need to buy such and such.

another way i see it is , i may only have £20 in bank but all bills are up to date and paid and i haven't got into debt.

what are u scared your run out of ? would it be wise to say put £30 in an envolope and put it under bed or something , so u know if u do need something u have some set aside that u can use, but make sure u always replace it asap.

HTH

Starry-eyed_surprise

Hi Angelsam

I just worried when I heard you say you kept your cards in your jewellery box as if it gets stolen then that is not a good thing. I used to keep a jewellery box - in the obvious place, on a dressing table but then we were burgled and it was bye bye jewellery. Now I never keep anything important in 'obvious places'. Hope you don't mind me posting this. I guess sometimes we are too trusting.
TMD, I know what you mean about the 'fear' factor. Budgeting is not pleasant and I too worry about what happens if we can't manage. I'm just hoping that things will get better as I learn to budget more effectively. Lots of luck to you.

Toomuchdebt

jcr16 wrote:

we don't have any overdraphs or credit cards to fall back on. we used to say once we got to £50 left in account we would view this as empty and it really made us think about spending, and did we really need to buy such and such.

another way i see it is , i may only have £20 in bank but all bills are up to date and paid and i haven't got into debt.

what are u scared your run out of ? would it be wise to say put £30 in an envolope and put it under bed or something , so u know if u do need something u have some set aside that u can use, but make sure u always replace it asap.

HTH

That would be a good idea if there was any left over to do that-lol.I guess I've just got so used to being able to buy anything any time that I am having to relearn that when I have nothing left in the account that means I can't spend anything.I guess by the time I am debt free I will have learnt this lesson

taplady

It just takes some getting used to , sticking gto a budget. Took us a while but I think we've got it now!:D We use to do the sam e as you and use the CC for shopping if money was tight in the bank but thats the sort of thing that got us into debt in the first place. We have no CC and no overdraft due to being on an IVA but try to build up an emergency fund. We have had to dip into this several times in the last year but always try and build it up again if possible. If I didn't have this fund I would really worry!

SeeWeed

I know exactly what you mean, I never worried about not having enough money for food because I always knew I could buy some on my cards at the end of the month! Petrol, clothes etc all went the same way.
I have been on my new budget for 2 months now and the first month was scary as I knew I didn't have anything to fall back on if I overspent. This month I already have a couple of hundred in my savings account towards yearly bills and other expenses so I know I could cope if needed to. TBH it's a great feeling to know I don't have to rely on credit anymore and for the first time, this month my debt actually came down and I had money left in the bank! :j

SW

gem4

Hi,
I've been there. The fear of running out is good as it makes you extra careful with your spending. I'm lucky in that although I have my wage going in the bank monthly I also have tax credits going in weekly. The longest I have to manage my almost empty account is until the following Monday.

I do however transfer whatever was left in there every Monday to a second account to use as a standby. At least then I know in my own mind that if necessary I could easily transfer a little of it back again. Some weeks what is left in there hardly seems worth the transfer, but I still do it because it gets me used to managing a fixed amount from one week to the next.

It goes without saying however, that all the money to cover my DD's and household bills gets transferred out, as soon as I get paid, into a third account set aside for that purpose. Having all 3 accounts with the same bank means I can do instant account transfers if I slip up occasionally (well nobody's perfect )

Even with as little as £20 set aside the fear is reduced and I dont willingly dip into it because watching it grow, and knowing its all my own, is as addictive as spending on a card.

So, live the fear for a while, it will ease and it will teach you very valuable lessons.