No more spending!

ShopaholicNoMore

Hi all!

I've been lurking on here for a while and today I've decided I'm going to make an effort to stop being a spendaholic!

I've not got huge debts - a £1500 overdraft is my main problem, and a credit card at around £600 on 0% for a year which I'm gradually paying off. All our household bills are up to date and we don't have any problems there - we just don't seem to have anything left over ever, and I think that we should!

The overdraft will be paid off this week and I'm aiming to stay out of it for good! I paid it off last year and managed to stay out of it for a good six months until I went on maternity leave and it crept back up again. I don't buy lots of expensive things but I do buy lots of little bits and pieces - I can't keep track really!

So I'm going to keep a spending diary. I'm giving myself initially a budget of £100 a week - I've tried less before but I always fail so I'm going to start a bit higher and hope I can stay within it - anything I don't spend out of it I'm going to save by giving it to the only bank I don't have access to...aka my mum!

£100 a week for everything except bills for me, my husband and baby. I'm hoping it'll be easy and I'll be able to survive on less pretty soon.

So wish me luck!

bexster1975

hi shopaholicnomore!

Congratulations on your decision! You will find lots of help on these boards. Some of my faves are the Old Style Board where you will find out more about eating in a budget, planning christmas on a budget and preparing your home for winter to keep those bills down.

I think you are right to keep the £100 budget to make sure you don't fail. A spending diary is a fab idea but might scare you to start with.

You could join the No Spend Days (NSDs) challenge which will help you control when you spend too.

I look forward to following your progress. Good Luck!

northern_at_heart

It's a great idea to do a spending diary, I'm sure it will be enlightening and really help you think about whether you *really* want to spend those odd £s here and there...

But be warned, it can be addictive! I decided to log everything I spent since 1 Jan 2010 (not kidding) - I'm just about managing to do it and some of the totals are pretty scary, particularly the clothes and shoes and the eating out categories (bit embarrassed about those...)

I would totally recommend it though, it's the only way to pin down those missing pounds! Good luck!

Hannah_10

There's another thread today about shopaholic-ism, I thought you might be interested.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2722725

ShopaholicNoMore

Thank you for your replies and good wishes. It feels good actually to be taking control!

Today, I've spent £10.36 in Lidl - on cold meat and rolls for lunches, cans of juice for lunch, dishwasher tablets and some veg. I resisted looking at anything else and buying other stuff just because it was a bargain. I also took my own bag to save me buying one...I know it's only 5p but it's a step

northern at heart - I'm scared to imagine how much I spend on shoes and clothes. Not designer clothes, I love a bargain...I just buy too many bargains!

Hannah, I'll check out that other thread!

ShopaholicNoMore

So, it's day two and I managed to only spend £1.06 on some potatoes and onions - I should've bought them yesterday in Lidl as they would've been cheaper but I bought them at a garage on way home so they probably cost more than I should've spent!

I'm hoping I might have a no spend day tomorrow!

ShopaholicNoMore

Ive decided to update my spends on here...is that okay? If I have somewhere to write it down, I won't lie!

So, Tuesday I spent...NOTHING

Wednesday - I slept in so had no time for making lunch so spent £1.10 on lunch and then £5.47 in Asda on dinner and juice. I could've bought something cheaper but I was in a hurry. Need to plan better as I've got a few nights where I'm not home til 7 and I always just grab something for dinner instead of getting something ready in advance. Total Wed spend £6.67.

Today is going to be a bigger spend day - need to buy some baby supplies but hopefully under £20.

ShopaholicNoMore

Eek...THursday was a bad day - I spent £17.51 in Asda, on baby milk and food. Then I paid the wheelie bin cleaner people - it's £2.50 a fortnight but if you pay £15 you get one wash free so I paid that. Then I spent £2.60 in the shop on juice and crisps and then £5 at Mcdonalds. Oh and £12.50 rejoining my slimming class...ha ha ha! So £52.61 in one day! Oh my god, I can't believe i spent that much in a day. I always wondered where my money disappeared to but now i know!

Today I need to buy a present for someone, hopefully £15 or less.

Tomorrow, I need to get a couple of things but hopefully I won't blow my budget.

Total spend so far £70.70!!

persian_star

Hi ShopaholicNoMore!

I'm also trying to curb my spending, tho with just me and hubby it's far easier as I don't have to worry about supplies for kids, so I'll be interested to see how your journey unfolds. Just wanted to say it looks like you're doing really well, updating what you spend every day on this thread will probably help you see exactly what you're spending )

I find simply not taking my cards out (cash only), not going near the shops when I don't need to and writing careful lists with specific dinners in mind (though I'm not as good at this as I could be) is useful. If I haven't got it I can't spend it, and same if I'm not near anywhere where I could spend it )

Never knew you could get people to clean wheelie bins *l* Mine probably look very shabby in comparison to yours! But I reckon that goes under 'bills' rather than shopping, and same with slimming club, so your actual 'shopping' bill is less than you think. It also helps to then split that spend into necessities (baby stuff, food for dinner, etc, which can be budgeted and pared down using the Old Style boards) and treats (Maccy D's, other snacks) and then try and work on dealing with the treats section. Like me it looks like you have two reasons to cut down on the snacking, saving money, and to make that slimming club money worthwhile! All the posts on the diet forums I read say you should let yourself have treats occasionally, and I guess it's the same with moneysaving, but try not to get into the habit (I only ever go to a fast food place on a weekend when I have to drive to get there and make an effort to have that treat! Avoiding the canteen and its goodies downstairs is harder )

So best of luck and keep it up

ms_london

ShopaholicNoMore wrote: »

Eek...THursday was a bad day - I spent £17.51 in Asda, on baby milk and food. Then I paid the wheelie bin cleaner people - it's £2.50 a fortnight but if you pay £15 you get one wash free so I paid that. Then I spent £2.60 in the shop on juice and crisps and then £5 at Mcdonalds. Oh and £12.50 rejoining my slimming class...ha ha ha! So £52.61 in one day! Oh my god, I can't believe i spent that much in a day. I always wondered where my money disappeared to but now i know!

Today I need to buy a present for someone, hopefully £15 or less.

Tomorrow, I need to get a couple of things but hopefully I won't blow my budget.

Total spend so far £70.70!!

Obviously it takes a while to unlearn bad habits and keep your spending under control, but I do still think that your above spends are a bit unnecessary....

I didn't know either that there were people who clean wheely bins, this is certainly something you can do yourself. And I daren't even point out the McDonalds / Slimming World combo

You are doing well though, but £70.70 and to have nothing to show for it in one day is quite a lot.

xx

debtdesperado

if you're trying to slim, I find having three running totals for food helps -

(1) general food, (ie what I have bought for lunches and dinners)

(2) snacks and treats (bought on a whim, or anything that slips into the shopping trolley on a weekly shop which I know that really I shouldn't be eating) and

(3) entertainment (coffees, eating out - any food and friend related expenditure).

Do this for a while and you can really see in black and white how you are sabotaging your diet...:). You can also see how much of your social life revolves around food, which is also interesting...!