No more spending!

debtdesperado

ShopaholicNoMore wrote: »

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!

Er, £7.50 on junk food and then £12.50 on slimming? Anyone else for irony?!!! :rotfl:It does sound as if you realise this, but perhaps slow down a bit and think about what was going through your head at the time?

Cut the first one out and you won't need to spend the second, so that would be £20 saved.

A brilliant book is To Buy or Not to Buy all about how compulsive shopping is about providing comfort to ourselves (also goes for food too). It helped me a lot.

Swinstie73

I get my wheelie bin cleaned but at £3.00 every 4 weeks or £30 for the year it's actually pretty good. I was going to stop mines, but the cost outweighed the thought of trying to climb into the bin to clean it :rotfl::rotfl:

You should see if anyone else offers the service - mines is VIP, don't know if they are a national company though.

Can't offer any other tips as I'm try to get over my own compulsion, will keep you motivated though if I can.

ShopaholicNoMore

Thanks everyone - i do see the irony yes!! I've been dieting since January and have lost two and a half stone of baby weight. I'm only 2lbs away from my target weight but havent had time to go to class for the last three weeks so you have to rejoin to keep going - i really want to get to my target weight i'm sticking with it.

The macdonalds was because i was rushing between two places with no time for dinner - i should've made a sandwich or something but i'm really not in maccyds that much so it was a treat!

Today i spent 10.99 on a present and 29p on a card - didnt buy a gift bag as i have millions in the house!

£2 on milk and papers.

i paid £2.35 for a pattern for my mum to knit my baby a jumper - i saw one in a shop at £18 but she said she could make one the same!

And I paid £2 to park my car but my mum spent £5 in the supermarket I'd parked in so gave me the £2 back that she reclaimed at the till.

£15.35 total.

Re the Wheelie Bins - i probably could clean it myself but I'm hoping it's something I can continue to afford...

Espcecially since I forgot to mention that when some cheques clear in the bank I will be transferring £1600 to my current account and be OD free

ShopaholicNoMore

Well day 7 and I burst my budget!

I spent £2.30 on water at the garage, £2 in the poundshop on lip balm, £2 on parking but redeemed against my £9.75 shopping.

£14.05 in total.

So I burst my budget by 10p!

Still, I've learned so much this week! I had no idea how I managed to fritter away my money but I've got a better idea now! Am going to continue for a couple more weeks and try to do better.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement!

Xx

pink_numbers

Hi ShopaholicNoMore, well done for keeping track of your spending. It was interesting AND painful for me to read your thread, as I used to be just like you and I can sooo see my old self! (I mean this in the kindest possible way btw) I totally undestand how hard it is, but with time, it'll get easier. You'll pick up one tip here, one tip there on how to save money, and slowly, you'll get better. I used to have a monthly outgoing of over £2000, now it's down to £370.

Is it ok for me to give you some pointers as a person that's been there?

1. You seem to be shopping every day. Try to have some Non-Spending Days (NSDs) each week. There is a NSD challenge thread on this board that you could join to motivate yourself. I used to spend little bit here and little bit there everyday, and it adds up. I am now lucky if I spend on more than one day a week.

2. Ok, let's take a look at Thursday:
£17.51 - Asda, food and baby milk
£2.60 - shop, juice and crisps
£5.00 - Macdonalds
I think it'd been a little bit cheaper, if when you were in ASDA, you picked up the drinks, crisps and something quick to eat for dinner like a pasty or something. Even better would be to always make sure you have a bottle of water and some snacks with you when you go out. Just spend couple of minutes before you go doing your errands and see if you can buy whatever you're buying somewhere cheaper.

3. Bin cleaner? seriously?

4. You can get lots of free knitting patterns online, try places like http://www.ravelry.com/

HTH, it is a slow process, and you will fall off the wagon many times (well I did ) but you WILL get there!!

ShopaholicNoMore

Thanks Pink Numbers!

It's good to know someone managed to get over this addiction!! I never would've realised how much I spend without writing it down - I worked out we should have about £500 or £600 left over every month but I have no idea where it goes...well now I do!

You're right about the buying things in asda thing - as I was buying the two bottles of water today, I thought I should buy a multi pack in future! I just need to be more organised! I'm going to aim to not buy any food for dinners this week as I've got loads of stuff in the house and freezer I could use up. I'm going to buy stuff for lunches tomorrow in Lidl again as that worked well last week.

The bin cleaner has been paid for the next three months so I'll cancel it after that!

Didn't know about knitting patterns on line! I'll remember that for next time!

pink_numbers

you are more than welcome

btw do you buy with your card (either credit or debit card) or cash? and also, do you have a set budget for how much money you should spend on food?

ShopaholicNoMore

I'm taking the money out as I'm much more aware of my spending when I do it in cash. I don't have a set figure for anything - I just made a rough estimate at £100 being enough for everything aside from bills throughout the week.

pink_numbers

you're defo heading towards the right direction with going cash only I found that was my weakest point, if I carry cards around, my outgoings would literally double because I wasn't clocking that I was spending money.

I would highly recommend you split that £100 into a budget. I just have two main budget - food and anything else. It doesn't really matter what you define in your budget (but don't do too many or you'll get sick of keeping track). The key is in setting a budget and not going over it. I carry my two budget in two pouches, so I can see immediately how much I have left in each pouch. I did try the whole keeping track of the budget on paper, but it was all abstract and it didn't sink in. I needed to SEE that I only had few quids left and so probably shouldn't spend it.

The great benefit of the budget is that if you have any left over, then you put it away = savings! You'll probably also find that you'll have more left over at the end of the week/month, than just having the £100. When you have the £100, it's soooo easy to say "oh I did so well this week, I have a £5 left over, let's treat myself to something nice". (ask me how I know!!)

You are doing really well keeping track of everything - and I love how you are taking every advice on board, you are so ready to change! Have you tried adding up how much you've spent on what this week so far?

ShopaholicNoMore

My latest update...

Sunday £4 on newspapers. My husband bought stuff for making lunches for the week so that saved me some cash

Today...NOTHING Made dinner from stuff we had in cupboards and am intending to do the same tomorrow. I find the beginning of the week easier when I'm at work. It's my days off at the end of the week where it all goes wrong!