How to fight boredom spending
ineedtosave_2
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Hi Everyone,
Welcome to my first ever post
I doubt many of yu in years to come will remember where tou were when you read this post but I hope some of you will share your thoughts & advice on it and help me & I'm sure others.
So since the invention of the internet and the fact that it is near on impossible to function in the business environment without it how do you fight the attraction of boredom shopping during those slow spells in the office.
I am terrible for it, I have tried never carrying my debit/credit card to work but most sites save your details to make it more convenient for you (more like easier to spend your cash for their profit)
I was a few years ago an extremely complusive buyer and would buy things that I knew I didn't need, want or even like sometimes just because it seemed like a good idea at the time!! This lead to me at one stage being 30,000+ in debt, owning 3 cars (when i was single!! and walking to work!!) 100's of DVD's, tv's the usual.
Very proud of myself as at this moment in time i am virtually debt free, with just a working balance on my credit card.
How have you fought the spending beast and kept debt at bay? What things would you have done differently in terms of spending?
My biggest downfall was eing sucked into the Hire Purchase trap when buying a car and paying more in interest than I paid for the car!!! Never going to buy a car again unless its in full.
Hope to here from you all soon.
Stay safe, and keep your money where it belongs (In your account & not in the shopping basket of your favourite online store)
My OH has a saying which I think she found on here that she helped me kill the spending habit I had
"Do I need it, Can I afford it, Can I live without it"
Welcome to my first ever post
I doubt many of yu in years to come will remember where tou were when you read this post but I hope some of you will share your thoughts & advice on it and help me & I'm sure others.So since the invention of the internet and the fact that it is near on impossible to function in the business environment without it how do you fight the attraction of boredom shopping during those slow spells in the office.
I am terrible for it, I have tried never carrying my debit/credit card to work but most sites save your details to make it more convenient for you (more like easier to spend your cash for their profit)
I was a few years ago an extremely complusive buyer and would buy things that I knew I didn't need, want or even like sometimes just because it seemed like a good idea at the time!! This lead to me at one stage being 30,000+ in debt, owning 3 cars (when i was single!! and walking to work!!) 100's of DVD's, tv's the usual.
Very proud of myself as at this moment in time i am virtually debt free, with just a working balance on my credit card.
How have you fought the spending beast and kept debt at bay? What things would you have done differently in terms of spending?
My biggest downfall was eing sucked into the Hire Purchase trap when buying a car and paying more in interest than I paid for the car!!! Never going to buy a car again unless its in full.
Hope to here from you all soon.
Stay safe, and keep your money where it belongs (In your account & not in the shopping basket of your favourite online store)
My OH has a saying which I think she found on here that she helped me kill the spending habit I had
"Do I need it, Can I afford it, Can I live without it"
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I keep a list (divided into sections) of what I still need/particularly want money for and remind myself about it if I am tempted to splurge.
The first section of the list is immediate things (eg clearing any debt, any noticeable-size things I know I have to spend on during the next couple of months - eg the yearly house insurance bill).
The second section of the list is what I intend to spend on darn soon (ie within the next few months).
The third section is what I know I need as soon as I can AND if I can.
The fourth section is "wishlist".
I'm getting on a bit in age now - so have dealt with a lot of the things on the list at last. So - I'm down to a 3 section list now.
The List right now is:
- pay off that tiny bit (few hundred £s worth) of overdraft that crept in again because I literally couldnt wait any longer for a pretty expensive item (ie £1,100) that had been on the list for years as a "sometime" item
- set aside £1,000 for replacement clothes I will need when I lose a little weight I need to lose
- set aside £1,000 "cashflow" money (ie spare money I will leave in the bank account so I dont inadvertently go overdrawn).
Then - the second section of my list reads:
- move to "Forever Home" and do whatever work needs doing on it if I ever can (errr...:eek: level money)
- increase my savings from "emergency" level of £3,000 to level required (errrr...£20,000) if I can. (more :eek: level)
- make up for lost time on the holiday front money if I can (as I missed out on most of my holidays to date - because I couldnt afford them).
THE WISHLIST
- buy some land
- maybe buy a holiday home?
- retire early
**********************
So - thats my advice - that list (divided into sections) and write a figure (even if thats pretty much a guess as to how much it would cost) by each item.
The :eek: price level items will definitely make you think twice about spending any money on a whim. The first section of the list will remind you of "financial obligations" in the near future - that you know you HAVE to meet and you DO definitely have the money to meet (provided you dont splurge it that is.....:cool:).
As regards getting in noticeable debt - I also remind myself that its not fair to other people to take any risks that I wouldnt be able to pay my dues to them. Why should anyone else get dragged down by anything to do with MY finances? So I make sure there is no risk of my hurting someone ELSE's finances - as I would fully deserve any accusation anyone threw at my head if I damaged someone ELSE's finances because of MY whims.
Personally I always find things to read at work, mainly news and current affairs.. I'm just one of those information hungry people and will never get bored of the net. I do like to spend, but like to read about what I'm buying - infact if I ever go into town I always think, oh I'll go research that and find it cheaper when I get home (or to work) - apart from stuff like clothes, household goods, food..