Debt free the Fly lady way - anyone?

Tondella

Well i had saturday as my no spend day, but then managed to spend almost £10 on sunday
£4.90 on a sandwich and coffee (central london - tsh)
£1.00 on bus fare in (walked home)
£2.00 on sunday times
£0.89 on ritter sport chocolate with hazlenuts (er-hum)
£0.20 on garlic

which leaves me with £10 for the rest of the week plus £5 top-up shop (milk, etc)

My bills have been piling up so i will make sure i get up to date with my filing tonight. I might go one further and set up a direct debit with my Barclaycard (tried to in the past, they fluffed it up, told me it was working and then hit me with a late payment fine when it didn't go through).

Tondella

sashanut

I've tried to do this post before - got as far as typing it out & then somehow pressed the wrong button & lost the lot- plus the will to do it all again.

Not sure if we are still 'fessing up' but this is a biggie for me & one that someone else might relate to. It's a bit long, but stick with me, I WILL get to the point!! Don't know if anyone else has been watching the TV prog 'Spendaholics' - Tuesday night I think on BBC2 ( I think). The format is slightly different from normal - there are 2 presenters, a female who sorts out the bills & a male who looks at the psychological reasons why the person has got into the state they are in. It's OK but I don't feel they are that helpful at giving the person the tools to deal with it - like this site for instance:D ; although they do set a budget & confront the person with their out of control spending.

Anyhow, I watched the first prog, which was about 3 weeks ago & it featured a man who spent £1000s on clothes & had wardrobes full to bursting with designer gear. He passed the clothes shops on his way to work & couldn't stop himself going in & always bought something.

The presenters went to his place & let themselves in, they looked at all the stuff he had - & there was a lot. I was watching this & doing the usual comments - wow, he spent £150 on a shirt, etc etc.

THEN came the lightlbulb moment for me................ I am rubbishing this guy but in essence I am just the same as him!!! Well in fact he is not as bad as me because he actually goes out & wears most of the stuff.

Our bedroom is stuffed full of clothes - & trust me it's a very large room - in fact we have 2 rooms like this. Now I don't exactly buy desginer stuff of that magnitude, but I have TONS of clothes; I do sell on eBay but more often than not I can't resist buying too & compounding the problem.

Now here's the killer - I hardly ever go out anywhere!! So what do I need all these clothes for - & why can't I get rid of them? I have tried before but failed miserably. My DH doesn't say much but I know it bothers him & it's not like we can afford this stuff because we are in big debt.

I have started & have not bought anything in the last week - not much I know but a biggie for me. I'm going to set a goal to list some of this stuff - anyone care to set me a realistic challenge of so many per week???

Hope this has not been too boring & that it might help anyone who is struggling with a shopping addiction.

I feel better for fessing up anyhow - & finally did it this time. Thanks for the thread, which has prompted me to set it out in print - keep up the good work!!

Tondella

oh well done sashanut! Clothes are my weakness too, I totally believe that they can transform me when i try them on in the shop, then when i get them home I never wear them. I still spend over my budget on clothes, and then make sacrifices elsewhere.

anyhoo, you asked for a target - I presume you'll be ebaying and it looks as though you already have a seller's account.

I don't think you should put too much on at once, as organising the postage etc can be difficult to manage - so why not pick out ten items to list this week (either a couple a day or all together on one day). That's probably 2 hours worth of listing, if you give a detailed write up.

Let us know how you get on!

sashanut

Just a couple of additions to my loooong post -

- the prog is on BBC3 NOT BBC2 - Tuesdays nights about 7.30/8pm

- I work from home so do not need to get 'dressed up' to go to work, in fact I wear the same few t-shirts & trousers


- I am not a young fashion victim & swayed by trends etc...

Perhaps I am good material for a Spendaholic prog myself! I did fess up to my friend last week & she says her spending vice is BOOKS...OK, I think there must be quite a few different ones out there..

BTW thanks v much Tondella for the target - it certainly helps that it is not too un-achievable. To give you an idea, I listed ONE item last week.. but at least I never bought anything..so it's one less item. Also, when I buy stuff I make excuses like, well when I get this coat - or whatever - I will sell one of the others. Nope! Never do that either..

Thanks again - off to take some photos...will LYK how I get on

Sasha

Tondella

sashanut wrote:

Just a couple of additions to my loooong post -

- the prog is on BBC3 NOT BBC2 - Tuesdays nights about 7.30/8pm

- I work from home so do not need to get 'dressed up' to go to work, in fact I wear the same few t-shirts & trousers


- I am not a young fashion victim & swayed by trends etc...

Perhaps I am good material for a Spendaholic prog myself! I did fess up to my friend last week & she says her spending vice is BOOKS...OK, I think there must be quite a few different ones out there..

BTW thanks v much Tondella for the target - it certainly helps that it is not too un-achievable. To give you an idea, I listed ONE item last week.. but at least I never bought anything..so it's one less item. Also, when I buy stuff I make excuses like, well when I get this coat - or whatever - I will sell one of the others. Nope! Never do that either..

Thanks again - off to take some photos...will LYK how I get on

Sasha

another tip for us fashion victims is to operate a strict one in one out policy, ie once you have sold off your excess clothes and have a wardrobe of things that you regularly wear, if you want to buy a new coat or pair of shoes you must get rid of an old coat or pair of shoes in exchange, so that you wardrobe doesn't grow again.

mizmir

Well am on to the filing thing. I do actually have a full size filing cabinet in my home office where I keep all my bills etc. Or at least it is where they should be - I suspect I have been a little lax of late and they are lying around all over the place. Job for later today - go round, collect them up and put them back where they belong!

Tondella

Hello flybabies

Sorry I'm lagging a little behind with the postings on the challenge thread, I'm snowed under at work and have been logged off MSE at home, so i need to find my password again.

I'll write up the rest of the week's challenges later on today, but briefly for those who need today's challenge, it's "frozen wastes" i.e. you need to explore your freezer, give it a good old organise and then make a list of what's in there. This should help you should you fancy another store cupboard challenge and will also help when it comes to writing shopping lists.

I haven't got a freezer, so I'll have to sit this one out! Maybe I'll give the fridge a bit of a clean instead?!

sashanut

Hi Tondella

Update on eBay selling - well took some pics yesterday in readiness; have not yet listed anything else but yesterday's auction finished - & I will get £24.51 for that one skirt! (less fees etc etc but still..)..think I will put the total in my sig to help spur me on...

Ta for the challenge, I am up for this one - I have 3 freezers (!) - one decrepit old one in cellar - full of God knows what & no doubt costing a fortune to run; one small one off Freecycle in garage ditto; and one brand-new frost-free one also in garage to replace other two freezers once I have cleared them out...so probably could live out of these until June, good challenge for me.

Good luck with the fridge cleaning - also on my list of todos since veg man comes today!

newlywed

I am not behind.... just jumping back in where I was

Today is the day to bring lunch with me and last night I made some butternut squash soup so that is now lurking in the fridge at work

bobble_hat

Day 17 – find your inner scrooge

I have to fess up for this one, I spent £1 on a latte and a chocolate bar yesterday.

I'm heartily ashamed of myself

If I don't meet an old friend for coffee today, it will be a No Spend Day. :rolleyes: