how to stop spending?

trifles · 21 July 2011 at 2:23AM

All of the advice already posted is excellent.I would just add-ask yourself seriously why do you feel you need to spend.Be honest with yourself and don't feel guilty-if you know why you feel the urge to spend,it might be easier to plan strategies to avoid doing so.Also,are you trying too hard and beating yourself up when you 'fail'?
I sometimes allow myself a bit extra a week so I don't feel so pressured and can have a small treat if I really want.If I don't choose to spend this small amount,then I put it in a piggy for when I'd like to DO something eg see a film or buy a new scarf,so I don't feel I can't allow for a considered rather than impulse and easily forgotten small purchase.:D

[Deleted User] · 21 July 2011 at 7:41AM

My old Mum used to divide every bit of money into three, one to pay for essentials food, utilities ect, one amout to save, and the third was Happy Cash to spend on what ever you fancied if it was a bag of doughnuts or just something totally inappropriate I have alsways has a small amount of 'happy cash' so that I can be frivolous if I feel like it.Sometimes my happy cash has been very minute especially when I was stony broke back in the 1970s when the mortgage rate shot up to 15%, but even a tiny bit to blow on something daft made you feel as though things wern't that bad.Today I have my 'food purse' which I keep for housekeeping and a couple of bob I like to use for something for me, my DDs or my grandchildren the rest I save ,some for a rainy day and the rest for christmas or holidays .

foxgloves · 22 July 2011 at 2:09PM

Jackie, keeping 2 purses might seem like a hassle to people who don't do it, but it's what I started doing a few months ago and it's working. The household budget for the month goes in one purse and my own 'spends' (also an agreed amount each month) goes into my purse. I borrow between the two of them hardly at all now, compared with when I was trying to keep the household budget in a separate compartment in my own purse. It does make us very aware that if we dip into our bank account because we've blown the household budget or our own spending money, well, at the moment, that wouldn't put us into overdraft or anything like that, but it would start eroding the modest cushion of money we all need to cover those nasty unexpected things like car bills & household emergencies. Since clearing our debts, we also like to have a week's holiday every year. We both agreed that this is far more important to us than buying lots of little bits & pieces we don't really need, can borrow from the library or make or grow ourselves. Also, just not seeing those minus figures on our bank statement is so motivating in itself as it means we no longer start each month with a hefty proportion of our money effectively disappearing straight down a black hole. After 20 years of seeing those minus figures, it's not a situation either of us are keen to revisit!!