Living within my means?

cuttingbackisitfun?

I have like most of you said this so many times but I have to learn to live within my means I consolidated my debt into a loan and low and behold 7 months later and yet again £800.00 overdraft and £540.00 on CC plus holiday to pay for end of Sept.

I find it so hard though being a 31 year old single girl who lives alone as going out socialising costs money but I would like loads of suggestions if possible of things to keep me occupied to stop me spending money!!! If I am bored i pop to the supermarket £40.00 later i am home with a few bags of food that were not necessary.

How have others managed to train themselves to live within their means? I am lucky in that I can afford all payments easily but want to stop the spending but don't know how.

Sorry I have no idea if any of you can help but I do hope so I have lurked on here for years now and its about time I joined in to see if that will help me.

Thanks for your support and advise in advance.

K x

bottleofred

Hi K,

Only you can help yourself really, as it's your money. One thing I would say though is that for a while I was able to afford all of my repayments until I got in so deep that it took almost all of my salary in monthly payments and I then had to use the cards to survive. At this stage though I owed £38000 and it has been a difficult 6 years, so do learn from my mistakes. I thought putting things on credit and having nice meals, cars and holidays were an entitlement, but they are not. Try keeping a spending diary of where the money is going, take up cheap hobbies, rent dvds etc. Join the challenge on page 1 to see how many no spend days you can have in a month etc.

Good luck

Red

cuttingbackisitfun?

Thanks for this Red I know what you mean about nice meals and holidays - I know I am trying to live a champagne lifestyle on a strongbow budget and am working hard at it.

Any suggestions for free hobbies? I already use the library as love reading and sometimes go for walks, but anything else other people do that is free? I dont have a garden so gardening is out unfortunately.

I am pleased to see someone responded its nice to know people care enough to leave comments to help each other.

K x

bottleofred

Hi K,

There may be a walking club at your local leisure centre. They may not be free, but would be very cheap and you should save money in the long run as it'll stop you spending elsewhere when your doing it. You could also join some of the survey companies and complete online surveys for vouchers etc in high street shops, which could then be used to treat yourself. Have a look at the make £10 per day challenge on page 1 for details of survey companies and other ways to make cash. Please learn from my mistakes, as I was in deep doodoo and it's taken a long time to see the finishing line. Look at the old style board on the forum for recipe ideas, cook from scratch, take advantage of bogofs and batch cook etc. You can then freeze extra food for another day. Posting your statement of affairs is also a good idea to see if you can save money.

Red

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi, the biggest thing that changed me was starting to keep proper, accurate records of my finances.

Seeing it in black and white made me stop spending because I realised that every month I was spending more than I was earning and this can only lead to disaster eventually!

Use some of the time you have to start a spreadsheet recording everything you spend each month and how much you have left. Make yourself keep a diary of what you spend on a daily basis.

Its really hard and takes time to change bad habits but it can be done. Sometimes I really want to buy things but now I know I cant afford them it just doesnt seem worth it any more.

As for free hobbies what about your friends? Would any of them like to go walking or cycling with you? I used to do a lot of cycling when I was free and single!

Good luck, and keep reading the stories on here. There are some really inspiring people around.

Pee

I would do a SOA and challenge yourself to keep within your grocery budget.

Would freezing your credit card in a ice cream tub filled with water - so that you can only use it in emergencies - work and then withdraw cash at the beginning of each week?

If you are single it is really only you who is responsible i.e. you only have yourself to blame or credit with what you do.

Are your basic living costs, i.e. rent, manageable?

butdoineedit?

Hi Cuttingback

I would second the spending diary & the NSD challenge, as one of the things i have found is that if i cut out all the little unnecessary spends, there is some money now for fun, whilst still allowing me to me to make inroads into my debts.

Now i hope this doesn't sound like a lecture but here goes....

Do you buy lunches, chocolate, pop at work? That can easily waste a fiver a day... £25 per week or £100 a month :eek: If you do try taking a pack up which will cost a fraction & may leave you some money for fun.

Something else that helped me massively was having different purses for each budget, it certainly helped me to stop wasting money in the supermarket on stuff i didn't need when i knew exactly how much cold hard cash i had for food each month, & i could see my "fun" money & divide it up for nights out, so i knew what i could say yes to & when i had to stay home.

Look on here for restaurant vouchers such as 2 for 1, or free drinks etc... it make having a night out more affordable (as long as it's not every night :rotfl:)

Have a think about whether you could commit a few hours a week to do some voluntary work, if you pick something you enjoy, you will probably meet like minded people & it will feel like socialising for free!!

Dinners in are a good one, invite your friends, everyone brings a dish or bottle of wine, keeps the cost down & you have fun at the same time.

Clothes swopping party maybe? New wardrobe, few drinks with friends, almost no cost!!

I also use the last bus / got to get up early / meeting someone else excuse when i feel i can't say no to an occasion. This allows me to feel like i haven't missed out, without having a long night that costs a fortune because my excuse to leave is already there after a couple of drinks (oh & try switching to pints if you can bear it, they take so much longer to drink that you barely have to go to the bar... can you tell i have tried everything?!? :rotfl:)

Sell stuff you don't need on Ebay & use anything you make as your socialising budget for the month - the more junk you declutter the more nights out you get!!

Bottleofred is right in saying that nice meals out & the champagne lifestyle is not an entitlement, but being a single girl like you i totally get the need to be out & about at times to stop feeling like a hermit & i think it's very much about getting the balance right. If you can cut out unnecessary spends elsewhere this will free up some cash for the odd treat, the key is to moderation & not splashing your cash on expensive 3 course meals or large rounds on a night out!

Right essay over, hope that helped in some way
BDINI

cuttingbackisitfun?

Thank you all so so much your comments are hugely appreciated.

Yes most of the debts were solely mine about a third are from an ex-partner but I am dealing with these he denies that I had bailed him out time after time so have jsut accepted this.

My basic take home is 1390 mortgage is 500 which I think might be high but I have negative equity so am stuck. A friend is now also single and we had a fab night on Sat having a take away over hers cost £4.00 each and I had loads more fun that the £20.00 I spent in town the night before that.

Once again your comments are hugely appreciated!

K x

cuttingbackisitfun?

BDINI thank you so so much the essay was appreciated, I already budget but end up overspending and dipping into another pot so to speak.

I do the seperate purse thingy, I have a purse that is split so assists this I need to be stronger and only buy what I need not what looks nice or i fancy. I am going back to having a couple of basics nights jacket spud with beans or tuna per week.

I take lunch most days and do like diet pepsi but i buy 3 for a 1 of these so not wasting 60p on the can machine in the office.

Voluntary work is gd but most weekends I do overtime in work to boost my salary this has been used to do nice things recently but that has to stop it needs to start clearing debts but its so much more bareable when its for nice things!!!!!

K x

timbstoke

You may actually be a female me :-) I was in the same boat - all my money going on nights out just because sitting at home alone got so DULL! Here's a few things I did:

- Nights out > nights in. Instead of going to a pub and spending a fortune, invite your friends round to your place instead. Bring your own drinks, and have a pizza & movie night. Asda's fresh pizzas are possibly the best food ever, and take all of 15 minutes in the oven - try getting a takeaway delivered in that time! The same goes for Iceland curries, and they're single serving for £1-2 each, so if everyone likes different curries, that's OK too. The beauty of this is you get to rotate the host, so you only need to worry about food when its your turn.
- Join a class. I just finished a sign language class that was free at the local deaf centre. I loved the experience and made loads of new friends. On a slightly less MSE note, I'm now seriously tempted to do the next level, which costs £300!
- Find other things to do on 'cheap' nights. Bingo, Zumba, running. OK, most things cost money, but if you'd normally spend £30 on a night with friends in the pub, £5 bingo night is suddenly worthwhile.

As for cutting down on the random shopping...try splitting your cash into 'pots'. You have a food pot, a clothes pot, a socialising pot, etc. You can spend whatever you like, but when the pots empty, that's it for the month. If that might be a bit too organised for you, try my approach - get a prepaid card, and top it up with your 'allowance' for the week. A prepaid card will decline when it runs out instead of charging you, so suddenly, you've got to think about whether or not you've got enough money left on the card to pay for this when you get to the checkout. Suddenly, you're watching your money more closely, not because you have no choice, but because you don't want the embarrassment of your card being declined. I also include my weekend budget on that same card, so the more I save during the week, the more I get to splurge over the weekend.

RAS

it may or not be your thing but could you volunteer at the weekend? Either something physical like BTCV or your local Wildlife Trust or something like helping people read since you enjoy that.

Do something like that some Saturdays and you are less likely to spend money during the day and may be too knackered to go out in the evening as well.