Living within my means?

cuttingbackisitfun?

Hey Ms London I followed your story when you cleared all that debt and you did an amazing job!!!!

I suppose in one way I do have my own flat and it is furnished how I want it to be although there are always things I want to improve.

I am committed to a holiday next year and have the flights to pay for end of sept so am raking in the overtime in august to fund this and clear my credit card which I think can be done by end of Nov tbh then fund xmas then spending money then a new car and new bedroom carpet but that is a very large wish list there x

Pips_Mum

Hi! Theres been some great advice on here so far.

I just wanted to add that I racked up my debts, £17,000 at highest, whilst a single girl and I am still paying it off. Now I have a lovely partner and a 2.5 little boy and nothing is more upsetting than realising I can't treat him or take him somewhere fun for the day because we can't afford it. We really want to move so he can go to a nicer school but cannot get a new mortgage because of our rubbish credit ratings.
Sorry to be a debbie Downer but you won't be single forever and I wish I had used that as a motivation to stay in check when I was on my own. I had never considered how much it would upset me once I had a family.

Good Luck! x

curlytop12

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.[/QUOTE]

i LOVE this idea!embarassment is such a good deterrent!

sevenpounds03

im going to need some major motivation, i took a tenner out the bank last night for a takeaway and have a fiver left at least. wasnt even hungry

MissShoes

ms_london wrote: »

Hello.

You are certainly in the right place! I am another 30 (nearly 31) year old single female, I was in debt and owed £19,000 at the highest, but cleared it back in 2005, sounds like a million years ago now! Then I saved to go travelling, stayed away for 2 years, and come back and couldn't get a job because of the recession so ended up getting into another £6,000 debt! I have literally only started to save for a deposit on a house, but I feel as though I am in a better position now knowing what I know financially than if I had rushed in 10 years ago.

Don't give up hope, it takes a lot to go from spending whatever you like to living within your means, let alone learning how to start saving! I remember how chuffed I was when I had £20 left over from my previous months pay, that was unheard of!

This is a great site and the support is amazing, I wouldn't have got debt free without it, and eventually saving and being frugal becomes fun, I HATE spending full price on anything if I can help it, and my next challenge is furnishing my new house (ok, ok, so this is a distant dream!) on a budget.

I think others have suggested great ways of socialising on a budget, keep up the good work xx

Great post- giving me hope!

cuttingbackisitfun?

It sure is hard, I managed a no spend day WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So nice to have this I must say and funds left over so putting that in my envelopes for events coming up!!!

Then want to last the week with £0.70 in my purse till I get 'paid' on Friday (the day I take out my weekly allowance) all meals in so no need to buy anything and as my car is now off the road (after £40.00 petrol put in it, it decided to break down argh!!!!!!!) so wont be going far this week unless I can get there on the train with my train pass.

Come on guys lets motivate each other to live within our means, we can do it x

ixia

Well done on your NSD just thought I'd pop back in and see how you were getting on.

Hovel_lady

Well done on your NSD :T

timbstoke

sevenpounds03 wrote: »

im going to need some major motivation, i took a tenner out the bank last night for a takeaway and have a fiver left at least. wasnt even hungry

Been there, done that. It's not a horrible setback, just one of those things that happens when you live alone - there's no one to talk you out of it, and it seems so pointless cooking for yourself.

If takeaways are one of your vices, pick up a few 'zero effort' foods to replace them. Frozen pizzas, curries etc, that can just be thrown into the oven, taken out half an hour later, and voila!

You can still treat yourself to a takeaway, as long as you can justify it. If you can say "I sold £50 worth of junk on eBay, I deserve a £10 curry" or "I'm working this weekend so won't be spending money on a night out - this weeks socialising money can go on a pizza", then fine. Just try to avoid spending on 'treats' unless you're rewarding yourself for something, or replacing another treat.

Butti

Hi,
I would recommend never going out shopping without a list.
Although an £80 food budget is tight, really quite tight (remember there are over 4 weeks in most months) it will require meal planning and probably shopping at about 6.30/7pm and then freezing lots of stuff.

If I want to go out cheaply I go out for a bike ride with my friends (we do this once a week to keep fit) or go to a gallery with them.

Libraries quite often run events - ours is running a murder mystery thing at the moment.

The ramblers has a young walking division.

If you have a 'community type' pub they often have leaflets about what is on.

Plus maybe have a list of things you like doing on your own for when you are bored. Mine includes reading, doing a pedicure, gardening, facial - just things that make you feel like you are treating yourself well.

Do make progress but don't kill yourself doing it or you will just give up!


B