Tracking a Spending Diet

squinky

Just a girl trying to keep track of my spending habits!

As a little bit of background I had my LBM in October 2010 however if I’m honest I didn’t really do anything about it until the start of the new year. In 2011 I managed to pay off just under £7000 of debt and start a savings account of £2500. As part of my debt busting 2011 I read a lot of personal finance blogs; one talked about a spending fast and a spending diet. Now I am debt free I no longer need to be on a spending fast however I find the concept of a spending diet so much harder. I also decided to use my savings to book a holiday to the Caribbean for a friends wedding next year…it was lovely to be able to say yes to going without stressing about money but it just shows how easy it can get spent!

I guess I want to use this as an opportunity to get to grips with my change in budget, to get the balance of spending versus saving right and managing to enjoy my life. Due to lots (& lots) of birthdays, and an impromptu concert ticket purchase this month I have £6.75 to last me til payday. Luckily that is this Friday and I should be covered for food & petrol. Unluckily however I am meeting a friend for a drink after work on Tuesday (I am hoping the emphasis will be on drink singular) And then a friend has invited me round for dinner on Wednesday and I hate going empty handed but am hoping to rustle up a lil’dessert at least from my supplies at home so I should make it.

I am thinking once I get paid I will set up a good budget and use this site as a good way to keep track of my spending and saving. The support, inspiration and motivation I have seen so far from likeminded people is incredible so am feeling very positive that I can be a successful saver and or/spending dieter!

Thank you for reading xx

Margey

Hi,

what you have done is not easy, changing your spending habits in this current turmoil the country has found itself in is probably something everyone in the UK including me lol should be doing

big thumbs up!!

Margey

squinky

Thank you Margey that is very kind of you to say For me it seems harder to manage now that I am debt free though…I clearly have no discipline?!

This morning I woke up with a nasty cold so bought some orange juice on the way to work (56p) luckily I have a little stockpile of meds from the winter so am working through them. I’m still meeting my friend after work and I also need to pick up a little something to take to a first birthday party I’m popping in on. Also my hairdryer stopped working last night, luckily my travel one is very powerful so I will be making do with that for the foreseeable.

Making my £6.75 £6.19 last is looking less likely now There was an interesting programme on channel four last night about cash and no-one they spoke to knew exactly how much cash they had on them. I bet everyone on here knows exactly how much cash they have on them?! (& hooray to that!)

vintagegirl

im reading your post with interest because Im doing the same myself. I earn good money but was getting to the point to even borrow a tenner for petrol.
I now decided not to be a food snob and get most of my shopping at Aldi's

squinky

It’s weird isn’t it, I wonder if I am just in complete denial?! I know that I earn a decent amount and that last year I was able to clear a lot of debt by cutting back my spending but now I am on the day before payday with literally pennies in my purse.


Of my £6.75, I spent 56p on orange juice, I managed to get a birthday card for 29p and a cute little Thornton’s white chocolate lollipop for 79p perfect for the one year old’s party, my drinks round totalled £4.05 on Tuesday and I got a posh ice cream dessert on sale for £1.03 for after dinner on Wednesday. That leaves me with just 3 little pennies sat in my purse! I did have a bit of a result with my hairdryer though; turns out it was part of faulty batch that have been recalled and so I got a straight swap. I do need a no spend night tonight though; luckily it's so sunny I won’t feel too bad about not doing anything significant!

squinky

It's Friday, it's sunny & it's payday, result! Just need to work myself out a decent/realistic budget now

P.S. Sorry I meant to say I have it on very reliable grounds that Al-di and Li-dl products are of equal if not superior quality to a lot of our supermarket 'luxury' favourites.

pqrdef

squinky wrote: »

Of my £6.75, I spent 56p on orange juice, I managed to get a birthday card for 29p and a cute little Thornton’s white chocolate lollipop for 79p perfect for the one year old’s party, my drinks round totalled £4.05 on Tuesday and I got a posh ice cream dessert on sale for £1.03 for after dinner on Wednesday. That leaves me with just 3 little pennies sat in my purse!

You may get fed up of this soon enough. But it doesn't have to be this way. You're managing your cashflow instead of your budget. The trick is to recognise that spending will vary month to month, but it doesn't matter if if it balances out in the longer run.

A way to do that is to plan all your spending. That way, if a spend is in the plan, you can afford it, and if it isn't, you can't, except by juggling the plan and deciding what to take out. How much is in your purse isn't the test.

Personally, I've got no idea how much is in my bank account, because it's never a useful thing to know. But I know when I'm looking at unplanned spending.

DCFC79

I find carrying some cash with you when shopping (even if its just a basket full) instead of the card you might watch the pennies more.

squinky

Hello

Yes PQRDEF I think you are right; it’s something that I’m trying not to give too much thought too either as I don’t want it to dominate my life. I know I am in a privileged position to be debt free and have a regular income so I don’t want to come across as moaning or anything, I just get irritated at myself at not being very good with my money. I like the idea of planned spending though and am aiming to try and do this this month. Do you set a certain amount for certain thinhgs? I have tried to allocate spends for upcoming events as well as food, fuel and nights out. There is no contingency though for impromptu drinks, coffees, lunches, magazines, ice creams etc but I am starting to realise that it is exactly those kind of spends that add up!

DCFC79 I think the same about carrying cash; it's so much more visible and makes you think about your spending.

Four days in and £80 down, double my £10 a day prediction, oops! Also I must correct that the book is called How I Lived on a Pound a Day, not survived, and she sure lived and not just survived, after finishing reading it hitch-hiking and tinned sardines are not things I would coonsider but it was an interesting read

squinky

My absence has been due to a weekend in Paris and a horrible viral infection keeping me in bed for days rather than defaulting on my spending & hiding!!

Actually following the advice given earlier I have been trying to allocate amounts for certain things and am pleased to report that I have been pretty successful I set strict budgets for my food shopping, my Paris trip, the Jubilee weekend etc. I also realized that I probably overspent on gifts as a more 'justified' way of spending ("it's not for me so it doesn't count!") so I cut back on Father's Day and even managed to use a discount code for my god-daughter's birthday present.

So I have a week til my next payday again now but instead of a measly six pounds or whatever it was before I have over fifty pounds and a fridge full of food. I still need to maintain some discipline though as I have a concert and a christening at the weekend and some nice ingredients to buy for dinner with the girls. Hopefully it will last!

squinky

Thwarted!
Collections at work (leaving, babies, moving etc) and sponsorship (is there anyone not doing Race For Life?!) have really impacted on my budget this week!
How much is appropriate to give and is ever okay to say no?