Tracking a Spending Diet

squinky

I haven't posted for ages and to be honest I've had quite a few spending binges. I've really struggled with the whole savings thing too. I have about £565 to pay off now on my credit card which is really disappointing and only £160 in my bank until pay day (two weeks two days!) I'm hoping to have it cleared by Christmas so at least I can start the new year well but we'll see. Why is it so hard to not spend money

Bloomberg

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squinky wrote: »

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

Thank you for your post, it was very interesting. It is extremely difficult to be balanced, the secret is to get a few thousand behind you so that you feel comfortable. You have demonstrated that you are able to be disciplined with money. The problem is that when people don't have money they want everything that they see, those who do have money know that they can afford an impromptu purchase like a pair of shoes and are more likely to resist the temptation. The more money you have, the more you want.



You mentioned about keeping track of your spending, needless to say this is very important. A credit card is an invaluable tool for this, you can see where every single penny has been spent. If possible try and avoid cash altogether. If for example you take £300 from an ATM for various expenses you will have great difficulty remembering where every single penny went. With a credit card it will all be recorded down to the last penny. This method will also enable you to identify how much you are spending on non essentials. I looked through my credit card statement and to my horror discovered that I had spend well over one thousand pounds in three months on eating and drinking out - ouch!!!


You appear to have the right mindset and I think that you will do well. Just one last thing, when you start getting a few thousand behind you keep it to yourself. Too many people nowadays will expect a 'loan'. All the best.

squinky

Thank you for your post Bloomberg but I am pretty terrible with my credit card. I got myself a store linked one so that when I do use it I get rewards which has been okay but still seem to think that it's my own money and so spend spend spend!!! The total is now at £723...eeks...but I am paying off £500 tonight on my way home from work so should have it cleared soon enough without incuuring interest!

I got paid last week and all my monthly bills are now paid leaving my current account balance at £0 and then £200 left in my spending account for the next three weeks. I'm thinking £70 for this week; £20 food shopping, £40 weekend night out and £10 other bits & bobs then £65 a week for the next two weeks. It never seems enough though

squinky

So I managed to have a great night out well in budget on Saturday night which was great. I was a bit worried as we were going to a posh restaurant for dinner. However we had drinks at mine first and it just shows with a bit of effort how thrifty you can be. I had a nasty bottle of chardonnay lurking around so I just got some bargain lemonade (17p for two litres, amazing, I got charged £2 for half a plastic pint at an o2 venue the other week!) to make much more palatable spritzers. I also got a cheap bottle of perry/fizz stuff (£2) but presented it beautifully in an ice bucket with lots of sparkles and tea lights dotted around and then got some posh crisps (£1) as nibbles, again just decanted prettily so everything looked lovely. I thought a few drinks and nibbles would set us up nicely for the meal and mean that we wouldn’t have to spend so much on drinks and starters and my plan worked beautifully. I also dropped a cake (£3) and candles to the restaurant earlier in the day so when they brought that out (singing bless em!) we didn’t need to order dessert either. With my share of the bill and tip, a few drinks after and a little petrol/parking money as a friend was driving I’d spent £30 and had a fabulous time

squinky

After commenting on another thread they challenged me to join in to try and hit my savings target by the end of 2013. I’d really love to do this but to be honest I’m not sure I can even reach my target by my own deadline, May 2014 let alone five months early?!

Basically my plan was to save £25,000 by the time my boyfriend finishes university. He’s just started his second year and I’ve got about £9500 so far. I am currently saving £775 a month which I think is really at the upper limit of what I am able to put aside. Having cut back for the last two years I want to be able to indulge in treats now and then and I find that now I have sold everything I don’t need and used up all my old stocks of beauty products etc that I do actually need to spend money every now and again. I will certainly give it some more thought as there is definitely more of an incentive when you have targets and the support and encouragement of others.

Watch this space!

squinky

Had a real spendy month. Did quite a bit of socialising, made a good start on Christmas stuff and treated my family to a lovely meal out which was really nice to be able to do but wasn't exactly very mse, oh well! Since pay day I have paid off my remaining credit card balance (￡290...creeps up when I'm not looking!) and paid for my holiday next year I don't have much left now though but do have a tank full of petrol and a fridge fill of food. I only have one more payday left until Christmas and still have all my big gifts left to buy plus all my Christmas dinners and nights out!
I've decided not to try and expedite my savings until the end of 2013 as I like the flexibility of not being on a superstrict budget. My plan is to up my savings to a neat ￡800 though which I have been able to do this month. There's a lot of discussion on here about the cost of Christmas; I know I have certainly cut down on presents, but I still seem to need a fair whack for all the other stuff...decorations, food and nights out. I was hoping to get most of my present shopping done by the beginning of December so I get to enjoy all the festivities but it's December on Saturday...eeks!!!

squinky

Wow so Christmas is now over and I am back to work already. Despite budgeting for it and promising myself that I would be strict this year I seemed to go spending crazy still and ended up doubling what I was anticipating spending. Oops. I am not going to beat myself up about it too much though as I did have a lovely Christmas, I adore my tree and decorations, I had some great days/nights out and all the gifts I purchased were very well received so I do think it was money well spent.

Also I was able to keep on track with my savings. I am now looking forward however to the start of 2013 and the possibility of reaching my savings goal. The plan was to save £25k by the time my boyfriend finishes university (June 2014) For some reason when I was paying back my debts it was much easier to throw money at them but now I am saving it is much harder and I have only recently (thanks to some determined minded diaries on this site) increased my savings to £800 a month. This means that I can realistically save £9600 this year. The Virgo in me would love that to be a rounded figure like £10000 instead which is actually only a monthly increase of £33, or just over £1 a day which when you say it like that is nothing but I feel like I am squeezed to where I am comfortable now so £800 it is.

My other goals for 2013 will be starting this weekend too rather than hanging on til New Years Day. I have a holiday in five weeks which requires some serious dieting and gym work. My goals for this year are to get my savings account to £20k, to do a skydive (already booked), to achieve something at work (been drifting along a bit lately) keep on top of cleaning/housework, get fit and healthy and skinny!

My immediate goals are to get my eyebrows threaded, book an eye test, book a hair appointment, write a meal plan/food shopping list for the weekend, buy two birthday cards and not get any money out of the cash point until at least tomorrow if not the weekend!

I have £168.98 in my bank to last me until my next pay day (not until 25th Jan – 4 weeks away!) I have to get two birthday cards & two birthday presents, join the gym, have a hair appointment, pay for new glasses & contact lenses and probably for a contact lens appointment also. I have a voucher through work for an eye test but I think they give you a different test for contact lenses, grrr! I also have a few nights out planned plus need to get petrol as my tank is all but empty, a months worth of (healthy) food shopping as my kitchen is all but empty. My confidence is fading as I type

Cinny91

You'll be able to do it, Squinky!! At least with the sales you can get creative with the sales for the gifts. I find setting a limit really helps, we set £5 on birthday presents last year and everyone got really thoughtful gifts which they loved so much more than previous years when we'd spend £30+ we didn't really have for the sake of knowing we'd spent a fair chunk!

Would buying what you need every few days with a meal plan be an option? I did this when I lost about 30lb over a couple months and it kept me motivated and interested with planning meals to get the most out of my calories while making sure nothing was wasted

Trying to think of helpful things to try and make you feel more optimistic! But look back on what you did in November for that party, or how you managed to clear your previous debt. You've got it in you to do it, completely! I know how hard it is applying it to savings though, but I'm only a quick pm away if you ever need some cheering on or support

squinky

Aw thank you for your kind offer. I have had quite a productive weekend so far so am a little more confident now. Am interested about your 30lb weight loss too, that's very impressive

squinky

So am a week in and not doing too badly so far. Have managed to join the gym (although have not properly been yet, oops!) and got my eyebrows threaded. Eyes are sorted and I pick up my new glasses later, they had a very good deal where if signed up to direct debit contact lenses I got pretty much everything free, result! Birthday cards and presents done c/o sales and have decided will drive on the night out which will be better for my health and my budget! Drank quite a lot on New Years Eve, went to a fantastic house party for which ended up costing me less than a fiver I haven't done a proper food shop this week so meals have been a little interesting but edible all the same! I have had a massive clearout at work and will be going in a bit earlier today so all going in the right direction so far....I have decided that the hair appointment will probably just have to wait though until next payday but I think I can live with that!