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My quest to be more of a "saver" and less "spendy"

First of all.........hello!

This is my quest to stop spending and start saving I really want to clear what debts I have left, and start saving an emergency fund, just in case life decides to throw any more surprises my way.

I don't have a very good track record with money. I consolidated a few months ago and cleared all the big credit card debts, but already the little ones are starting to creep up into medium sized ones, so I really need to rein myself in and take control before they become biggies again!

I'm full of good intentions, and come up with allsorts of wonderful ideas, but I always lose interest and they all just seem to end up costing me more money in the end.

Basically, I'm a spender who wants (and needs) to be a saver.

Lunch hour is over for now, I'll be back later with some kind of plan I hope.
Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
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Comments

  • sammr85
    sammr85 Posts: 740 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hi SS and welcome to the MSE forums.

    I too can talk the talk, but I really struggle to walk the walk :o

    Subscribing to follow your progress and hopefully we can walk the walk together :)
    Total Debt at LBM - £19107.03
    Total now - £11091.22
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 96,653 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Keep plodding!
    Yes, you are right not to let your small debts become any bigger again.
    Best advice is to cut up all the cards you have paid off.
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • ERICS_MUM
    ERICS_MUM Posts: 3,579 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    what do you actually buy ? Is it the necessities of life, the occasional small treat, or whatever you fancy ?

    Do you even know where your money goes ? I speak from personal experience here - it's a shocker how much money I used to waste buying coffee and croissants on the way to work, morning newspaper, evening newspaper, a coupe of magazines a month, last-minute groceries from the petrol station shop, over-generous birthday & Christmas presents, etc etc.

    You could do a spending diary for a month - record every item you buy and the price, (excluding supermarket shopping, see below**) then tot it all up at the month end and be prepared to faint ! Then you can cut out all the spending on carp. Give yourself a monthly Starbucks flat white and poppy-seed muffin treat. Read your news on-line or the TV news channels.

    ** supermarket shopping - have you analysed your till receipt, is there stuff you buy every week out of habit that you wouldn't miss ? Could you buy a cheaper brand of some things, do you buy fruit and veg when it's in season (which theoretically should be at it's cheapest).

    I had a 45% drop in salary a few years ago and it really made me examine my spending habits. As well as what I mentioned above, I reviewed my insurance and ultility bills and found cheaper but just as good. Cancelled a few direct debits that I just hadn't noticed were still there (e.g. a subscription to WHICH mag, donation to a charity I no longer wanted to support etc). When I spent on treats/luxuries, I made certain I made the best choice.

    sorry to go on and on, just want to encourage you - it can be done without leading a miserable boring life !
  • My BF told me once not to spend the money that I don't have - meaning credit cards and overdrafts. I used to have this idea that it feels better to spend money you don't have - now I realize the idea behind it - because you are supposed to keep the extra and save it for winter time.



    Good luck!
    Salary Loan: $16,737.42; $ 14,099.64
    Credit Card1: $6,200.73;
    $ 4,846.11; $1,808.21
    Credit Card2: €1,357.07;
    € 365.97
    Sibling Loan: €2,066.77/$1,150.00 --- Friend Loan:
    €3000,00 - PAID ---Fiance Loan: €5000,00

    Mission: To SAVE money but pay debts first. update as of: 13-11-2014
  • I'm back :) thank you for all the comments it's much appreciated!

    Coffee is my downfall too, I can't seem to pass the coffee shop on the way to work. I've cut down on the magazines and haven't bought a newspaper for months.

    I think I've just got caught in a rut lately and got lazy! Starting tomorrow I'm going to start keeping a spending diary and start taking my lunch to work again. We've also got to stop taking the lazy way out and buying takeaways when I get home too tired to cook. If I get organised this should sort itself out.

    Payday is next week and by then I should have a menu plan sorted out. I've been lurking a lot on the OS board, they talk a lot of sense :)

    Started studying the coupons thread and found an offer for a free I newspaper every day for a month. This will save me some money AND stop me reading the Daily M**l website :rotfl::rotfl:

    Time for bed for me now but I'll be back tomorrow with a list of things to do x
    Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
    Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
    Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
  • Good morning! So here we go, time to start being sensible and watching the pennies.

    Things to do today
    1. Go for a walk in my lunch hour instead of going for a coffee and cake
    2, Use my break to look for coupons I can print out to save money on my shopping.
    3. Check my Bank balance (done this already)
    4. Check how much money I have in my purse (done this already)
    5. Take lunch into work (just made a lovely boiled egg/ham salad)

    Things NOT to do today
    1. Don't buy any coffee - make your own at work
    2. No topup shopping - we don't need anything

    Money in my current account today £108.00
    Cash in my purse today £82.00
    £1.44 loose change gone into an old jam jar.

    I can't be trusted with this much cash in my purse so £60 will be paid back into the Bank this morning!

    I've just had a quick look on E*ay, I've got a few items ending tonight and have three with bids up to £11.97!

    Both BF and I get paid monthly (we work for the same Company), but I was thinking last night, maybe I'll give weekly budgeting a go this month just out of curiosity to see if we spend less.

    I'd better go and finish getting ready for work...........I'm starting to get caught up here!

    I'm hoping to be back for a quick update at lunchtime telling you how I resisted the lure of the coffeeshop!
    Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
    Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
    Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
  • ERICS_MUM
    ERICS_MUM Posts: 3,579 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Good morning! So here we go, time to start being sensible and watching the pennies.

    Things to do today
    1. Go for a walk in my lunch hour instead of going for a coffee and cake
    2, Use my break to look for coupons I can print out to save money on my shopping.
    3. Check my Bank balance (done this already)
    4. Check how much money I have in my purse (done this already)
    5. Take lunch into work (just made a lovely boiled egg/ham salad)

    Things NOT to do today
    1. Don't buy any coffee - make your own at work
    2. No topup shopping - we don't need anything

    Money in my current account today £108.00
    Cash in my purse today £82.00
    £1.44 loose change gone into an old jam jar.

    I can't be trusted with this much cash in my purse so £60 will be paid back into the Bank this morning!

    I've just had a quick look on E*ay, I've got a few items ending tonight and have three with bids up to £11.97!

    Both BF and I get paid monthly (we work for the same Company), but I was thinking last night, maybe I'll give weekly budgeting a go this month just out of curiosity to see if we spend less.

    I'd better go and finish getting ready for work...........I'm starting to get caught up here!

    I'm hoping to be back for a quick update at lunchtime telling you how I resisted the lure of the coffeeshop!

    It's looking good ! if you have a momentary lapse don't give it up all together. Is your boyfriend "on-board" with this project ?

    Good luck :T
  • Hi EM! so far so good today.

    No spends to report yet anyway. £60 duly paid into the Bank which means I have a new total of £168 in my current account.

    Really enjoyed my lunch today, but I have to admit it was a struggle to walk past the coffee shop without stopping!

    An hour and a half to go before I can go home......yayy!
    Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
    Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
    Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
  • It's a lovely morning today, absolutely pouring down!

    Yesterday was my first NSD in who knows how long, but unfortunately today has to be a spendy day.

    DS3 brought us a load of old wood for the log burner so we need to look for a small chainsaw of some sort to cut it all up. I know it's defeating the object spending on the saw when the wood was free but we'll still have the saw which will make the next lot free!

    So, spends today will be confined to:-

    1. Saw
    2. Tin of white non drip emulsion
    3. Lampshade for spare bedroom
    4. Food shop (this will come out of joint Acc)

    The paint is for the ceiling in the spare room. It's already had one coat but I'm not quite finished. So, before we go I need to do a fridge check and try to make £24 last till Tuesday.

    Money in my bank Acc £267.33
    Money in joint Acc £30.66
    Money in my purse £22.00

    Back later to update spends. Hope everyone has a good day!
    Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
    Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
    Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
  • I'm glad to report that today's shopping trip went ok. We stuck to the shopping list and stayed out of the clothes shops. The only non essential spend was lunch and a coffee (sorry!).

    I had one extra expense - I had to buy new wiper blades for the car. I got them for £25 from Halfords, which I think is good value but I could be wrong!

    We spent £20 in Mr M's and have a menu planned till Wednesday. We just need to stick to it now! I never knew you could get salad cream for 29p!

    I got a huge chicken for £6 and I'm going to see how far I can stretch it. I'm thinking 3 days, maybe 4 but it depends if the boys come round or not.

    One disaster though, I can't find my mobile phone anywhere. I phoned work and its not there, it's not at my mum and dads and its not in my car! That's just what I need!

    Does anyone know if you can freeze uncooked pizza dough? If you can I think I'll prepare a batch to use as and when. I'm usually too tired to cook when I come home from work and DS2 loves homemade pizza!

    Oh, yes, I sold 5 items on Eb*y and made a grand total of £15 which can go towards the holiday fund. We go on holiday in 2 weeks, all paid for from savings and most of the spends set aside to cover meals. I haven't been on holiday for 5 years and BF even longer than that!

    Things to do tomorrow:-

    1. Finish friend's paperwork
    2. Paint coving in spare room
    3. Give walls a second coat
    4. Finish ironing
    5. Cook roast dinner (day 1 for my chicken!)
    6. Check online banking
    7. Make packed lunches for work on Sat

    I'm off to check out the OS boards now for menu ideas in time for payday :)

    Today's update:-

    Cash in my purse £10.50
    Money in my current account £12.92
    Money in joint account £4.78

    NSDs so far 1

    I'll be back tomorrow with another update :)
    Nationwide cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2720.17 - Current balance £2714.10
    Halifax cc - Balance 7/1/14 £2779.86 - Current balance - £2751.43
    Savings - Balance 7/1/14 £750.00 - Current balance - £400
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