How can I stop spending?!

Knalchemist

I became debt-free last year… then got in to more debt. I just can't seem to stop spending! I'm currently in about £990 debt which is being paid off rapidly.

I really need some help / advice on how I can stop spending on nonsense things.

I have identified that a bit of my money goes to Sainsbury's, where I work, for my breaks. I have two breaks per day (breakfast and lunch). I'm a fussy eater, not liking bread or fruit. So far all I have come up with is Bruschetta, however I cannot have this every single day as I'll get bored of it!

I also spend money online on un-needed things, such as clothes etc.

I have two bank accounts, one that my bills come out of, and then one that my money for the month sits in. I also have a savings account. I'm planning on saving once my debts are cleared.

Does anyone have any advice, or suggestions or… anything?!!?

Listerbelle

Leave your wallet at home.

FireWyrm

Without being too facetious, you know perfectly well how to stop spending....

You might like to start with removing your credit card details from the likes of Paypal and Amazon and destroying the card.

Personally, I've made it a habit to purposely never learn the PIN on any credit card, that way, I cant use it out and about. I never hook a credit card to Paypal preferring to use direct bank accounts instead.

Domayne

Like firewyrm says - You know how to stop spending.
Im assuming you've done it before when you got debt free...maybe before you got back into debt it was a lack of focus...since you had nothing to focus on and you now had 'free' money and just slipped into old habits? Maybe set yourself some new goals...such as things you want to save for...a holiday, a car, a mortgage etc...
When you get paid, set your budget, all the money you need for bills, your personal spends for the month and what is left can go to the savings...or some prefer to do their savings then what is left is their spends for the month...
Also instead of buying your lunch, bring it from home. ..it doesn't have to be bread/sandwich things but homemade soup, pasta, rice, whatever is left over from dinner the night before...
Different things work for different people though so you have to decide what is best for you and your situation and find ways for yourself to make sure you stick to it, Good luck!

Debt_Free_Guy

Spending is just like any other habit, it's easy for lots of people to tell you to stop, but the reality is that it's much harder. You've likely developed your spending habit over many years, and so it might take a while to re balance things.

My suggestion is to turn your spending habit into a saving habit. Think about it. What is it that you enjoy about spending? Is it the buzz, or the excitement of new things turning up at your door when you've ordered them online, or both?

So why not replace that by getting a buzz from saving. Start a spreadsheet or if you use online banking many banks now offer you the option to set up savings goals. Automate you savings by setting up a standing order for a set sum each month, that way you'll have less to spend each month on other things! It normally takes 6-8 weeks to develop a new habit so why not give it a go.

Each month you should reward yourself with a mini spending spree, that way not only can you get a buzz out of saving but you'll also enjoy spending your hard earned cash.

If if you can only start with a small saving plan, it's still a start!

All the best, I know you can do it Keep us posted on progress

tulip28

You've not learnt your lesson yet that's the problem.

Start by being serious about getting and staying out of debt - that's the difference.

Sorry if that advice seemed harsh - it's the truth and I know how it feels to learn to late.
x

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

I guess if you still have access to credit maybe it still feels like your money.

The only way to stop is to remove that temptation.

Close the account that is currently in debt, that way all you can do is pay it off.


The sensible side of you needs to protect the care-free spending side.

its_maths_not_magic

Hi, I have some tips - some practical and others emotional.

Practical

* Work out a realistic budget, theres a great budget tool on this site.

* Use times when you have energy or feel motivated to do as much as you can. For example, if you feel energised in the morning, make a whole bunch of foods you do like and freeze them. That way, when you are tired and have had it with the day you can simply pull a lunch out and heat it up.

* Divide your money into bills, debts, savings (if you're going to make any - this depends on your circumstances. I save because I wont get a credit card and my debts do not accrue interest) and weekly spending. I use two different banks for my savings and bills and on my savings I don't have any internet access. This means once the money is transferred, I can't get to it without going into the bank itself. I find if you deal with your money as it comes in, and don't leave yourself any to spare, you will make do with what you have.

* Only work on your financial affairs when you are rested and full. Its surprising how many stupid mistakes we can make when we are tired or hungry. For example, I will only look at insurances when I've had a good sleep and breakfast. This stops me from getting tired comparing quote after quote. If I did it tired, I'd be more likely to go "oh stuff it, that one will do" and take the easiest one, not the cheapest one.

Emotional

* Spending probably feels good for you. To stop that you can learn to associate spending with a bad feeling and saving with a good one. How I did it was to start using time as a currency. If I saw something I liked I would think "that took me 2 hours to earn" suddenly it didn't seem so tempting. Thats because time is important to me. So a waste of time makes me feel bad. When I save I think "thats two less hours I have to work", and that makes me feel good.

* Take up a hobby or do something that you are really passionate about doing. Use your time to give yourself some pleasure, for example learn an instrument, do some art or learn a language. There is so much free stuff out there on the web that will give your life more depth than simply buying the latest shiny thing.

* I have found meditating a great way to cope with anxiety or stress. And being outdoors.

* A great, free resource on dealing with any sort of addictive behaviour is SMART recovery. Google them, they have a brilliant website with heaps of tools available to help. They help any sort of behaviour you may want to stop such as drugs, spending, eating, etc. I don't know if you are in the UK, but they have a US site and UK one. Its a science based philosophy which teaches emotional regulation as a basis for stopping self defeating behaviour. Def worth a look.

I hope this helped. Good luck with the journey!

MrsGSR

Bruscetta is bread?!
I can only echo the others, leave your wallet at home! Can you not take your own food in? I work in a supermarket and we can do this as long as it's labelled in the fridge.

owen-b

Having a budget and sticking to it, that's the way to start correcting your habits. You need goals and rules to stick to or else you'll just keep frittering your money away - that's what we were doing!

I've not seen the budget tool on this site, but my wife and I started using an app called You Need A Budget in February and that's what did it for us. (http://youneedabudget.com, they've got a 35 day free demo, Macs and PCs)

Whenever money comes in you use the app to assign it to various pots to cover the anticipated spending until the next time you get paid - you set up whatever pots you want, you might want one for your lunches, one for your travel, one for future unexpected repairs, one for your rent/mortgage, one for your electricity bills, etc.

Then whenever you spend money, you note it down in the app (on your smartphone, or at home at the end of the day, or import a bank statement) and it deducts the amounts from each pot.

The idea is that before spending you check the app, not your bank account. If the money isn't in the pot, you can't spend it unless you move some spare out of a different pot.

Of course, you could just overspend all the time and be permanently in the red but the idea is you find ways to reduce the spending in the 'lunch' pot or whatever your problem area is.

It's common sense really, but for us it didn't click unless we used a tool that would do all the sums and stuff for us, otherwise we didn't have the patience for it and we continued to overspend.

It's kind of expensive at $60 - about £36 - but I cannot overemphasise how much simpler managing our money has become since we got it. By setting up lots of pots for future expenses and assigning a tiny amount to each one every month, we've started to build up lots of little buffers to cover treats, repairs, Christmas, emergencies, holiday spending. We'd have just frittered that cash away every month otherwise.

Give the demo a try and see what you think! Also, I got 10% off using a discount code I found here, and a couple of times a year they have a sale but unfortunately you just missed their Cyber Monday sale.

WantToBeSE

You have to want it enough.
You can write all the budgets you like, but unless you really WANT to remain debt free and start saving instead of spending, you wont stick to any of them.

You can/will come up with all the excuses in the world (i'm a fussy eater, i cant leave the car at home, i cant eat cheaper food etc etc), but just recognise them as excuses and get on with it.

So, you dont like bread and fruit..why does that mean you cant possibly take lunch to work? There are a whole host of other options!