HOW do u stop urself spending

debtdummy

Help me, i need ways to stop myself spending, im single and live at home so i should not be in this mess...
im gutted cos my debt makes it hard to have proper relationship, if they dont run when they find out about my debt ,they do when it gets serious cant i get to a point and then the relationship cant go any further,
im so down today,,,,,

In_Search_Of_Me

Possibly the answer for you may be in the comments you posted? For me its the thought of loosing my flat which I love & one day not having the millstone of debt around my neck.

sophiesmum_2

"I saw the thread on littlewoods nitendo ds and i want one cos my ex took his back when we split, but i sat down and worked out even at the cheap discount rate i am wasting money, i can play games on here, on mousebreaker.com and msn so im being good for once.." quote - debtdummy

And that's how you stop spending, just think before you buy unnecessary stuff:T . Looks like you might be getting the hang of it anyway, well done for not buying the DS.
Cut up the cards, chuck out the catalogues and use cash - things don't seem so attractive when you have to hand over your hard earned cash instead of a credit card.
Good Luck
Sophiesmum:D

sophiesmum_2

Cross posted with you fishcake - both had same thought!!

sophiesmum:D

LookingAhead

You have to remove yourself from temptation a lot of the time.
You also have to have a bigger picture....a vision of the future that helps you keep going through the tough time.

Also, a good vision I had a long time back was the thought of some sweaty, sleazy guy who worked for a credit card company (fat cat type) spending my interest on tipping lap top dancers....! Never paid another penny in interest after that.

skintas_2

as soon as you get ur money pay the bills or some money off you owe. set yourself pocket money every week and the best one try not to go out with notes only change dont take bank card or cc with you

debtdummy

im with iva so cany have cc or catologues. my savings is a money in only service . so its just will power, im really bad at it.
thanks for tips.

chevalier

don't take your purse anywhere. I do school runs and don't take my purse, this equals a no spend day, as I think well I have no money so what is the point of going to x y or z shop as I can't get anything anyway!

Also when I am going shopping, I plan what I want to get, and then only go to the stores that are on the list. That way there is less temptation

Not sure if you work, but if you do take a packed lunch and a drink, then you don't need to buy anything, so no need to take your purse, plus you don't just 'pop into Tesco' for a sandwich and come out with £30 of food.

Best of luck
chev

lynzpower

ONe way of doing it is to "pay yourself first" which is a method my mate told me about.

She has 3 bank accounts

1) money in chopped card
2) bills chopped card
3) spends

On payday her wages come into bank account 1
theres a standing order into bank account into bills ( ensuring theres the right amount of money to cover everything)

ALSO a set amount into acc 3 for spends - this is fed WEEKLY by SO from acc 1 to acc 3.

Acc3 covers only her spends for the week- bus card, food, daily money ( I think she has about 50pw) she can draw this out in cash. So she has 50pw to budget on. She cant get hold of the money from acc 1 or 2 as she has chopped the cards. so she has 50pw to live on. ONce its gone its gone, and she has to wait till Monday then till more money gets from "paying herself"

She is using this method to a) force herself as her willpower is pants b) enforce a saving plan - as whatevers left in acc1 by her REAL SALARY payday, she then shuffles using online banking into an online saver account. Shes saving up for a house deposit and shes very chuffed with the outcome.

SAFC73_2

If I feel that I want something ( not necessarily need though) I work out how much of my hourly wage I need to put towards this. I'm slef-eomployed and pay myself about £1.75 per hour.

That soon stops me spending!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

red74

All it really took for me was to write down every penny I spend in a book. I have a weekly expenses budget, a treat fund, bills, and then everything else goes to paying off my debts. Every time I spend, it comes off one of my budgets.

I think this worked for me because I swapped one obsession for another. I lived with my parents and basically I shopped when I was unhappy. It was never big items but I could easily spend £100+ on one trip to Boots (last count I have around 170 nail varnishes!). Now I'm obsessed with watching how much I have left in each of my budgets and I get really excited if I manage not to hit zero.

I'm probably feeding my obsession even further here but I also wrote all my credit card and loan balances down in a book, and each month when I get the statements I write down what has been paid off and spent on each card. Seeing the balances come down has been a real motivation. I've gone from being amost £10k in debt at the begining of 2006 to £1650 now (I could give you the exact figures but that would be just too sad).

I wish you all the luck in the world. I know how hard it can be to break the spending habit.