I need someone to kick my butt!

sharalee99

I was horrified to look at my bank account with more than 2 weeks to go til pay day, to find I Had £80 left. :eek:
I can't believe I have been so frivolous with my pennies, even with Christmas coming. I need some serious butt kicking from you guys. Luckily I have full freezer, fridge and cupboards so need to buy no food. If I run out of bread, I can make some. (Don't have a cow to milk tho lol)
Any tips for not spending anything else til next Friday?
I have access to a fridge, microwave, toaster and mini oven at work, but limited to taking liquids in. (Airside airport worker)
I know you guys will give me the kick I need (In a good way):D

cornishchick

Leave your C cards at home, in the drawer, took nothing but hard cash,
It's harder to spend cash for some reason , lol
Good luck x
.CC x

SpikyHedgehog

Can you get free drinking water at work? make drinks with free drinking water in the microwave?

How do you get to work & do you need to spend for that? (more petrol for car? Bus tickets? Etc) just take the exact money you need for that.

Any planned social events? Think now what you can do - ask friends to change date till after payday, not go, change to movie night at your house - you cook & they bring drinks, go to already paid for xmas meal & drink free drinks (water)...

Try to think where your spending has come from so you can tackle it for the future?

sharalee99

I will definitely leave my purse at home.
I took my eye off the ball this month I think was the problem. I got paid some overtime, and my brain seemed to take this as an opportunity to spend spend spend, and then when I checked, I nearly had a heart attack.
I had bought some clothes, which I have now returned, so should get refunded for them shortly. I don't know why I bought them in the first place!
I can get free drinks at work, water, tea, coffee etc, and will take a packed lunch. I either go to work with my neighbour or DH takes me, so no fares/fuel required-lucky for me.
Anything else you can think of?
Oh, and I've reported the spammy replies above.

Nargleblast

No spam/troll posts now so assume they must have been removed. It is a shame that this sort of thing happens when someone posts asking for help. I am sure all of us have been stupid with money at some time. Me included- I have a degree in Stupidity from the University of Stupidity in Stupidtown, but have learnt loads from this site. There are lots of threads on how to save money but still have a decent lifestyle, the Old Style forum is very useful, and the Debt Free Wannabe forum regulars can also help with managing a budget. Hope it all works out for you.

sharalee99

I'm not usually so silly, but this has made me realise that I need to tighten my belt anyway. I maybe strayed off the rails for a bit.
Back on them now for sure

jk0

Have you got a savings account Sharalee? Maybe get your bank to transfer £100 monthly, or whatever you can afford by standing order.

Only having £80 in the whole world would be scary for me.

sharalee99

I do have an overdraft should anything drastic happen, and I do also have 2 x credit cards with virtually nothing on them, so if desperate I can use those too, but I am going to challenge myself to spent 0 from today til next Friday. It is possible.
I have a savings account, and might do as you suggest. It's sitting idle at the moment.

Minimalist

Do you keep a spending diary? I've started to do that again (having slipped into bad habits again...) Just a little notebook I had lying around. If you use it every day, it really makes you think about where your money is going - you can't argue with the evidence. And it feels great to write in "No spend day" !

Avoid going near shops if possible, so you're not tempted to spend. Sometimes I've been lured in "just for a look" when having a walk through our town centre - and before I know it, I've got bagfulls of "essential bargains" that I didn't realise I needed...

It sounds like you're resolved to not to let this happen, but it might help to plan some other non-retail orientated things to fill your spare time, depending on your interests / preferences. Get wrapped up and go for a long walk in the park? Great for fitness and wellbeing to be outside in the fresh air, even this time of year. Trip to free public facilities? (eg museum or art gallery, if there are any in your area). Or do some projects at home - decluttering and reorganising can be a great way to get some longer term benefit from not going out much for a while.

If you run out of anything essential, eg pint of milk, get it from a poorly-stocked cornershop / newsagent, rather than a big supermarket full of lovely tempting things. It might be slightly more expensive, but the amount saved by not making any impulse buys, or seeing "bargains" you don't need, will be well worth it!

While you're in no-spend mode, try to avoid reading magazines (which are funded by advertising and geared towards making you aspire to buy things you don't need or want) or "lifestyle" websites full of links to online shopping opportunities - their purpose is to make you feel dissatisfied with your life and what you've got already.

A trick my brother uses is to freeze his credit card in an empty ice cream carton full of water in the freezer. It sounds a bit extreme, but it means that if he sees something that he wants to buy (especially online, where it's only a few clicks away!) he has to wait for the ice to melt. 99% of the time, by the time the ice has melted to release the card, he's realised he doesn't actually want the "amazing" product anyway! :cool:

If you like reading, ask your friends / family for some recommendations, see if they can lend you the book? Watch some of your old favourites on DVD, stay away from TV channels with advertising. I record programmes I want to watch and then fast-forward through the adverts - they're manipulative fantasy, designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash - and I don't want that nonsense in my head!

Good luck with keeping in budget and let us know how you get on!
:beer:

sharalee99

All fabulous advice, thank you so much. The freezing of the credit card :T what a clever idea lol. I've given myself a good talking to so I know I won't be tempted.
I think I will start a spending diary though, that's a very good tip.
I am in a rural environment, so no shops except a local corner shop near me. 26 miles to the nearest town.
I have a massive pile to go on e*ay, so will get stuck in to that. I've been putting it off for ages as it's so time consuming-but it will keep me out of mischief

THIRZAH

I just wanted to say Good Luck. Most of let the spending get away from us sometimes especially at Christmas.Sounds as if you are doing all the right things .