idiotic decisions plus a little debt

twirls

I'm placing this here as I feel as this would come under budgeting.

I have a little debt. Just over a £1000 which I'm paying off. I believe I can clear it in about two paydays. That's not the issue here. The issue is my overspending. I earn around £19'000 a year. My problem is, I tend to fritter money away without even noticing. And then I find myself with no money and nothing to show for it. I'll give you a perfect example of two weeks ago. I went to London to see a play with an old uni friend who already lives in London.

I traveled from Nottingham to London by train. (This was one thing I was actually good about as I booked my tickets months in advance to get them cheap.)

It starts to go downhill now though I've rounded everything to the nearest pound.

Taxi to the hotel. £26
Hotel for one night: £179
Lunch: £8
Taxi to venue: £9

Met friend at venue. Had drinks and dinner. My half of the cost was £43 :eek:

Taxi back to hotel: £11

I shamefully purchased some late night snacks then: £5

Taxi back to Kings Cross: £35 (traffic was horrendous)

Magazines, coffee, chocolate before getting on the train: £8

---

It could have all been so much cheaper.

Tube to hotel: 4.80 single
Hotel: £110
Lunch: 3:79 meal deal
Walk to venue. It honestly wasn't even that far. But I was wearing heels and it was really windy.
Cheaper meal (maybe somewhere like nandos or pizza express or wagamama) and one drink. £25?
Walk back to hotel.
No unnecessary snacks! £0
Tube back to Kings Cross £4.80 single
Maybe a coffee for the train: £3

The difference is staggering. However, at the time, I never think about it and don't think twice about handing my cash or my card over. It's almost like second nature. The point is, I can't afford to do this. I would like to save my hard earned money.

I'm going to Milan soon. I dread to think how much I'll spend without batting an eyelid.

Could someone offer some tips, please? I know I should already know this but I don't. I don't even realise I'm doing this half the time. It's only when I look back through my receipts and think, what on earth have I done?

TheBanker

Set yourself a budget
Withdraw the cash
Leave debit card in a safe place
Stick a £20 in your sock in case of emergency

For your trip to Milan, you could get a pre-paid card loaded with your spending money to force yourself to stick to the budget.

NB if you come to London again, pay for the tube on contactless debit card (which contradicts my advice above!) as it's only £2.30 for a peak fare. Or get the bus at £1.50 - sit upstairs and pretend you're on the sightseeing tour

Kim_13

Get yourself another two current accounts.

Use your existing account to pay your bills from and leave enough in it to cover them (and perhaps a bit extra on top.)

Savings account (you'll get more interest on your money if you use a current account for this purpose) - Transfer into this how much you'd like to save on payday.

Spends account - Transfer into this what's left. Only take this card with you when you go out, so that you can't spend any more than you're happy with.

If there's a special occasion you can dip into the savings account, but it'll stop you from spending so much on impulse.

Ballard

You have at least acknowledged that you've got a problem so that's a good start. Everyone is different so giving advice can be tricky as what might work for me wouldn't necessarily work for you.

Impulse purchases are often noted to be a problem. All I will suggest is that whenever you're considering spending money on something that isn't essential try to think what else you could do with that money. If you see something that you'd like there's very rarely any urgency to buy it there and then so sleep on it and if you're still sure that you want it you can go back at a later time.

Whilst in Milan try to find restaurants/bars away from the tourist sites where the price will be grossly inflated. Research places on the internet. All the time you're there don't lose sight of the fact that you need to get rid of your debt. That's not to say that you should scrimp but just be careful; you don't want to get back home wishing that you'd done more whilst there. Just don't fritter it away on nothing. You need to get the balance right.

Dobbibill

Hi twirls,

You are doing well to admit and understand where you are going wrong, well done for that, that's a big first step.

How do you budget for these occasions?

Do you fund a 'treats account' each month in preparation or do you just spend the surplus amount left in your current account?

As said above by PP's we all find our own way to manage. I do the following
* bills are kept separate in a bills account funded monthly
* spending money is all that is kept in my every day account, I give myself an allowance for the month and that is it - no more.
* a amount is paid into my treats account monthly - I may not treat myself for a few months but when I'm ready this is all I can use - no more
* Christmas is budgeted for with a monthly amount all year
* Car Tax and Insurance is also budgeted for monthly and paid annually
* Emergency fund is paid monthly
* House maintenance is also paid monthly from a shopping account with any surplus funds - this could be anything from £100-£250 depending on the grocery bill for the month
* Shopping is done weekly via a CB credit card then paid monthly - this money is paid into a current account for interest from pay day until CC due date to maximise my interest so getting at least 3 weeks of the month earning on it, then paid in full via DD
* my car savings are paid immediately with all surplus funds so I end budgeting from total pay down to zero.

If it's not budgeted for, it doesn't happen.

This does take a lot of self discipline but after I had been doing it for a few months it just became the 'norm'. Now I don't even think about it, I just sit there for ten minutes on payday and shuffle money to the said accounts and it's done for the month. This doesn't have to be complicated, you set up SO's so that it is done for you.

DB

20aday

OP I'd like to make the following suggestion for any future trips to London:

Sign up to East Midland's Trains email list. I've had a few promotional offers from them (such as £20 off a First Class return to St. Pancras).

Using the voucher code (and choosing travel times later on in the day, outside of Peak Times) has saved me a fortune.

joe134

Economise soon, or Agonise later.