This probably sounds ridiculous...

flower24

thanks guys, I understand what you mean re the willpower thing.

I took the kids to the park, with my friend and her two kids, purposefully didn't take any money. The ice cream van came, my friend then bought my two an ice cream as she felt bad because she was getting her two one! Now I feel awful!

gettingtheresometime

immynjoesmum wrote: »

I'm struggling to find a balance and need to seriously think about some quick easy teas rather than spending money on either takeaways or Mcdonald's. .

We had a similar problem only our situation was caused by coming in late from walking the dog.

We solved this by every so often doing a batch cook session, cooking chilli, shepherds pie, curry that sort of thing do it was a simply case of taking it out of the freezer in the morning so it thawed during the day and it was a simply case of re-warming it.

We also got a slow cooker. prepared it the night before keeping it in the fridge and then setting it before we left for work. By the time we got home it was cooked (though we did use pre-prepared veg as these could be simply microwaved).

Bobarella

immynjoesmum wrote: »

thanks guys, I understand what you mean re the willpower thing.

I took the kids to the park, with my friend and her two kids, purposefully didn't take any money. The ice cream van came, my friend then bought my two an ice cream as she felt bad because she was getting her two one! Now I feel awful!

That's hard. It's times like that you need your best 'I'm doing this because...' speech lined up:D but admittedly way easier said than done.

flower24

She is aware of our debt trouble, however I feel worse then as I don't want her thinking she has to buy things for my kids because we can't afford it! lol.

Batch cooking sessions are a good idea

FalseEconomist

I can really sympathise OP. for us, problems have come through careless everyday 'treat' spending.

I am also a self-confessed shopaholic, I get the urge to spend regular my, and the more I panic about money the stronger the urge becomes.
One thing which seems to be working for me is just changing one habit. We used to go into our local co op regularly for top up shops, sometimes a couple of times a day and spends could range between 10 and 40 pounds! (Particularly if we were in the 'let's get a bottle of wine and some treats mood')

I was shocked to see so many entries on the bank statement. So the change I have made is a complete embargo on the co OP. Neither myself nor my husband are allowed to cross its threshold! It sounds barking mad, but it's a habit we can break and every time we think "oh, we can just get some from the co-op" it comes to us and we are reminded about our dfw journey.

I haven't been in that shop for nearly six weeks now and it's making such a difference.

Something like that might work for you, I don't know, packing a flask of coffee every day regardless of where you go? A reminder of your journey. Sometimes just changing one habit helps us realise we are not stuck in a rut and destined to always be in debt.

harrys_dad

immynjoesmum wrote: »

We don't have a Waitrose, however I have just remembered that we have a Booths supermarket that apparently has a loyalty card with free coffees as a perk (there is probably a catch but I will investigate!). It is just next door to the park as well so perfect

The only catch with Booths is if you want to have the coffee in the cafe (if the shop has one) then you have to buy something to eat from the cafe too. If you are just shopping then you ask for a cup at the checkout and go to the machine. Free coffee, and a free newspaper on Sunday too.

LuckyPenny

I do the same. I try to do a few things:
A) set myself a limit usually I allow myself 1 Costa a week
order a small rather than a medium
C) collect loyalty points
D) wobble receipts to get other people's loyalty points
E) I get cashback when I top up a costa gift card, getting 10% off - this is a work thing but not sure if other sites offer this.
F) I try my best not to buy lunch or a cake with my coffee and this significantly bumps up the cost
I think that stopping altogether will make you want it more, and sometimes when your paying off debt you still need a treat now and again otherwise you will give up altogether. Good luck with reducing your habit.

splatt30

Just as a thought. Every time you resist the pull of Costa etc put the money you would have spent in there in a jar. I imagine that pretty quickly seeing the money mounting up in the jar would be positive reinforcement to not spend etc etc.

Personally I am horrified by the prices (& calories) of coffee in those places and tend to avoid or stick to a cup of tea which is normally cheaper

Jagraf

Someone else is getting rich on your hard earned money. That's how I stopped it. All those things you need - clever marketing. I still think about every single purchase. I batch freeze sarnies and take a flask of nice coffee. It costs 50p for my lunch. Great feeling - try it x

EllieGilham

Hi, I have recently had my LBM and have been looking through the forum for posts with similar issues to me! I also need to cut down on spontaneous spending on things I don't really need. I don't think I spend much on luxuries and do struggle to work out where my money goes, mostly to supermarkets!
I have a 9 year (and 3yr old) something that has kept us busy in school holidays is the National Trust's 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4. The trust puts on events during holidays to help you tick things off. We have done lots of things we wouldn't normally do at little or no cost, such as a night walk bat hunting and star gazing, animal tracking, beach activities, den building and lots of other things, it is designed to get you learning about the outdoors and has been great fun. Much of it you do yourself and you keep track on line or you can get a book at one of their locations to fill in, highly recommend.