Must stop spending

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Thank you both for the encouragement

We had a lovely night away lots of fresh air and country walks. Had a gorgeous roast in a pub on Sunday which came to £34. That was just two soft drinks and two mains. Bit pricey! Yesterday we spent £2.10 on two chip cones for lunch. We were so lucky with the weather.
We spent about £80 over the two days, which sounds like a lot now I've added it up but I had budgeted £50 for myself, so I was £10 under! . The £80 was for the lunch, petrol, a couple of service station coffees and supermarket supplies before we left. Despite taking our drinking bottles, we did have to buy a few bottles of water as we did a lot of walking and it was very hot yesterday.
We ended up eating out when we got back last night as neither of us felt like cooking after being stuck in traffic. It came to £22 as we both had tap water. It seemed like a good idea at the time but as soon as we left I felt guilty for spending all that money on food when we had already had a treat the day before and I don't have the money in the first place. I need to learn to be more sensible and just because I fancy something, doesn't mean I have to have it.
There's a reason why I'm in debt and although I'm making progress, my spending habits aren't something I can just switch off.
I have been looking at my finances this morning and realised I won't be able to pay £550 towards my debt next month which is a bit disheartening, but by not having done a carboot sale I can't budget in that money for my expenses. After my payments have gone out including debt payment and honeymoon savings I would be left with £116. On a normal month that could be ok but at the end of this month I'm booked to get my hair done and I have a hygienist dentist appointment and I desperately need a new pair of shoes for work. All that is looking around £250
I'm thinking it's more important to save for the honeymoon as that's due on 23rd September and if I was to run out of money next month that's the first pot I would dip into (now that I'm not spending on my credit cards anyway).
I'm going to reduce the dd on credit card 1 to £250 and hopefully increase it back to £450 after August. That will still mean I'm paying £350 towards my debts which is £50 more than this month. When I do a car boot sale I will put any money from that straight towards debt.
I'm looking forward to the next pay day where I can start all my finances from scratch and I'm going to add up every extra spend I make so I can see exactly where my money is going each month.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Is it Friday yet? Or pay day?

I'm down to my last £34 in my bank account which is to cover an oyster top up and any spends this weekend.

I should be happy though coz I don't normally have any money left a week before pay day and any oyster top ups would go on my spending credit card. However for the first time in months the 'spending credit card' is empty! I actually can't remember the last time it said NIL. I use it every month - especially towards the end of each month when my money has ran out but I always pay off the balance each month from the previous bill but by then I've already started spending on it again. I don't incur any interest on it but it was annoying me. Paying off anything between £200-£500 but then putting that straight back on it again each month.
I gave the card to my husband to look after as I don't trust myself and I paid off the balance the other day.
Problem is I used the money from my honeymoon account so I now only have £29 saved towards my £700
Hopefully next pay I will be able to put the £350 in there and not need to dip into it.
I feel like I'm getting somewhere anyway.

Wednesday was a NSD for me and I'm hoping for another one today. I've been downloading programmes to my phone to watch on my lunch breaks so I avoid the urge to visit the shops.
Unfortunately Tuesday was not... I popped over to the supermarket after work to get some oregano for the dinner but somehow a box of magnums ended up in my basket. It was so hot outside and I really fancied an ice-cream. The box was £3 for 8! I thought that was a bargain as if I had gone to shop and bought 2 for me and my husband I could have spent tHat for each one. Hubby had been stuck in bad traffic so was very grateful for the treat when he got home

Hoping for a cheap weekend. We are off to London on Saturday for a prepaid meal so some spending will happen but other than that I'm hoping to be good

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Happy Friday everyone!

NSD yesterday and all set for another one today
I go to the Gym every Wednesday and Thursday evening so that helps.
Really wanted to buy something extra to eat at lunch because I was hungry but I resisted the urge and went for a walk instead.
Quiet night planned tonight with a busy weekend ahead.

I've set myself a couple of targets...

1. Half my debt by October. That's half of my debt at it's biggest. So that would mean getting it down to £5842.

2. Get my debt down to £4500 by Christmas.

3. Not a new goal but to save £750 for our honeymoon by September.

I thought it would be good to have some targets to work towards to keep me on track

little_miss_spendtoomuch

I woke up this morning feeling positive, albeit a little tired. ready to take on the debt busting week...
Picked up my phone and logged onto my online banking as I do every morning, to discover £1.35 left in my account and a pending transaction of £25

Completely forgot my gym membership comes out on the 23rd and the £25 is what I spent over the weekend.

So my husband has lent me money until I get paid on Wednesday. So as usual, I'm down next month before it's even started.

I'm annoyed with myself for forgetting but I'm still in a better position than last month because my spending cc is empty and normally on pay day, the first thing I do is pay that off. So £25 is better than £250.

When I get paid I'm going to write out a full budget for the month so this doesn't happen again. Going to keep every receipt so I can keep track of it all. I normally write a budget in a notebook and then don't look at it again. This time I'm going to have it on my phone and make sure I remind myself of it daily.

Had a supermarket voucher so got our weekly food shop for £50 yesterday which is within budget.

Aiming for 2 NSD this week.
Got my hair and dentist apps to pay for and just had a last minute lunch invite for Wednesday which is difficult for me to avoid as it's with work colleagues.

Going to a wedding this weekend and I have been having a battle with myself the last two weeks over buying a new dress. The simple answer is I can't afford one so I'll go in something I already have. However, the old part of me thinks just buy something new it'll make me feel more confident and I can worry about the money later.

At the moment I am being good and saying no to the dress...

MrsSave

Well done on reaching the end of the month and not spending on the credit card.

I've noticed that a pp mentioned YNAB. Have you had a chance to have a look at it? You basically give every penny you have to your name a job for the month (savings, food, petrol, clothes, etc.) so you know exactly how much money you have and you can't accidentally spend money, like your gym membership money. I don't think I've explained it very well! I've been using it a year now, and find it great. I input all my transactions the same day, which can be done on the app as long as you've got another computer to set it all up.

Anyway, I'm subscribing! Good luck on your journey!

little_miss_spendtoomuch

Thanks MrsSave, I set up an account but I haven't actually set it up yet which is silly because I had a 30 day free trial. I will try and set some time aside to look at it. Not sure if it will help because most of our outgoings go from our joint account which we both put a set amount into each month.

So glad it's Friday!!
Only managed one NSD this week but I have written down every purchase so I can keep track.

Pay day seems like ages ago and I'm already waiting for the next one.

Going to our friends wedding tomorrow and I haven't bought a new dress!! Very proud of myself. I'm going to wear something I already have and everyone has seen 100 times on Facebook already. I would love a new dress to feel more confident but I can't so will just make the most of what I already have and try and not let it get to me and concentrate on having a good time.

little_miss_spendtoomuch

It's Monday already?!

Had a great time at the wedding and I didn't buy a new dress. Go me!

Spent more than I wanted to over the weekend so need to look at my accounts and work out how much I spent and what I'm left with.

Did our weekly food shop with more money off vouchers so it came to £45. Well within budget so pleased with that

little_miss_spendtoomuch

We went out for dinner last night for a friends birthday. What is the deal with splitting the bill?! I seriously hate the part when the bill comes in and I've been watching what I spend- drinking tap water and suddenly someone says lets split the bill. It's often the person who has had a starter and loads of drinks and the split cost is usually double what I've actually consumed
Well last night I had a plan and it worked. We bought drinks at the bar before the meal which we took to our table and then just had tap water with our meal. Our food came to £33 including tip. We had already looked at the menu before we went and worked out what it would cost. Just before the bill came in we handed over our £33 in cash to cover our meal and started saying our goodbyes. When the bill came in they wanted to split the bill at £35 each!! That was including the two of us and that was more than double what we actually spent! Luckily we were half way out the door at this point. Awkward!

£100 dd went on cc2 yesterday.

£350 went in the honeymoon fund (for now). If I don't do a Carboot sale I will be dipping into this.

We have a joint account that we both put a set amount into each month to cover mortgage and bills.
Last year we changed our mortgage to a lower rate and saved £200 per month. We actually put that £200 aside each month as extra money towards our wedding. Now that's been and gone we are still putting the £200 into a separate savings account and currently have £410 saved towards morning house one day. I know it's not a lot at the moment but should hopefully have £1k in there by Christmas

little_miss_spendtoomuch

NSD today!
Probably because it was raining so I didn't go out for lunch.

DD went out for CC2 yesterday so my current overall debt has gone down to £7235

little_miss_spendtoomuch

I finally got to do the Carboot sale yesterday!

Made a profit of £160 and my husband made £60 (we sell our own stuff) that money will help towards the dentist and my travel money to work.
We brought so much back though, it doesn't even look like we sold anything so hoping to do another one next weekend.

My direct debit went out for cc1 this morning which brings my total debt below £7k!

Feeling positive this week.