How to stop living off my credit card!

ErolGirl

Hi,

I got the MBNA rewards credit card a few years ago. I put all my spending on it and pay it off in full at the end of the month to earn maximum points. I earned a good amount of vouchers from it over the years!!

However I am now trying to save to go travelling, and due to a few large expenses over the past year I seem to be living from my card ie. as soon as I get paid my CC gets paid off in full and I am left with no cash, so continue to having to spend on my card all month.

I have worked out that after rent and the usual direct debits that come out of my debit account I am left with £900. This then gets spent on my card usually covering petrol, food and expenses (which will obviously be reduced now I intend to save!! - I can't believe I spend that much a month *shame*). Can anyone help with how to get out of this annoying routine? Am I just going to have to save as much as possible each month until I no longer need to rely on my CC??? THANK YOU LOVELY PEOPLES

*EDIT sorry I think I posted in the wrong place

Arleen

You may want to drop by to http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 which is debt free wannabe and post your SOA there. But in short you will want to cut your spendings, as you seem to live either right within or above your means.

dresdendave

The DFW board would probably be more appropriate.


If you can't work out where your c£900 is going each month, try keeping a spending diary. Record every single penny you spend, then review it and you will probably find a few hundred pounds of potential savings.

[Deleted User]

It's good that you're clearing in full. It means you're not wasting money on interest.

All you need to do now is spend less. The DFW boards will help you identify where you can cut costs.

PeacefulWaters

If you look at past statements you'll see where the waste is.

Shakin_Steve

dresdendave wrote: »

The DFW board would probably be more appropriate.


If you can't work out where your c£900 is going each month, try keeping a spending diary. Record every single penny you spend, then review it and you will probably find a few hundred pounds of potential savings.

I agree, this is the only way. Once you start writing down what you spend, you can identify where the savings must come from.

cooltt

ErolGirl wrote: »

Hi,

I got the MBNA rewards credit card a few years ago. I put all my spending on it and pay it off in full at the end of the month to earn maximum points. I earned a good amount of vouchers from it over the years!!

However I am now trying to save to go travelling, and due to a few large expenses over the past year I seem to be living from my card ie. as soon as I get paid my CC gets paid off in full and I am left with no cash, so continue to having to spend on my card all month.

I have worked out that after rent and the usual direct debits that come out of my debit account I am left with £900. This then gets spent on my card usually covering petrol, food and expenses (which will obviously be reduced now I intend to save!! - I can't believe I spend that much a month *shame*). Can anyone help with how to get out of this annoying routine? Am I just going to have to save as much as possible each month until I no longer need to rely on my CC??? THANK YOU LOVELY PEOPLES

*EDIT sorry I think I posted in the wrong place

There's a very significant psychological element to spending on a card that banks and lenders simply don't want you to think about.

For the next month pay for everything with cash only, no card for anything. Withdraw £50-100 at a time from the ATM for ALL of your spending. Once you see how quickly each withdrawal is spent you'll see how quickly you can work your way through £900 which will make you think about your spending much more. Suddenly you see where savings can be made.

Shakin_Steve

cooltt wrote: »

There's a very significant psychological element to spending on a card that banks and lenders simply don't want you to think about.

For the next month pay for everything with cash only, no card for anything. Withdraw £50-100 at a time from the ATM for ALL of your spending. Once you see how quickly each withdrawal is spent you'll see how quickly you can work your way through £900 which will make you think about your spending much more. Suddenly you see where savings can be made.

That might be a good idea..if all of the cash available wasn't going towards paying the card off.

ryuuoo

You could either

a) save up/use your savings to pay for your last credit card statement
b) get a 0% card and transfer one month's living expenses onto a 0% card and then you can spend what's on your account in cash as someone else suggested and pay off the 0% slowly.

it all depends on your credit rating and your ability to get a 0% balance transfer card

A_T

Stop spending money on things you don't need

bearcat16

There are tons of apps available that will automatically categorise your spending each month.

Personally I use MoneyHub. It cannot track cash transactions, but it will track any and all card transactions, and bank account transactions too (such as income)

I'd highly recommend.