Little Miss Spendy needs to change!

Tabithabooboo

I have been a member on this forum for a good few years and have had episodes of being mindful of my spending interspersed by ridiculous and needless shopping. I have now got to the stage where I am sick and tired of worrying about money and debt. I need to get serious! I am on my early 40s with a hubbie and two children, I earn a good income yet am always overdrawn and in debt. Always fire fighting with the finances.Totally unnecessary and no excuses...I just seem to have phases where I don't care about the consequences. I know what I need to do but I need to be accountable and this is why I am starting my diary today. It isn't likely to be a mind blowingly exciting read, but I am determined to write everyday to keep me on the straight and narrow and keep me away from those pesky shops and temptation. I love a list so I am going to start writing down all my aims and then prioritise where to start.
I have a loan of 1170 and credit card debt of 1280. We bought a caravan for a holiday home and I took out a 7 year loan of 25,000 3.4% in April. I want to get the first two paid off before Christmas and reduce the big loan to as few years as possible. Any comments and support is appreciated!!

Tabithabooboo

I'm going to sit down tonight and write down all my outgoings and see where I can make some changes. As well as a propensity to needlessly spend I am hopeless at forward planning so end up forking out for unplanned expenses which need to be factored in. There are two aims already 1. Stop silly spending 2. Proper budgeting for longer term. I have done a list of all the food in the house so I'm going to start with a meal plan this afternoon then take some clothes back that I don't need. Catcha later...

[Deleted User]

Hi & welcome back!

I am also a lover of the list, lists are life.

I honestly don't know how anyone gets through a day without writing a list

I would say keep active on here because I find that really helps me stay focused.

Good luck!

Dxxx

Tabithabooboo

Thanks DR! I hope that being accountable to the lovely people on this forum will help shift my thinking & get me on the right track:)

Hiddenidenity

Welcome back

Tabithabooboo

Thanks Hidden! Could someone please tell me where I can get the SOA template?

Tabithabooboo

Day 1
Took clothes back to shop (credit £22)
Inventory of food done and started meal plan
Found SOA and started completing it - have realised that I am terrible at planning for costs that aren't monthly. This is one of the areas I need to work on and figure out how to regularly stash money away without spending it....
To do:
Finish SOA and look at where I can shave money off, I suspect it will be groceries.
Figure out a plan to avoid temptation in the longer term (I love clothes)
Finish meal plan and make sure I have time to prep and cook food
Trawl the house to put more items on ebay
Start a spending diary to track everything


Think that is enough for today, a riveting read eh?!!
Its good to write it down.
Look at forum for ideas on how to save money

Hiddenidenity

For avoiding temptation make sure you allow yourself some spends you can afford.

Cutting everything right back and allowing nothing won't work long term. I've tried and failed several times.

Well done on starting it

Treadingonplaymobil

Budgeting for costs that aren't monthly has been one of the biggest changes we made in terms of sorting our expenditure (we're still far from perfect). Do you use YNAB - or another budgeting app - to manage spends? We started allocating money monthly too all the non-monthly costs (kids clubs, car expenses etc etc), then moving the money into a separate bank account (treating it as 'spent' from the YNAB budget). The other account actually has its own YNAB budget so we know what all the money in there is for, without seeing it on our main YNAB budget page.

Tabithabooboo

Thanks for your comments. I haven't used a budgeting app before so I will definitely put that on my to do list to look at. Off to work...got a big presentation this morning & I'm bricking it!!

Tabithabooboo

Day 2
Well it's been a NSD, took flask of coffee & packed lunch to work. Have checked fleabay as I have a few items selling & have bids of £13 so far. I am so tired as it was a v early start & full on day at work. Once kids are in bed I'm going to sit down & start doing SOA. S'later...