Stopping shopping

joeyjimbles

Congrats on getting yourself on the path to debtfreedom. Your situation reminds me of a thread by London Girl https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3513183 who completely turned her life around from being broke and in debt to owning her own home and a fiancee when last posting. I can't remember all of her tricks but I do remember her setting herself a daily budget of I think £10 (less if she'd overspent) and trying to reign in her treating generous impulses. It's an eventful read but there were some really good ideas in there. Hope it helps.

dionysia

@EssexHebridean - thanks! I have started a spending diary, I've only been doing it for a few weeks but it is helping me see where things are going and how everything adds up. Actually in my life I've started several spending diaries... and usually quit when I made some big purchase I knew I shouldn't and was too cross with myself to write it down, sigh.

I'll look at setting up the higher direct debit! My current thinking was that since it's on 0% I could save the extra and then it could also be part of an emergency fund and in the longer term savings to use to pay it off when the offer period ends. But if I do that I need to be very careful with myself and make sure I'm not just overspending and using the savings on that, but keeping it safely put away. Perhaps it would be better to chip away a little more at the debt. The few extra quid hardly seems worth it, but then the mindset that a few extra quid here and there is very important is what I need to get to!

I'm still investigating the washing machine - I think it's getting a bit old and the wash times are definitely longer than it says in the manual I found on the internet! Unless I'm overfilling it, it's a small drum. I've found some programmes the 'quick wash' button works on so hopefully I'll be able to get a couple of later mornings :cool:

@joeyjimbles - thank you! I've opened it up and that looks like a few evenings' reading :rotfl:. It is so helpful to have so many different stories on here to learn from and I'm getting lots of ideas and tips.

gonebust

Switch tablets for powder

I buy the big huge boxes of persil when they drop to £6

A box lasts nearly a year. My clothes aren't dirty as such, just worn, so a quick 40 was does mine. A 60 was for DH work clothes and a 60 for bedding and towels, just around half a measure of powder

Same with the dishwasher, half a tablet gets 99.5 % of items sparkling

dionysia

Hi gonebust, do you use a fabric softener as well or just the powder on its own? I could go back to powder (I went onto the tabs in a previous flat where the drawer stopped emptying properly during a wash, but as far as I know the machine works properly in my current place) - is softener all a con? I don't have a tumbledryer and airdry everything on a clothes maiden.

Chandelier.

Dionysia, I'm not too sure about the fabric conditioner but I know alot of people who use washing powder only and have no issues. We currently use both but to be honest I think it is a con but my mum is adamant on buying it/using it so I'll let her carry on.

I agree with Essex about setting the payment to a fixed direct debit each month so it remains the same, you're not going to miss those few extra pennies and hopefully it will be paid off quicker!

I also can be quite naughty at times and buy things I don't need.. today was a prime example I nipped to shop and came home with Mr kipling fondant fancies things... I don't need them they were just sat there calling my name . I watched that eat well for less programme and some others and now truly understand why they put these things by front entrance or end of aisles as you do end up spotting it, thinking it's a good deal and then whacking it in your basket without a second thought... slap on the wrist for me .

It sounds like you're determined though, keep going.

gonebust

dionysia wrote: »

Hi gonebust, do you use a fabric softener as well or just the powder on its own? I could go back to powder (I went onto the tabs in a previous flat where the drawer stopped emptying properly during a wash, but as far as I know the machine works properly in my current place) - is softener all a con? I don't have a tumbledryer and airdry everything on a clothes maiden.

I use just half a dose of the powder. Come the winter when I'm washing more woolies I add a drop of vinegar instead of conditioner. Stops the clothes coming out all squeaky iykwim. You get a slight hint of vinegar when first out of the machine, but it goes as the clothes dry

If the soap powder doesn't disperse which it sometimes doesn't on cool washes, dissolve in a jug of water and pour it in

It sounds like such a small saving and perhaps a flaff, but every little penny saved is a penny towards something you do want to splurge on

I finally quit smoking this year:T:T:T. Smoking was my biggest personal expense, I'd cut back on other things to be able to pay for my smokes. Now that money is saved in a box that can't be got into. Since Feb of this year there's £1.5k in that box. I religiously put money in that box, maybe not as much as I did spend on smokes, but at least £30 a week. That box is my reward for quitting. I'm not allowing all the savings to be eaten up in day to day living else I wouldn't have a reward. That reward will be my big Australian holiday. Paid for without going into debt I see that box every morning when I wake and every night I go to bed. It keeps me off the smokes and motivated to keep going

EssexHebridean

You can often get Bold 2 in 1 powder at reduced prices too and I find that excellent.

On the Direct debit thing - I set the one on my 0% card at the £28 it started out at when I first had the card. Now 6 months later the minimum payment would have dropped to £19 on its own so it can make more of a difference than you think it will. I've got 22 months on that one but am aiming to pay it off using only that DD amount plus any "free" money I get from surveys etc.

Gonebust please tell me that you're clearing that box once a week and putting the cash into an account somewhere? There's no chance it'll be covered on your home insurance and you'd be devastated if it got nicked...

dionysia

Another non-NSD, realised last night when making my lunch to take to work for today I needed to pop to the shops for greens and tomatoes for tomorrow. Did have one moment of thinking I'd still have my NSD today and just buy my lunch tomorrow... :doh: But still a low-spend day and now I'm sorted for lunch for the rest of the week and no other plans to spend before payday on Friday.

Also pleased to see today that my credit score on Creditmatcher has gone up. I know the score doesn't matter, it's the history that lenders see and that counts, but it took a hit over the last couple of months during moving so it's nice seeing it look better. I am contemplating whether it might be good to get a 0% money transfer card and use that to pay off the loan early and then pay off the card (the loan interest was frontloaded with a high APR). Don't think I'd get one yet, and I'm not totally convinced it's a smart idea, but nice to know the option might be there in a few months.

dionysia

@chandelier I know that feeling! I'm actually on a food diet as well as a spending diet. I'm about as good at the one as I am the other, but having the double reason to avoid the fondant fancies is helping me at the moment! That's quite an innocent and cheap treat though, in the grand scheme of things. Life has to have a little bit of fun!

@EssexHebridean okay, thank you - I'll sort out to pay a little bit more! It would be nice to see it going down and know I'm paying off more than the minimum, even just by a little.

@gonebust well done quitting smoking! That's great :T That specific link between your savings and the holiday sounds really motivating, I also like rewards :j. I'm thinking about putting a little slip of paper in my purse saying Venice which is where I want to go when I'm debt-free!

gonebust

I'm afraid it's kept in my bedroom, on my head board where I see it morning and night. It's a risk, I know but there's only been one reported crime here in my area in 11 years, and that was by me when I thought our lawnmower was pinched when it was the repair shop picking up from the wrong address:rotfl:

It really does motivate me. DH made a Perspex box where we can slide fivers in, can see them, but can't get them out

dioynsia Venice sounds like a right motivator as well. Why not price it up now, the all no expense spared trip, aim for your debt free date as your reward, and have the money saved for it there for you so you don't fall by the wayside ?
A luxury trip to Venice has got to be worth skipping on the fondant fancies:D