How can I be better with money?

alou

Luckily I don't have any debt (apart from my car on finance) but I'm finding that I'm spending my 'spare' money as soon as I get paid!
All bills are paid, we have a child, food, petrol and pet budgets all set that I never dip into so it's the allowance I set myself monthly. The most annoying thing is that I spend most of it on food, lunches at work that of course are expensive and it means that come 2 weeks after pay day I don't have much if any at all.
My question is, does anyone have any tips to help change my spending habits? It frustrates me that I do this and as much as I tell myself every month to cut back I can't!

Thank you!

surreysaver

Best thing I ever did was take a packed lunch to work. You don't realise how much you spend, but £2 here and £3 there every day is £25 per week, which is over £100 a month. Packed lunch would probably cost you less than £1 per day

Punmanuk

I agree, taking food from home is the best option

eskbanker

alou wrote: »

Luckily I don't have any debt (apart from my car on finance) but I'm finding that I'm spending my 'spare' money as soon as I get paid!
All bills are paid, we have a child, food, petrol and pet budgets all set that I never dip into so it's the allowance I set myself monthly. The most annoying thing is that I spend most of it on food, lunches at work that of course are expensive and it means that come 2 weeks after pay day I don't have much if any at all.
My question is, does anyone have any tips to help change my spending habits? It frustrates me that I do this and as much as I tell myself every month to cut back I can't!

Keep a spending diary or similar, tracking every single thing you spend your money on and tot it up monthly - it's too easy to dismiss a few quid here and there as insignificant but once you see monthly totals it'll really start to hit home just how much you spend on avoidable costs.

But it sounds like you're not in a bad place if you have all the main items adequately budgeted and can afford one or more pets, so if it's only the surplus that you're spending then perhaps there's a lack of motivation to cut back, i.e. if you were struggling to keep your head above water (as many are), or saving for something specific, you might find it easier?

Neil_Jones

Consider shopping at discount stores like Lidl and Aldi.

Then consider you pay £2 for a packaged sandwich off the shelf, and then consider the following if you make it yourself:

Loaf of bread, cheapest going about 36p (slices on average about 20 in a loaf but can vary)

Cucumbers you can get for about 40p, slice it up thin enough and it goes far, you should be able to make it go as far as the bread.

Cheese slices 79p for about 10.

Now you consider two slices of bread, a slice of cheese and a slice of cucumber, that's 3.6p for the bread, 3.9p per slice of cucumber and 7.9p for the cheese. There's a sandwich for you that's only cost you 15p.

Lidl (especially) and sometimes Aldi slap 30% discount stickers on things like bread and milk, all that means is the date is nearly up, its perfectly valid and edible food. So you can sometimes pick a loaf of bread up for 25p.

DCFC79

Packed lunch would really help.

lushplus4

You've got to ask yourself what would happen if you or your partner lost their job. Would you be able to pay the rent/mortgage, bills, car etc?
Having no safety net would make me lose sleep at night.

TripleH

Doesn't have to be sandwiches, but another one for taking packed lunches, if your child/ren are at school, it makes even more sense if they have them as well.

As said, a spending diary is a good idea, you soon find out where your money is going. It might be that you are happy with how you spend your money, but always useful to have the full fscts when making a decision.

JennyJukes

First, figure out how much you should have at the end of the month after all bills. Then put some of that leftover money into savings *when* you get paid, if you leave it to the end you'll have nothing left, but if it's in your savings you're unlikely to take it out just to buy yourself lunch every day. I agree with everyone else, start taking leftovers or sandwiches to lunch and allow yourself one day to eat out. I usually allow myself the Friday.

Ergates

In terms of packed lunches - agree with the "It doesn't have to be sandwiches" above.

These days whenever I'm cooking dinner, I'll make more than we need then take the left overs in for lunch. Sometimes I'll make a batch of stuff just for lunches too. Cheaper and more interesting than sandwiches.

With regard to other stuff - get into a habit of thinking "Do I *really* need this" before buying *anything*. Think to yourself - will this actually make me happier? Am I really going to use it?

badger09

Lots of ideas here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33