Living Large, on a Small Income, by the Sea.

Tresinia511

Dia, you are clearly kind hearted but you must also extend that kindness to yourself first or at least most of the time! If that £4 was part of your currently already reduced food budget then i can see how things will get complicated when trying to organise your priorities. I wonder how strictly you manage your regular money coming in. Do you have a flat base guaranteed income which comes in regularly and is divvied up for regular outgoings and razor focused only to be used for the things it is allocated for? Then the left overs or extra income can be for other things for you and finally, being kind to other people! I have found in the past if my money comes in in dribs and drabs, I seem to lose control of my spending more easily and earlier in the month. Well done on a nsd, though, every little helps

doingitanyway

Thank you @Tresinia511 🙂 You have a good point!

I do amend my budget constantly it is true. However all fixed regular outgoings are allocated and paid. I don't do 'pots' however. Things have become complicated because I am overspending and need to stop doing so. I have become much more aware of financial boundaries especially with family and have been successful. I now need to look at spending on friends, charities and people I don't know!

PennysIntoPounds

With Minted issues I would say, you don't have to do it if you're not comfortable doing so. Just decide it's not for you if it's going to give you genuine anxiety and then you can focus your energy on other money saving and making aims.

But I would also say that in 2026 it's pretty impossible to not have one's data being harvested somewhere, so it's a case of being careful, such as rejecting cookies, not clicking on online ads, having a free ad blocker installed etc. I am far from a tech expert but if you ever use a search engine or buy anything online, then your email and general profile is already out there so it's a shame to not make a few quid if you have stuff to sell, might as well have online world work to your advantage.

I would also say in a loving way, is this a way for your brain to have a responsible excuse for not doing it, because you know listing is quite tedious and does come with risk of idiot buyers and duty of trekking in all directions whether you want to or not to post things, so if you'd frankly rather not as you have your home and don't have daft debt, then sack the notion off, you're not obliged.

beanielou

I think it’s difficult when you are naturally generous & like the better things in life.
(We seem to be alike in those ways so I totally understand this).

PennysIntoPounds

On another note, sounds like you're actually doing great recognising money weaknesses and taking steps to focus. Don't stress yourself about homeless man, doesn't matter what he spent it on, that's up to him, you did a nice thing and that counts for a lot.

But definitely stop taking your purse anywhere 😂

Well done paying cc off in full, marvellous stuff 👏

doingitanyway

Yes I do understand that re data use and how it is harvested @PennysIntoPounds, but it is the extent of advertising that winds me up. Anyway, I have taken that post down as I feel I'm being misunderstood. And as regards Minted generally, that is a good point, I don't have to do it. In which case I need to look at other income streams to help 🙂

Thanks @beanielou! 🙂

joeyjimbles

I did Minted for a little while, sold a few of DS1s discarded clothes but got distinctly fed up with people offering about 10% of my stated price. So I stopped listing as I decided it's not for me, but couldn't just walk away as I couldn't work out how to remove my listings - I have since, and it really wasn't difficult, I was just being dense. I sold the very last thing that was on there last week to someone who was happy to buy it, left a lovely review but I'm done. I have kept the account open, just in case but I don't plan to list anything further there.

I sell regularly on eBay and it's free to list for most categories. They do add a "Buyer Protection fee" which is presumably their income so you need to take that into consideration when you price things, but it's visible when you do your listing so it's easy to calculate. And they've now introduced Simple Delivery so the buyer pays and you can choose which carriers you want/don't want and it's mostly worked out for you. I typically do Buy It Now sales and recently have been unbelievably successfully selling empty or partially used scent bottles - literally 'one man's trash is another man's treasure!'

Humdinger1

Does the friend never buy you coffee @doingitanyway? Depends how often you meet and want to meet as this can get out of hand! Love Humdinger xx

Skint_yet_Again

Think I missed part of the conversation but if you feel relieved at the thought of not doing minted then I would say its not for you no matter how straightforward it should be. Not worth the stress

I have an arrangement with a friend to alternate paying but if we were out and I wanted an unscheduled coffee (hot chocolate in my case) but friend couldn’t afford to pay that day I would pay for both of us if she wanted one too. Maybe you could talk to your friend about payment arrangements.

liselle

A friend was always asking to meet for coffee but invariably, I ended up paying.Once we decided to split a piece of cake, she cut it and immediately took the largest (by far) piece. That was the last straw.I resolved it by only meeting her at either charity events, where you paid a small entry which covered your refreshments, or always arriving first and ordering my drink.She had a dog which I then would say, I’ll hold him whilst you choose what you want.Blimin’ hard work to be working it all out in advance but we seem to have got there in the end.