Tips to stop splurging?

moneymabel

Hi all,
I have been lurking on here for quite a while now so thought it was about time i posted.
I have been in debt since i was about 18-catalogues etc, then after my marriage broke up when i was 27 i was left with a lot of debt from unpaid bills, followed the dreaded consolidation path and ended up with about 11k in debts .
Over the last few years i have managed to reduce this to the current amount of just under 5k and am determined to pay it off this year. i think i have reduced all the bills/payments i can and am doing pigsback/quidco/slicethepie so i won't bore you all with my S.O A. What i really need help with is the sudden splurges- i am so good and count every penny for months and suddenly throw caution to the wind and buy something stupid...latest being the iphone that is now costing me £35 quid a month....DOH!!!
Any advice from you lovely people? and yeah feel free to give me a virtual kick up the jacksie !

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jo_b_2

Hi and welcome to MSE! :wave:

You'll find a lot of people have the same temptations so you're not alone but there's a great support network on here!

Have you seen a really good tool on the main site - the demotivator - which helps you to resist temptation?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/protect/demotivator/

Good luck!

MrsB68

I am not going to kick you down - I think you have done a great job to get your debt down to 5K. Give yourself a pat on the back!

If you can afford your purchase then keep it, if not look at returning it - but in future perhaps it may be best to stop and take a step back just as you are going to buy something and remember how far you have come, and how long it takes to get there!

ecoelle

Think of it like a diet. We all go on them, always with good intentions, but sometimes the hot chocolate fudge sunday is just too tempting (yum!) only way to stop yourself from eating it is to not go to where they sell them. If you know you can't afford a new tv don't go to curry's, if you can't afford a phone don't go the the phone shop, sorry if this is harsh but i want you to succeed. You have to remove the temptation and if this means only going food shopping then that is what you need to do. The splurges are there because you are allowing yourself to look at things you know you can't afford, don't beat yourself up for making a mistake but as my auntie madge used to say 'we all make mistakes, only a fool makes the same mistake twice' so put it behind you and move on, you will succeed but you're not going to get anywhere giving yourself a hard time.

roomontheend

You really need to budget in treats for yourself, currently you are spending on these unplanned experiences. In the back of your mind you think I have been really good lately I'll just buy bla bla. However if you budget in a treat then you won't be tempted to spend silly amounts.

poorandindenial

Hello and welcome to the board.

I have been keeping a spending diary for the last two weeks (after a first attempt that was aborted when I got over excited when I realised I could save over £100 a month by taking food to work and not buying breakfast on the way to work:o)

This has really helped me to question what I am spending, I know that if I splurge on something I will be confronted with it again in my debt diary. My friends are all amazed (and slightly bemused) by the change that has come over me, I am sort of in competition with myself to not spend.

Other than that, don't beat yourself up over what you have already spent, start afrsh and really focus on asking yourself 'do i need it' when you go to buy something, I had always written this off but it really is working (in combination with my spending diary).

Well done on geting as far as you have with reducing your debts, you have done brilliantly :T and if you can do that with the occasional splurge then so be it, you don't want to feel so deprived that you throw the whole thing away, a treat from time to time won't ruin anything (treats all the time might) when you feel bad after splurging, either undo it by taking it back or draw a line under it and start afresh.

Another option when you get the urge to splurge is to tell yourself you can have it when you have paid of £1000 (or whatever number you choose) of your debt. I bet that most of the time you will have forgotten about it by the time that day comes round.

Good luck with sorting out the rest of your debts!

moneymabel

thanks to you all for your fast replys! jo_b i have checked out the demotivator tool but as i only do stupid things like this once a year or so and for different things it doesn't really work! piggy bank 68 unfortunately i can't return the phone as it is an 18 month contract.
ecoelle -your auntie madge sounds like a wise woman and the diet is a good analogy -trouble is now i really fancy a choc fudge sundae.....
I feel a bit of a fake on here as i am not really hard-up and have my debt in control ( i mean not adding to it in anyway)-i just want to pay it off faster. I don't pay interest as my relative has lent me the money to pay the loan so i pay him back, i just wanna be debt free for the first time since i was 18!!!!! but i can't seem to stop tripping myself up.

splishsplash

I have a planned 'splurge' about two or three times a year. I save up a set amount monthly towards nothing in particular, then whenever the mood hits us (me and dds 1 & 2) will take off and shop till we drop.
What happens then is that I have a minor freak out that night - even though I know we had the money and it puts me right off wanting to shop again for months! Meanwhile my 'splurge pot' is quietly accumulating a little every month until the next fit takes us.
Not everyone's answer, I know, but it works for me!

jo_b_2

moneymabel wrote: »

thanks to you all for your fast replys! jo_b i have checked out the demotivator tool but as i only do stupid things like this once a year or so and for different things it doesn't really work!

I feel a bit of a fake on here as i am not really hard-up and have my debt in control ( i mean not adding to it in anyway)-i just want to pay it off faster. I don't pay interest as my relative has lent me the money to pay the loan so i pay him back, i just wanna be debt free for the first time since i was 18!!!!! but i can't seem to stop tripping myself up.

You sound like you're doing really well, managing your debts. A once a year slip-up is good going so don't be so hard on yourself.

moneymabel

roomontheend and poorandindenial, thanks so much, i think thats most of the problem-i cut back so hard that sometimes i just can't take it and go stupid, like you say if i plan a (small!!) treat now and then that should help.
i was saving £2 coins (before i read the thread on here) on the thinking that if i wanted a treat then i would take it out of that jar,then, when i got to £50 i couldn't justify treating myself and paid for my M.O.T instead. then 2 weeks later the iphone incident...^&*(*& STUPID!!

moneymabel

thanks jo_b :-)

splishsplash thats a really good idea-probably i would end up spending it on car tax or something though lol!!