How to stop spending

redballoon_2

I am debt free apart from the mortgage, and we are doing ok moneywise. I am out of my overdraft (just) and hubby is now working. (we have shared money)

I keep a track of our finances with a spreadsheet, and every month we end up spending about £400 :eek:

we dont go out shopping every weekend, our social life is very minimal. just wondered if anyone had any quick tips on how to reduce this?? please?!!

I am going to stop going on ebay and put somethings to sell on there net week.

I was thinking about withdrawing the money out at the beginning of the month and once its gone its gone.

how does everyone else do it? and whats your average monthly spend on non essentials.

shelovestobuystuff

Leave your purse or wallet at home.Simple but effective.If you dont have any access to cash when the spending bug hits you wont spend anything.Its a very good habit to get into.:D

Sassamac

Its difficult to know what to suggest without knowing exactly what you spend it on.
Our non-essential spend is very low, by virtue of the fact that we cant afford the essentials now let alone anything else.
My DH and I get through less than £20 in cash in a month - most of which gets spent in charity shops (not saying its only cash that gets wasted but at least a card payment shows up on your statement for where it went).

We dont drink (except at home which is stuff we bought when we had more money), dont smoke, very rarely go out socially, dont gamble, dont take the kids on day trips, dont buy 'nice' things for the house, dont buy clothes for ourselves, dont burn petrol meeting friends in other parts of the country anymore, dont go to pubs / restaurants, dont buy lunch in town, dont go to the hairdressers / barbers, dont buy processed food, dont buy mags / papers, cancelled the gym membership, trying to stop using the car for short journeys, dont phone people just for the sake of it, dont heat the rooms were not using. Hopefully a few here will apply and you can think of a few more places to cut down. I know we still have room for improvement.

MissKJ

Gosh Sassamac, I doubt it..................perhaps you should "lift" yourself a little bit telling us what you do do? So long as you can print it that is!!!!Soe of the best things in life are free eh? LOL

tigerfeet2006

Why don't you keep a spending diary. Have a little note book each and write down any spends you make. Everything from the petrol in the car to the bar of chocolate you buy when you go and pay for the petrol.

chocolatechipcookies

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Leave your purse or wallet at home.Simple but effective.If you dont have any access to cash when the spending bug hits you wont spend anything.Its a very good habit to get into.:D

I agree with this one. When I leave my money at home, and I do want something this means going back home and going back to the shop. This of course is something I can never be bothered to do so I move on to somewhere else. Then by the time I do go home I forget I wanted the item.