The Spendaholics Anonymous Thread!

magni

I have just spent £16.65 in McDs:eek: I am still within my budget though and think I should make it this week without overspending. I was doing a voluntary thing at dd's school to day and it took all day. I could not be bothered making a dinner as I am on nightshift tonight and am knackered.

How's it going for you poorandindenial? Hope you're having a good week too:D

poorandindenial

Hi magni

I am doing much better this week (so far, *says cautiously and quietly*)

I have spent £19.26 so far and don't anticipate spending much tomorrow. If I do all my packing like a good girl then I can go to a friend's birthday thing at work in the afternoon (and will then spend some, hopefully not more than a tenner) if not then I will spend nothing. then I am on move day, that will involve taking my helpers out for lunch which will blow the budget and then I just have the rest of the wekend to go. Suddenly it doesn't look so rosy - !!!!!!. Oh and I will need to get a nice bottle of wine for one of the helpers as he is putting himself out massively for me. Oh dear, oh dear. Right have to think up cunning ways of making it all cheaper.

carmen_sm8

Hello all fellow (bed)spenders!

I have been reading many forums and praying to (Martin? :rotfl: ) that one day I shall overcome my spending habit - a good kick up the ?!?!?!?! is what is needed I say.

So if that's the case why can't I do it! Admittedly I'm not into self-harm but nevertheless when I do attempt to kick my butt and curb my spending, I start craving to look for "bargains" - anyone else ever had that weird feeling? You think you are being good because you bought a "bargain" (as if!!!!) Whereas in actual fact YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE BOUGHT IT AT ALL!!!!!!:money:

So here I am a self-confessed sinner of the papernote kind! And I don't know about you guys but I get serious buyers remorse after buying the goods!

I am currently attempting to organise my son's 5th b-day party and so, as a serious moneysaver (wannabe) I decide that instead of a bouncy castle, we can arrange to play old-fashioned games like what time is it Mr Wolf and a treasure (dragon egg) hunt (it's a dragon party ). So with all good intentions I get myself sorted writing everything down, what I need, winners gifts etc. Easy I hear you say and so it should be until I then go and spend £25 in Morrisons on sweeties and gifts, and another £30 in the toy shop for props needed as part of the "quest" to find the hidden dragons lair!

So £55 pound down (and by the way the cost of the bouncy castle is £45!!!!) and still I had to then venture to Focus DIY to get wallpaper paste and brushes so I can make papier mache dragon eggs filled with the kids goody bags!!!! Another £12 down the drain.

So tell my guys - it is compulsive spending or stupidity? I suspect the latter of the two - but HEY...... I did have good intentions to save money!

So here I am today thinking I need to kick butt and I already feel better about admitting my silly spending habits to you all - I feel ashamed yet weirdly better!

I'm a fab bargain hunter - just useless with a budget......... don't spend I hear you say......:huh:

poorandindenial

Does it help if I say both??:rotfl:

Probably not. Well you aren't stupid because you have spotted that there is a *bit of a problem here* (look at my siggy to see what my 'bit of a problem' amounted to:o) you just haven't managed to overhaul those habits in one fell swoop. That is OK though, no-one does.

There are lots of hints and tips that can help you regain control but not all of the will work for you so give them a try, if they don't work chalk it up to experience and try again. BUT don't expect to suddently be a moneysaving doyenne overningt, you have spent years forming these habits and it can take a while to break them.

Right - the basics.

Keep a spending diary where you detail EVERY penny that you spend. This serves two purposes, it allows you to reflect back on what you have spent at the end of the week/month/year and it also makes you question what you are buying it as you buy it.

Then go on https://www.whatsthecost.com and use the snowball calculator, this helps you see how quickly you can repay your debts. The beauty is that once you see how much you spend on sh!te each month you can see what would happen if you put it towards your debt. No debt?? Keep a tally of how much more would be in your ISA or other savings account and work out the extra interest to see what you would have at the end of the year or set yourself a target for savings that is realistic but leaves little room for buying rubbish..

Oh and when you are thinking of planning a kids party, post on the families board on here and get some great ideas for ways to do it on a budget. And get yourself over to the moneysavingold style board and find other ways to cater and clean for less.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the compulsive spenders (you may notice that I am not currently doing very well in my challenge against magni - you see I still haven't learned the lesson properly but I am getting better all the time)

carmen_sm8

a notebook is a fab idea and if I gave up smoking I am certain I can give up spending (mostly anyway)....... now then where is my pen?????

scary isn't it though when you do write it down - my god why do we buy what we buy???? My first thoughts are to something missing in my life but that can't be I'm super happy with my husband and children - my biggest moan is that we can't afford to buy our own house.... so you'd think I'd be a megasaver by now wouldn't you?

Hey... at least I managed to finally open two Isa's in March 08....shame I've only been meaning to do it for the last 4 years !!!!!

I think you are doing stunningly well btw = seriously you have reduced your debt by £8K - amazing!!!!!!!

My family are my inspiration but you have become my GURU!!!!!!!

Thanks for the tips -I'll keep posting and let you know my successes xxxxx

poorandindenial

Thank you honey but I am, sadly no guru, I am moving into a much more expensive flat (renting too) so I will be paying off at a much lower rate from now on. Maybe I have replaced spending on tat with spending on where I live?? And I keep on getting overexcited in IKEA and spending more than I should (replaced nail varnish and shoes with IKEA crap)

When I did a spending diary I immediately saved £150 a month because I stopped buying lunch and breakfast on the way to work/in my lunch break - crazy. (and I stopped buying clothes like they were, well, going out of fashion)

Good luck and see you soon.

ne021

Count me in yes i'm another compulsive shopper! I spend little bits of money on crap and don't realise that the little things add up! Well that was when I had a job, got made redundant 6 weeks ago and was finding it hard! I moved into my new house just before i lost my job and found that I had the sweetest and tightest neighbour I have ever known but oh my she has taught me a few tricks!
Firstly I don't really buy anything brand new, I am a car-boot queen and we take the kids together most Sundays. A squid each for the kids generally gets them a little toy or book (happy days). I take a whole five pounds and barter my way to furnishing not only my house but my wardrobe. I don't go with anything in mind but look forward all week to spending that 6 quid (between me and my little girl). Ok fair enough sometimes I may not NEED it but WANT it! However it may be a dvd for 50p so i'm happy and I still get that BUZZ.
Plus she was a regular on this site and has tought me all about my cutting down on my food shopping etc Swapping my wash powder, buying a step down in brands well all I can say is I only spend the money I have saved from that! Hip Hooray!

Neve

carmen_sm8

Hi all!

Well I'm back after an exciting weekend of visiting family (and spending money :rolleyes: )

So, we decided to take the kids to a castle "gardens" and my fellow friends you would have laughed at my face :eek: had you seen me ranting and raving at how much it cost to get in - £10 per adult!!!!! Admittedly the gardens are full of fab and fun fountains etc.... but even so!!!! So £60 lighter (oh, plus 3p (1p per child!) and then the heavens opened, so we only manage to survive the weather for 1/2 the gardens and ended up admitting defeat as the kids were soaked!

Back out this morning to get a few items for darling baby girl (teething!!) - the idea to get bickiepegs from Boots only, but hey ho we see a bargain don't we on nappies and wipes, so just have to buy them - it makes sense, no?

Then onto Co-op for fruit and veg and come back with that and milk, yoghurts, bread (oh and merengues for the Eton Mess )

So today I am now £42.00 lighter than I was yesterday - not a good start for the spending diary I have to say!

Having said that I am PROUD of myself as I took the opportunity when having the family round to making a family-wide agreement NOT to spend money on birthday presents (except for the kids) and just to send each other a card! We all agreed, so that will save me £180 per year!!! YIPPEEE.......:T

carmen_sm8

Hi Neve

Welcome to the board! Funny I was just having a clearout and thinking of holding a car boot sale - can't decide whether to do that or Ebay it? Ebay costs but at least you get a wide audience??????

Your new neighbour sounds wise!!! By the way, I empathise with the IKEA thing -me too - way too easy in IKEA as everything seems 'cheap enough' until you tot it all up at the checkout....eeeek!

Good luck with the new house and trying not to spend too much money.....!

magni

I have already overspent for the week and it's only Monday:eek:

I shall be doing very little spending for the rest of the week. I have learned from this challenge which is the main thing. I have dramatically reduced my spending as well so it's not all bad. I need a more realistic budget to stick to. £100/wk would probably be more achievable for me.

Lets see how the rest of the week goes.

Hope your move went well poorandindenial and you are enjoying your new place.