The Spendaholics Anonymous Thread!

sarahowen

Hey

Just thought I'd check in. How's everyone doing with their spending? I'm not great, having already spent more than I can afford this month with bills, the mortgage and the MOT still to be paid...

magni

I went over my budget last week but am doing ok this week so far. I succumbed to eBay last week and spent a ridiculous amount on make up:o I still haven't been in Boots but made up for it on eBay:eek:

Yorkshirechick

I'm not doing too bad this week, but last week was terrible. I won't go into it cos I'll just wind myself up!
This week OH has registered his car as SORN, so he'll be taking mine to work every day. That's great for me, as if I want to go and buy anything I'll have to walk, and I'm really lazy!! so probably won't go.

Yorkshirechick

carmen_sm8 wrote: »

Yorkshirechick! You seem to be identical to me!! My SMP just finished too and I am due to return to work in October also! My little girl is now 28 weeks old! And I seriously had the same problem! During the first three months I seemed to be in the baby shops every week buying deliciously cute baby girl clothes that I suspect I didn't really need, but managed to convince myself and husband otherwise!!!

Oh - BTW Yorkshirechick - not sure is this is baby No.1 for you but if so - heed my advice - don't buy lots of toys for xmas and 1st b'day - trust when I tell you that baby is more interested in empty plastic bottles and cardboard to chew on !!!!!!! I made that mistake the first time round - won't be doing it this time. And besides, family and friends tend to love to buy pressies anyway!!!!!!

xxx

I know what you mean about baby clothes - I've just cleared out more than 2 bin bags of stuff he's grown out of already :eek:

I'm definitely not going to go crazy for Xmas and his birthday, as they're exactly 2 weeks apart. I think we'll put some money in his bank account and buy some clothes in the next size up.

alvysinger

Hi, this is my first post on here, I've just discovered this thread and know I belong here. I've read through all your comments so far over the last few days, so now it's time to unload years of stuff I've kept rattling round my head to no good effect. So don't say I didn't warn you!

Ever since I first started getting money that I could spend, I've spent it, even when there was nothing left to spend. This first became a problem just before I went to uni, when my mum discovered that all the money i'd been earning from a part-time job had been on my CD collection rather than being saved up for living costs at uni. Music (and to a lesser extent DVDs) is my big weakness. BIG weakness. I did alright in my three years' studying, but got into a trend of impulse buying stuff and then selling most of it later when i found i had no money. I'm still doing that.

Once I got a job, the problem didn't go away, i just got more money to spend, so i spent more and saved nothing. In fact, to keep digging myself out of financial holes, I kept taking money out of savings, money that I'd been given by elderly relatives and amounted to £10k. To say i'm ashamed of this doesn't even begin to go there. Stupidly, I got a £5k bank loan, and while i never defaulted on it, obviously it was taking a chunk out of my earnings and I was still spending as much as before.

Eventually, my parents found out and went absolutely mad at me, as you'd expect. my mum tried to convince me to get counselling, but I resisted, i'm not really sure why. I probably should have gone. they paid off the rest of the loan for me (i'm very lucky) and for a while things were good. one of my proudest memories was just after christmas a few months later, when I had some book tokens to spend and i just spent them without spending any cash, and i actually had money left in my account.

But, of course, it didn't last. I kept on spending on amazon, itunes, ebay, hmv, you name it. I'd always thought that when i got a girlfriend, i'd wise up, but I never had so far. i'm even engaged now and saving up for a house, but still i keep on banging my head against the same brick wall and getting myself overdrawn. debtwise, I'm not too badly off, because i've only got a £250 limit credit card (which i need to pay off, then finally get rid of) and no loans. I'm even putting £500 into savings each month at last, though I've occasionally (too often) had to dip in to bail myself out of that horrible 'halfway through the month and at my overdraft limit already' situation.

Just recently, i've lost control of my spending again in a big way, which is why I'm here. I want to stop, i want to get smart, i want to get saving money and i want to feel like i did that christmas ALL THE TIME. It's already been really helpful reading all of your stories, sometimes it can feel like I'm the only one who's this dumb and this scared, but I know that i'm not. So, i'd like a member number please and i'd like to commit myself to beating this with you all...

thanks for reading

Buffythedebtslayer

crikey I 've not been here in AGES.

am having a total disaster on the spending front. I went through my bank statment and found I had just spent about 400 quid......on bits and pieces.

I have to start a proper spending diary. it just makes me feel ill. all of it. I throw money away.

I did an argos order and could hardly remember what I had orderd.

Have to work out how to use Excel to do a diary.

Good Luck with not spending xxx

milliemonster

can I join in? all my debts are from completely overspending and not living within my means

I think my problems stem from when I was younger my mum was so strict with spending we never got anything new, I was always in second hand clothes etc so when I was earning my own money and could easily get credit and esp when I had my own children I just wanted them to have everything I never did as a child which is stupid now I know.

I also think what makes it worse is that I would always pay for everything by credit card and 'save' the money that was in my account instead, except slowly over time that money ends up going on repayments so you end up with hardly anything left anyway.

I would also see the money I was spending on credit as not really real money, it was just numbers on a slip of paper, sometimes they'd balance out at the end of the month most of the time they wouldn't.

I think I even forgot what real money felt like lol

Anyway the only thing I think that will break the habit for me now is to pay for things with real paper cash, instead of cards whether that's credit or debit cards, as its just numbers to me and not real money otherwise, if I pay with cash I hate even parting with a fiver!, I think this is the only way I'm ever going to be able to do this for the long term

magni

Hi all, I've had a really big blowout in July:eek: Been on holiday and just not been disciplined at all:o I'm back now and am going to set myself a target of £80 per week in August for all spends except fuel. Anyone want to set themselves a target and join in is more than welcome.

sleepyglowstar

I am a terrible spender....
But do you want to know whats worse.
I am a first year student living away from home, in Wolverhampton.
My SINGLE mum still lives near oxford....
By october I had wasted my thousand pound to live on....
My mum has been helping me since then....
I can't help spending, because Asda is pretty much my next door neighbour. So we get hungry and go buy food. Its ridiculous, but I can't stop. I now can't buy christmas presents for anyone, or an anniversary present for my boyfriend.
I lock myself away, because I can't afford to go anywhere...
I don't know how to stop...

My mum always tell me to ask myself if I WANT it or NEED it... but it doesn't help....

I don't even get guilty..

Charity shops help slightly.....


HELP MEEEE

sleepyglowstar

I think its disgusting what they class as income... IM 18 and when I go home for christmas (im at uni) i cant work cause its classed as income