Utterly depressed

sophie27

I found a really good website which is an online spending diary. May help you track exactly where all is going?

www.spendingdiary.com

chilli_dog

hey dizzy,

i have had that happen too, did you get the " do you have any other payment methods" question.

Sooo embarrasing.

Night-owl_6

Its not you

Arlen

I too have been rubbish at managing my cash. Since I started filling out an excel spreadsheet of where my money goes (to the penny) I have found it a lot easier and am finally making dents into my debts. Every receipt goes in and out of there and it tallies properly every month.

RedDino308

Hi Everyone,

I would like to emphasize Arlen's approach. I keep a spending diary and put it all in a spreadsheet every day. Not only does it let you see exactly where your money is going but, after a couple of months you can start to put budget figures in as well so you can plan for upcoming expenses and know when the tight-spots are going to be.

HTH

RD308

Arlen

My spending diary is not listed to one month at a time. My sheet has the whole year mapped out with the relevant deductions taken out when they should be (Car MOT, Bike MOT, Car Tax, Bike Tax, Bike Insurance (low enough to pay as a one off)) This also serves as a handy reminder for me to get the relevant stuff done!

To be honest I have planned out the next year and a half which is when i will be debt free (apart from the car but that is hire purchase so doesn't really count in my book as it is going back and being changed for a new one when 3 years is up).

Lemon_Tree

as said before you're not the only one. i seem to go in circles, i stick to my debt plan to the penny for months then i lapse, try and stick to the budget but although i don't add to the debt it doesn't go down as much as it was before.
Like you i'm desparate to lose weight and have trouble even starting the diet let alone sticking to it. I'm determined to start one tomorrow because i want to improve my quality of life, and that means i have to get sorted tonight or i'll just find another excuse.
Stick with it and you'll get loads of support here, there's many of us here for the long haul (unfortunately) so we'll be around.

lifesuckssometimes

EmptyPurse wrote: »

I've been keeping a note of everything I've spent since the beginning of May and have just sat down to look at it in detail. I thought I was being relatively careful but it seems that I've been overspending massively. The main problem is that when I did my SOA a few weeks I wildly underestimated the amount of money I spend in certain areas - e.g. travel. I guess this might explain why I'm in debt in the first place but it's bloody depressing. I can't even face looking at it all in detail to work out where I can/should cut down; I just want it all to go away. It all seems so hopeless and I can't imagine ever being organised/disciplined enough to get my spending properly under control. I look at how well everyone else here does once they've had their lightbulb moment and think "how do they stick to it, month after month?". I'm just no good at sticking to anything - it's the same with diets (I'm clinically obese). I start off full of good intentions and then fall by the wayside a month or so later. Is it just me???????

a bit of tough love here get your store cards and credit cards and cut them up or you ill have a whole load of trouble you may have an addictive personality... but cut up them cards and think what you want in life.. trouble and stress or a life with as .little trouble and stress it is hard to do at first but do it now or you will be regretting it in the long run take it from someone who knows.

you Will do it but it maybe tomorrow next week or next year but you will and good luck you will do it:j :j :j you have taken your first step here. :j

skint_spice

no you're not alone in that at all. travel has been one of the things I've messed up in my budget too, originally calculated it in a four week month - doh! and even when I rejigged it I didn't add in the rise in petrol costs for a while which also confused things.
I just try and keep focused on becoming DF and like Arlen have a spreadsheet which I've had since I started on here working out how long it's going to take me to get there and how much I've paid off. Why not try a challenge to raise some extra money to pay things off which should help when you see the totals going down.

Rage_in_Eden

Hi Empty! How are you feeling today?