Diary of a spendaholic!

Tinkabell25

OK Its a new payday and fresh start. Today i parked for free and avoided the car park saving me £8. I have moved all my money into necessary saving accounts and the joint account. Just the budgeting (and sticking to it!) left to do.Will update my sig with an honest view! Am closing one credit card today so just the one left to clear.Am feeling positive and hoping i can be strong this month!

Tinkabell25

Well I’m 2 weeks away from payday and I’m only £150 overdrawn at the moment which is good for my sole account. The joint is about 700 o/d as we had bills we forgot about! I’m trying my best to not spend on things I don’t need. I think I’ve wasted about £30 this month which is better than it used to be! I’ve started bringing lunch in with me and not going out for lunch which is helping my waistline and my bank balance. Am desperate to find a way of making more money fast but am running out of options. I do surveys but they don’t seem to be paying out much at the moment, and pigsback aren’t too bad. Ah well, hope for a lottery win or something!

Tinkabell25

Today i'm not feeling very positive at all. No matter how much i cut back i still can't get any nearer to clearing my overdrafts. I feel so down about it. My OH is also feeling the strain as the main earner and its causing silly arguments which we don't want to have and is generally having a negative effect on our relationship. Not sure what to do. No matter how many surveys i do i don't seem to be earning anything! I've cut back on pretty much everything i can.

Tinkabell25

Oh dear. I have just realised i forgot about a debt! I have 1k that's due to be paid in January for our bed and i hadn't included it!
I thought about consolidating all my debt into one loan but don't seem to see any low rates about at the moment for obvious reasons.My total debt is £3600 at the moment. so i hae no idea what to do. My mum is doing a car boot for me at the end of the month, anything she doens't sell will be thrown onto ebay or amazon. Other than that there is no light at the end of this long tunnel. Am destined to be in debt forever. Even through doing no food shopping for a week or so except bare essentials we're struggling. Am even contemplating asking my parents for help, which i don't want to have to do, and my OH is too proud to do. Another day hoping to win the lottery!

strumpet

Hi Tink,

Have you thought about splitting your shopping trips up to include more shops and less Tesco? I always used to go to Tesco and just buy everything I needed in one huge shop- now I split the shopping up so I can take advantage of special offers in more than one shop.

Examples:

1. Buy fruit and veg from Lidl, Netto, Aldi - it's usually as good as Tesco and a lot cheaper although sometimes it doesn't last as long - MEAL PLANNING!!!!:rotfl:
Check out the Tesco website though as they have half price deals on different veg which change weekly. Taylor your meal plans to include the discounted veg - don't just buy carrots etc because you always have carrots.

2. Buy toiletries etc from somewhere like Bodycare or buy in bulk when special offers on in Tesco / Morrisons etc. Check their websites for BOGOFs and visit more than one. Discipline required to just buy what you went in for though!!!:eek:

3. Wilkinsons is an amazing shop for stuff like dishcloths / cleaners / household stuff - see the Moneysavers Old Style Board - What they can't do with a bottle of Stardrops and a pint of Vinegar just isn't worth reporting!!!:D

4. Use Online shopping - you only buy what you want - no nice bread smells to induce you to overspend. If you order it through cashback sites, you can cover the cost of delivery too.:T
Be careful with "Buy 2 for £x pounds instead of 1 for £y (where x<2y) offers though. You only save if you use both in twice the time. If you buy two and use only one, then it actually cost you £x for one, not two so you've spent an extra £x-y.
If you buy two for £x and use two in the same time you'd usually have used one, then again, you spent an extra £x-y for no gain.
Non-food items like Bog Roll are best for these offers - you don't wipe your b*m twice as much just cos you bought twice as much!!!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

5. When you see special offers for meat etc, buy more and batch cook and freeze. Good for creating No Spend / Eat from the Freezer Days out of thin air!;)

6. If you can get a Costco / Bookers / Makro card through work (my employer offers this as a perk - we pay £23.50 / year), buy in bulk - you can save a fortune. I bought a huge box of Persil washing powder for £14 back in April and it's still half full!!!:p Buy 10 loaves at once - 69p each. Pop in the freezer and helps to make your freezer more efficient too as it's always full. Requires a bit of outlay first though.

7. All that walking about, visiting all those extra shops gives you an exercise boost without knowing you're doing it! The best way, I find!

Happy Saving

Strumpet
xxx

Tinkabell25

Hi Strumpet, I have to admit you are a logical thinker!!! I will try the meal planning and shopping cheaper and see if i can cut it back. Tesco is our downfall, One of our bills was 83 quid last month-there's 2 adults and 2 cats in our house so that's mad!! I've decided to do the food shop without my OH as i think he's a bad influence!! Where i live i don't have many shops, the nearest wilko is a bit of a trek but i love it so will start making the effort if it cuts my outgoings. Thanks for the advice, Its really appreciated!! Tink x

Tinkabell25

Good news! They're building a Lidl in my town!
Bad news! my gas and electricity have gone up. Greedy sods.
Am getting sick and tired of everything going up in price. I managed to do a big weekly shop for £30 at the weekend though. Am still toying with the idea of a second job, even though i don't think it would make that much of a difference (and i can't find one!!)

Tinkabell25

Am on a downer today as i'm overdrawn more than i realised and just seem to end up at the same place each month. Am not worried about the credit card dfor mow as i feel the other debt (overdraft and Bed which is due in Jan) are more important to get on top of. Am i wrong here? I'm not really sleeping because i'm obsessing about our financial situation. I'm desperate for pay day which is next friday. I'm due some over time so hopefully that little extra will help. sigh, will it never end!

strumpet

Tinkabell25 wrote: »

Am on a downer today as i'm overdrawn more than i realised and just seem to end up at the same place each month. Am not worried about the credit card dfor mow as i feel the other debt (overdraft and Bed which is due in Jan) are more important to get on top of. Am i wrong here? I'm not really sleeping because i'm obsessing about our financial situation. I'm desperate for pay day which is next friday. I'm due some over time so hopefully that little extra will help. sigh, will it never end!

Hi Tink,

Big cyber hug coming your way. Don't be down chuck -it's that nasty rainy weather making you feel low. Of course you'll get there. It just takes time and you find it difficult to think so far ahead to a time when you WILL be debt free. But you WILL get there.

Try and think of it as a game. That's what I do. When I get paid, the first thing I do is "pay myself first".

What this means is:

I take an amount of money (usually £50) and I ferret it away (usually in one of my Halifax Websaver Accounts). Then I try and manage on what's left. My mindset concentrates on not spending more than I have in the bank in that month, but secretly, I have £50 in the wings waiting to bail me out if I can't manage it. If I do manage to stay within my means during the month, them I have £50 which I can chuck at a debt. If I don't manage it, my emergency £50 is usually enough to get me to the next pay day. Then at least I know I didn't spend more than I earned in that month.:D

Oh and another tip on a completely different topic - bulk out stews / chillis with grated carrot. You can double the quantity and freeze and it tastes fablicious!!!:T

Big snogs
Strumpet
xxx

Tinkabell25

Ok...not happy again! Even further o/drawn in my sole acct. I'm desperate to pay more into my accounts to get them above zero. Payday is Friday. I have 2 boxes of books to put on ebay (although i have no idea how to use ebay!) Can't find a second job and these surveys etc just aren't rewarding me! Money troubles are also having a very negative effect on me and OH and we're going through an extremely rough patch. When it rains it pours!!
Have only spend £70 in total on the two past weekly shops though! I will be good over the next month with the money because i may be able to get the joint account looking better if i do that. I need to get some Life insurance though, does anyone know the best way to go about it? I was thinking Quidco. NOt sure though, Please can someone Advise?