Debt - how to reverse

[MistySkiesAreGone]

How to make the switch from being an over spender to being a budgeter?

I could write a lot more about my situation but hoping there is someone wise who did it and can please just tell me their story of how they did it 🙏.

What are you spending on?

finding it a bit exhilarating watching your savings grow or debt go down.
i transfer pennies at the end of the day onto debt or savings depending on the balance. ideally my goal (besides debt free) is nice round numbers at the end of the day.
cheap thrills.

Start each day, assuming you will spend nothing at all. No coffee out, no top up shop, pay at the pump, don't go into the forecourt shop, take lunch in from home. Use what you already have in your kitchen. Be completely ruthless.

Get to the end of week one and see what you have saved. Put 75% of that away in a savings account, and take 25% for 'fun money'. - a coffee or some other little non-necessity.

Do the same again, plan to spend only your saved 'fun money', get to the end of week two, put away 75% of your savings and keep 25% for fun.

And so on.

Mine goes in a 'car account'. My savings mean that when my car needs replacing, I pay cash. No monthly car payment makes life generally much easier.

@MintJulia oh i like that strategy :)
mine's a bit more complex. i divide my after bills remaining income by 30.
allow myself that amount each day for other necessities. if it's been a no spend day then i put that money on debt or savings.

I'm not particularly a spender so I don't know if this is helpful but I find that setting aside on pay day the money you want to save from the money that's supposed to be spent helps.

So I have a savings account where I can put savings, and a current account for spending money.

I also have a spreadsheet where I figured out main monthly expenses (rent, school fees, childcare fees, utilities, etc). So adding all of that up gives me an idea of what will be spent on essentials. Then I give myself a set amount for other necessities (food, clothes, fun money).

I try to pay all or most of my bills on pay day or in the following days as this gives me a clearer idea of what I've got left for the month.

If I go over budget I always have the option to dip into savings but I can't do it "accidentally" or spend without realizing how much I'm spending.

Definitely set yourself a reward for sticking to your budget each week/month.

I loved seeing the balances go down. Personally I found it much more rewarding to clear one debt off completely, so would always prioritise the one with the highest interest (rather than some off of each) I paid the minimum amount on everything else and when the first debt was paid off I moved onto the next one.

I also like the save the change option from my bank. This cash is now going into holiday savings, but has previously paid off debts, then a big experience trip for DS. I have around £50 already this year saved this way.

I also have to say that when in a rabid saving period (while saving for my first mortgage) I became obsessive about saving. I kept receipts and compared my shops, Waitrose one week but then Aldi the next. Clothes (essential ones only 😉) were bought on Vinted and I would feverishly compare them with the equivalent purchase brand new. I knew how far a tank of diesel would get me, and would do everything I could to make it go as far as possible, driving with insane care are precision, combining trips, walking or taking the much hated smaller and smellier car instead.

Every time something was paid off I got such a thrill, and when the final one had gone it was almost the happiest and proudest day of my life.

Thanks for these. I'm going to have a good read through at the weekend and decide on a strategy. I've done it before, I just can't get the kick up the backside this time.

My biggest expenditure is prepackaged/preprepared food. The solution of which is meal planning and food shopping. Instead I waste my time browsing online (actually my clothes shopping isn't too high, I tend to put things in the basket, and if I do ever buy things I usually return most of it and keep one, usually high street stuff so maybe £20-£30 a month)

I'd be better physically going to look round shops once every couple of months, then it has a start and end.

I use an app called Moneybox which automatically extracts money from your bank account of a weekly basis, using an AI which works out what’s affordable for you. I’ve saved around £7k in 3 years which I would otherwise not have managed to do.

hah @greenspaces4peace that's exactly what I do, I start the month with around £5 a day to spend, if I know I need something I'll have a day of 0 spend to account for £10 the next. If I don't spend then it goes in a side account, at the end of the month all that's in that account goes towards debt. I love my little challenge.

I would work out the debt you owe, so could be credit cards, car loan, money owed to friends. Start with the smallest one and make it your absolute mission in life to pay it off as soon as you can by being super frugal. Then move on to the next one and so on. As you pay off each debt you will find you will have more money each month to pay off the next one. The only debt that is ok is a mortgage. Then as others have said, on pay day, pay something into a savings account, £10 or £100, just something and don't dip into your savings account unless it's an emergency. Treat the whole thing like a game and you will soon sleep much better at night!

The first thing to do is to work out why you are an overspending?

Circumstances
Stress
Emotional overspending
Feelings of inadequacy
MH issues

Then work on that whilst setting a realistic budget.

Yes to small transfers, walking past a Starbucks and transferring the £3.40 I wanted to spend into my savings or off a debt. Switching from colouring my hair at the hair dressers and transferring £50 everytime I dyed my hair

Get obsessed. Make a spreadsheet, plan weeks or months ahead how much you’ll save/pay off and throw every penny at it. It’s tough to start, but after a not too lengthy time you’ll find it so satisfying to see those numbers go up/down that you’ll not even think about over spending.

Right I have started today. Made a transfer of £140 into my current acount as I was going to put it on my credit card...but I am not charged interest on that whereas my current account is costing £20 a month in fees. I'm £288 overdrawn and have a whole month ahead of me until the 28th. That is only 25 days. I n

Could you explore some low effort meals which are not bought ready meals. Baked potato with tuna and beans? Pasta with sauce, homemade ideally tin tomatoes, chopped onion, seasoning, add courgettes spinach or peas. Freeze extra portions to grab. Frozen fish, tinned curry and rice?
I know these are not gourmet meals but if it’s something you like it could be in the store cupboard and quick to prepare instead of expensive ready meals or take sways. Batch cook the rest of the time using things like chicken thighs.

Someone owes me £100 and I have £50 in a savings account. As a minimum I need £180 for food on travel. So if I can sell £320 of things I could break even.

Food and travel.

I'm going to upload the Robovac to ebay this weekend and a couple of other items.

Now back to my other project where I am trying not to fall behind...work. Thanks for the kick up the backside, will have a proper read of all the tips this weekend. I think the next debt will probably be the car loan as it's something like 5.9% interest. The credit card is 0% so just need to keep up the minimum payments.

I would start basic and take cash out.
Label it up, for food, another for travel.
Don't buy a single item of clothes unless you are absolutely desperate you simply don't need too.

Once you have cash in your hand and you have to hand over that cash it makes it very real!

Have extra place to physically put the money you save.

Write down everything you spend money on. Helps see where the money is going. Shows how buying a daily coffee etc, soon adds up. And if you're slack like me, it stopped me spending because I couldn't be bothered writing down my purchases.

if you post more details as to your in's and out's in the money matters section, i've seen some amazing support and some really inspiring threads.
one OP updated the thread regularly with her achievements and it was lovely to follow along and see how well she did.

One of the things that worked for me was switching to Monzo bank account. I only used my card to spend not cash. Everytime I spent I made a note against the transaction in the app and assigned it a category the i analysed where I spent money. It was disgusting how much I was spending on drinks and food out for lunches / snacks. It totally allowed me to control my spending. That helped me save.
Alongside that I did micro saving. Did round ups on transactions, did the penny savings challenge. I didn’t notice it and saved over £1k in the first year. I’ve increased the number of micro savings that I do and so save more. I didn’t notice it going out of my account.
Something that has helped me recently is adding my credit cards into my banking app. It’s focussed my mind on reducing that balance as I see it everyday. The balance also refreshes throughout the day so I can see the impact of a payment immediately rather than waiting for the statement.
And lastly I check my bank account daily even if I’ve not spent anything. Gone are the days of burying my head in the sand. Everyday I know how much is in my current account and what I have spent