To ask how you budget with mental health issues?

[malificent7]

I've always struggled with my mental health although I'm a lot more stable now. My problem is my career has been hindered by bad mental health and so as a result I don't earn as much as I could.
Even worse I cheer myself up by shopping. Nothing extravagant... We are talking 30 a month in Primark but I'm shouldn't spend ANY cash on clothes.
Feel so lost. Fed up with the struggle.

I do a similar thing - I don't do much but go to work and come home, I don't have friends outside of work. I do like to buy things, so what I do is set out a spreadsheet which has my income, all my necessary outgoings - rent, electricity, gas, council tax, phone, internet, savings, food, car costs, etc - and what is left after all that has been accounted for is the money I have left to treat myself with guilt free. I keep track of every single purchase - absolutely everything - and once I've used up my 'spending money' then I can't buy anything else.

It works quite well because you can see clearly what is left after necessary costs and savings are taken out, and it means I can treat myself without worrying about spending too much.

Can you try to think of non-shopping treats? And also try to make sure that your budget is worked out so that you can manage some occasional treats, even if they are small in terms of cost.

Most of my payments go out when my wage goes in.
What’s left over is £30 a day to cover food/petrol/clothes a basically everything else. Each day I write down what I have spent and take £30 off it. Some days I spend more, other days I have to spend less, but in effect I have chance to ‘save’ every day, I find the idea of just taking my spends off a lump sum depressing and worrying (my MH issue is anxiety), but the idea of saving even a few pence a day is reassuring. And that way if I am in personal credit with a no spend day or two they yes, I treat myself!

I think that as a bipolar person I get on a high so that when I get a lot of cash in one go I feel invincible.
I have never gone out and bought posh cars etc but I do find it hard to invest wisely.