Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How did you sort your life and finances out how or when did it click?

35 replies

Cupcakeicecream · 01/12/2019 12:23

When did you realise that you needed to sort things out how did you do it?
Your house finances relationships time management.
I've just come to the realisation that I dont want to be buying into commercialism any longer buying xmas and bday presents for people who I barely see but it's just become a habit I want to break. Being a sucker for all the sales summer sales black Friday the deals seem to good to miss but I end up with stuff I dont need or dont use. Saying yes to events or talking to people who seem to forget I exist until they need or want something from me I just need to say no.
Generally wasting money on top up shops you go in for bread and milk and come out 20 or 30 pounds lighter.
Wasting time on Facebook or I Instagram.
Buying clothes and they're in the wardrobe months later still with tags on.
I need your hints and tips on how to break the cycle.
In the new year I want to take control of my finances scale Back and have a simpler more enjoyable time and only buy things when I need them or I love them.
How did you change your finances around.
I'm going to declutter the house unsubscribe from shops and stop making the small talk with people who need or want something from me. Anyone else

OP posts:
Elieza · 01/12/2019 14:01

Illness and subsequent poverty made me change my ways.

More importantly i realised that the choices I make to overindulge in any part if my life, be it eating, drinking, shopping etc, were down to my emotional state about something making me unhappy and only by resolving that would I resolve the other stuff.

I dumped the bf, let friends who weren’t really friends go, and got a new job. I didn’t feel the need to drink or compulsively shop or whatever any more. It just went away.

A new handbag from a crowded shop that costs a fortune or stay home and watch an old film on tv I love while having a small bag of something nice to nibble on. Number two option wins nearly every time!

I do buy stuff sometimes though but in charity shops. I get a buzz from a bargain. And it helps others less fortunate. And if I don’t wear it I take it back in a few months and donate it. That feels good!

I feel much better now.

SalemShadow · 01/12/2019 14:05

Being tidy and decluttering is the key. If you are messy and careless you end up buying twice!

TravellingSpoon · 01/12/2019 15:04

Monzo. I feel like I say this on every thread but it's been a game changer for me. Having different savings pots and seeing what my budget is has been really eye opening.

KenzoBaby · 01/12/2019 15:30

Check out The Minimalists on YouTube here www.youtube.com/user/jmillburn
It's about ditching consumerism and focusing on what really adds value to your life.
They have books on amazon as well.
I love them, have been listening to their podcasts all year. They cover all aspects of life eg money, relationships, as well as possessions (or lack thereof)

BettyBoozer · 01/12/2019 15:45

You need to watch Martin Lewis's tv show that was on last week. He did a program on exactly this-cutting down all the tat and ridiculous commercialism and gift buying people get sucked into at Christmas.

And there's always his mantra card for your wallet..

images6.moneysavingexpert.com/images/attachment/mantracard4.pdf

He's v annoying but I think he's spot on with his advice

H1ghH1gher839 · 01/12/2019 16:27

Get paid
Pay all bills
Pay money into regular savings accounts/ ISAs/pension/cash back
Buy clothes from charity shops/ some presents

Would rather have days out & holidays, than 'stuff'

Blackandwhitehorse · 01/12/2019 17:19

I started properly by doing a no spend month last January. So only spent money on essentials like food, bills etc it’s positively impacted my spending and mindset the rest of this year. Also better for the environment.

MsRinky · 01/12/2019 18:34

I got a current account offset mortgage, which shows your total mortage debt like an overdraft. Not a pretty sight at the cashpoint.

Underwent an overnight financial transformation and paid it all off in seven years.

Earslaps · 01/12/2019 19:44

Budgeting and separate accounts really helps.

We looked at all of our yearly expenses such as holidays, Christmas, birthdays, insurance, new school uniforms, car tax and servicing, new tyres, replacing broken white goods, National Trust membership, tv licence, delivery of logs for the fire etc, etc. Add it all up and divide by 12, then save into a pot to cover those things. Then work out what you need for food, fuel and monthly bills to see what you can afford to save and spend.

Savings (short term cash and longer term into stock ISA) plus the yearly expenses amounts go straight into savings accounts at the start of the month.

The day to day spends (our 'pocket money'- for clothes, eating out, entertainment etc) goes into our Starling account. When we spend from our Starling account it rounds up the pence and pops the extra into a savings account so we can save a little bit extra without noticing. In the account we can look at our spending by type, so it's easy to see if we're frittering it away! It definitely makes you think before spending and we've usually got a bit left at the end of the month now!

Food, fuel and anything we've budgeted for goes onto a cash back credit card, we usually get around £100 a year in vouchers from it. If we spend less than budgeted on food or fuel then it can go into savings.

We're saving for an extension at the moment so we're focusing on building up cash savings at the moment rather than reducing the mortgage or investing. Once we've done the extension we'll direct more to overpaying the mortgage and building up our ISAs.

BertieBotts · 01/12/2019 20:10

I am getting to this point now, this year. I am 31.

I have done Marie Kondo which was brilliant - didn't finish it so will probably restart and do it properly. I have hit a block because she wants you to start with clothes, but I've had a baby and my clothes are in that half maternity, half slightly bigger than normal mix.

Just signed up to budgeting software YNAB - I reckon it's going to take 3-6 months to see results from this, but you only get one month as your free trial (you can apparently increase this to 3 months, if you ask). Therefore I highly recommend reading/learning about it beforehand, I've spent about a month doing this. It's a philosophy first and a software second. You can do the philosophy without the software, then it's free. That is initially what I had been trying to do, but I've decided to give it a go with the software properly now.

I use this screen time tracking thing called RescueTime. I just use the free version. It tracks time I spend on my phone and computer and adds it all up. I've worked out how long I feel comfortable spending on screens during the day and I try to stick below this.

Bullet journalling - I'm still on the fence about this one, but I think I might give it a proper go. Not as complicated or beautiful as some of the ones I see online though. Just as a way to stay mindful and in touch with what I want to be focusing on.

Trying to create various rituals for different parts of the day to help me break out of ruts that I'm in. So far I have one for getting up which involves really nice coffee, that works nicely. One for the kids' tea and bedtime which works well. One for my own evening wind-down which I haven't done in ages, but should restart. Actually all of my rituals involve hot drinks of some kind...

New posts on this thread. Refresh page