Awful with money

[Islagray11]

Looking for some suggestions on how to stop being so shit with money.

I was previously in about £4,000 debt, which I had wasted on clothing and nights out when I was about 20. Paid it all off a few years back, and swore I'd never get in to debt again.

I then got in to £1000 debt buying more crap. I got a loan out to cover it, and I am repaying this now.

Every pay day, I get this massive urge to spend all of my money straight away, and then live off about £20 a week for the rest of the month. I've always done it, and I am really impulsive with my spending. I feel like I desperately have to spend all my money at once.

How do I break this cycle??

When my bills have gone out, I put the rest of my money into savings. If I need to buy anything, I have to go into my savings account and transfer it out. Makes me think more about what I'm spending.
It was hard at first as I would still spend loads. I have quite a bit saved up now and don't like to see the balance go down so it's motivated me to keep going 🙂

I’m the same. It’s like binge-eating but with money. I even like paying bills! It’s like I just want to get rid of my money as fast as possible.

Years ago I fold my house and had loads of money in my savings account. It was THE most stressful thing. I’d check several times a day that it was still there, hadn’t been stolen. So I feel on some level I’m happier being poor than rich, which is a real pain. I’d love to know if I can change that.

I Bank with Monzo and use their App to budget each month. You set up ‘pots’ where you can put your money. Work out how much money you need for each pot then put into the pots on Pay Day. It’s harder to impulsively spend as the money has left your main account. You can have as many pots as you like and it helps to spread the cost of things over the year. I have a Christmas pot I put money in each month and so now it’s Christmas I know exactly how much I have without getting into debt. Other pots include: Clothes/Shoes, days out, holiday, car repairs (just incase), etc... You can have any number. I also have a pot which all my round ups go into for example if something cost £5.99, £6 comes out the main account with a penny into the round up pot. It’s surprising how quick all the pennies add up to £££. Budgeting like this I’ve gone from always being in my overdraft to having a surplus of £4K. The main rule is if their is no money in the pot you can’t spend it.

I have 2 saving accounts with separate banks that I can only access by going to the branch. This is because I haven’t set up online banking. I transfer money to each monthly. I also have a savings account linked to my current account so that I can access that if I need to. I only keep a small amount there, most of my savings are in the other accounts.

What do want to spend the money on, clothes/make-up or socialising? Obviously socialising is off right now, if it’s clothes etc pull out everything you have. Put it on the bed/floor and take pictures. Use this to show yourself that you don’t need X this month.

I’m going to preface this by saying that sometimes the cheapest way of doing things isn’t the best way to save money. So...

We set up a system with extra bank accounts. It costs us in fees but it’s worth it. Once pay hits the main account it gets funnelled off in direct debits. Bills are paid straight away (we have set up level pay so it’s the same amount each month). There’s another account for recurring annual expenses like insurance, car tax, school uniforms and books, etc, and we dd an amount into that. There’s a card on that account, that lives in a drawer and is only used for paying bills. We have a savings account, and a Christmas/birthdays account and then our personal accounts. Shopping, fuel etc are paid for out of the main ac and any excess gets transferred into savings at the end of the month. It contains the urge to splurge to our personal accounts. I thought it was daft the first time I heard about it but in practice it’s brilliant.

In a similar vein I hugely recommend getting your shopping delivered/ click&collect as it cuts down on impulse spending instore. But also because you can see the subtotal so there’s no awkward moment at the cash register.

And I also have a milkman to avoid top up shops.

When I add up bank fees, delivery and the extra cost of milk, it’s a lot. And I wish I could be disciplined enough not to need it. But we’re saving more this way

Some great suggestions in here already.

I'd also unsubscribe from lots of emails. I swear that Next send me about 3 a day trying to tempt me to buy.

Also delete your shopping apps and unlink your credit card so that you're not spending on that.

Have a think about when you shop, what times and for what reasons. If you find you do it in the evening try something like C25K or a beginners course in Yoga or watch some YouTube videos on getting out of debt like Dave Ramsey.

I always forget about email promos and apps because I don't use them. get rid. Never save card details anywhere.

Set up a linked savings account, preferably one with a notice period for withdrawal.

Set up a specific amount to go in by standing order the day after pay comes in.

Have you tried the demotivator?

www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/demotivator/

@Islagray11 how have you got on over the last couple of days?

Was just thinking that if you get takeaways, have you tried deleting the apps and planning meals for 2 or 3 days at time?

This is such a common thing so don’t worry you’re not alone.

The trick is simple, you set up a simple basic bank account and use that to purchase things with your disposable income. Set it at a good limit as like dieting don’t kid yourself.

Each month transfer money into it using a standing order from the account your wages go to.

The wages account should then be left alone, leave the card at your folks or somewhere really inconvenient.

Put your money into premium bonds. Pay it in
on payday and it takes ages to withdraw so it gives you time to think about what you are spending on.

I have a monthly budget for frippery. It’s managed in a spreadsheet on my phone.
Every month I want to spend it as soon as I get it (I’ve already spent 2/3 of April and it seems to still be March). But having that limit means I know I can splurge but there is a limit to it.

That extra 1/3 is burning a hole in my pocket.

I do the same with premium bonds. As it takes about three days to withdraw.

I use the Moneybox app where I have a Lifetime ISA and a 95 days savings account. I transfer my savings money into there straight away on payday. With the 95 day savings account, I can get the money out whenever I want but it takes 3 months so basically inaccessible for spending on unnecessary purchases. 5 years ago I had to take out a loan to pay off £10k of debt I had accumulated. I now have £19k in those savings accounts.

My bank account is Starling and I have separate pots for different things. So this month I have one for my sisters birthday and one for my haircut which I put the money for into as soon as I get paid. Then the money left in my current account is exactly what I have left to spend on whatever else I fancy. It’s so much easier to budget for everything this way.