If you are really bad with money, can you ever become good with it?

[Alwaysintrouble]

I never live outside my means, but always push them right up to the limit, which has caused problems many times! I get so tempted by things, and end up spending on lots of little things (food, a new t-shirt for dd, hole punch because I can't find ours after a week etc) and just fritter it all away. I'm really scared that if I don't take my card with me though something terrible will happen and I'll need it. I'm much better than I used to be, but I'm still pretty bad. Can I ever become good with money like dh?

Being goos with money is a skill you can learn like any other and there are psychological/physical techniques you can employ to make it easier to manage.

As an experiment, take £20 out of the cashpoint on Monday morning, leave your credit cards at home and see how long you can make it last. Spending cash is always more tangible than using a card and if you make a big effort not to spend the £20 in your purse, you may surprise yourself at how resourceful you are if you put your mind to it.

Another good method is to simply write down in a little notebook, everything you spend money on as you spend it. Dieters do this with food to help them see how much they're actually eating. Keeping track of your expenditure will automatically mean you are more reluctant to spend the money.

Good luck and keep trying.

If you live within your means, then you're already pretty good with money. If you want to get better, then there are lots of things you could try.

Why don't you set aside a sum of money each time you're paid? Save up for something. Set a budget, so that you've made decisions about where you'll spend your money - it might help you to resist the impulse to buy it just because you've seen it.

I find I can't save money in my current account. I have a couple of linked easy access accounts for my short term savings. If I decide that I'm putting away £50 a month then I set up a standing order to transfer that money just after a routine payment comes into the account. I then stick within my means in the current account. Because I only see the other account(s) growing when I log into online banking, as they don't have debit cards associated with them, I kind of forget about that money until its needed. I use the different accounts as different pots of savings. If I leave it in my current account I think oh I've got the cash left this month we could do x,y,z and then its gone.