How to stop spending?!

[iamdivergent]

I'm on maternity leave so finally have a change to really look at out finances and was embarrassed to see that we spend money on some amount of crap! I am always clutching the purse strings around this time of the month and we still have a fortnight to go until payday; I've never taken much notice of where we are spending all the money. So today I went onto the online banking and downloaded onto excel and spent the best part of 3hrs sorting through just this pay month so far.

We have spent £150 on eating 'out' (once at a naice restaurant for a family birthday but otherwise fast food!)

Between us we have taken £150 out at the cashline - I can probably account for about £30 of that (bus fairs) but the rest, I have no clue

How do we stop this?! Its just stupid spending, and we have nothing to show for it except a large bum from too many burgers I'm hoping that by being on mat leave I will be able to really reduce my spending but we have the summer holidays coming up so that's not going to be a good time for saving.

Any tips?

get a receipt for everything you buy and track it on a daily basis for a month or two which will show what you have spent it on and you will also remember why you bought it.

in your head question what your spending money on e.g. do I need this or am I buying it because I want it.

I plan all our meals and shop accordingly!

Write all of your spends down and set yourself a budget for 'pocket money' each.

I downloaded the Spending app (free!) where I note EVERYTHING I buy, even if it's just a pint of milk. I've been doing this since 1 Jan; it really helps me see where it's all going - charts, graphs, etc, it's brilliant .

Yes. I think that your first step is to document/work out your spending patterns.

Best to remember that writing everything down might well alter - perhaps even restrain - some of your spending habits so as well as things you hand over money for, you could also document stuff that in previous days, you certainly would have bought.

Maybe give it a good two or three week's run to see how it goes? (Unless you learn things about your spending earlier which is always possible.)

Google Martin Lewis money demotivator
The figures will surprise you into saving!

When you go out, dont take your card with you as using it you normally don't realize of the huge amount of money you spend! Just plan ahead before you go out and only take some cash with you!

We have a shared account for absolute essentials - bills + weekly shop (meals are planned so no waste). We also use that account for bigger purchases but only after we have sat down and together decided on how much to spend and on what. In addition, we have separate accounts with 'pocket money' which we spend as we please. This system could train you out of buying burgers/useless stuff quickly - you quickly realise that if you forgo fast food/crap for a month or 2 or 3, then you'll have saved up for a weekend away, a shopping trip or whatever else you'd love but currently struggle to afford.