Living with a budget -- and breaking it

[Pan]

Hey, all. I don't really post here, but I need some advice.

I have a bad habit of spending money. It'll just be $5 here and $5 there ... and hubby and I eat fast food quite a bit, too. Problem is, is that we need to have a budget. Sure, we can afford to eat out sometimes, but not as often as we do. :(

Money and financial situations gives me a hella lotta stress. I'm sobbing over it right now, feeling numb and unable to comprehend how I'm going to pay all these bills. I'm an impulse buyer. If I see something that looks good, I'll buy it as long as it's under $5. Problem is, those little $5 things can add up. Quickly.

I need some advice on how -I- can stick to my budget. Hubby is good about sticking to his, but it's me. I'm the main problem that I have to borrow money from my parents to help me pay for the car payment.

Help me, please, before my tear ducts go on strike!

[SylverStar]

If you figure it out let me know, cause I do the same thing.

[DragonLove]

You have to use willpower. If you really feel that you cant control yourself, get yourself some professional help. I have heard of compulsive shopping/shopaholicism and you really can get help for it. Also, avoid the triggers that make you spend and try to find a new hobby instead. As far as eating out..I would pick ONE night a week that it is allowed. Mark that night on your calender and stick to it. Think about how late bills affect your credit when you feel like spending.

Another idea is instead of taking out that 5 dollar bill..start a fund and put it in there..before you know it, your fund will grow and you can pay one of those bills.

Hope this helps!

[13thChylde]

Don't carry cash...I only carry my debit card. If I have cash I think of it as disposable and have to get rid of it as soon as possible! Preferably in a bookstore!

I'm not very good at the budget thing either. Maybe we should form a support group and share ideas.

[Rockprincess]

You could try writing up a budget - how much you and your hubby make each month, how many bills you have to pay, how much you need to save (for christmas presents, whatever), and how much you'd like to have to spend on "whatever". Then you have some money to splurge, but there's a defined limit - you'll find yourself weighing all those $5s much more carefully!

[~*Ginger*~]

All most excellent answers!

Willpower being the most important of them all.

When you pick something up, say to yourself.
"Do I really need this?

Really need it?

Think about it for awhile, walk around a bit more, or get out of the store.
Stores are set up for Selling their ware.
They WANT your money!

Do I really want this?
Why is it important to me that I have this?

Think about it for awhile, walk around a bit more, or get out of the store.
Stores are set up for Selling their ware.
They NEED your money!

Good Luck Loki!
:colorful:

[Autumn]

Don't carry cash, tell yourself one $5 treat a week and if I skip a week I could have a $10 treat next week and if I skip I could even buy a book!!!!!

If you are that hard up for money you should be packing lunch for work and look to see that you are not buying fancy coffees and such at $2-3 a pop.

[Pan]

Thanks, y'all.

Bad thing is, is that I work at Wal Mart. :( My main weakness is magazines. I'll see one that has good stuff in it and buy it on the spot, thinking "Well, I have a discount, so it's all good". But that 10% doesn't actually go a long way.

We've done the "write down how much you make, how much your bills are, and calculate in everything else before you see how much spending money you have" thing, but I just can't stick with it. :(

I don't think professional help would help me. I'd just get pissed off at them or something. But an online support group might. Friendly encouragement helps me better than professional force.

[Rockprincess]

Ok then, here you are:


You can do it, Loki! You have the will power to not buy those magazines! :huddle:
Because really, in the end...do you read the whole thing? Are the "good" articles that you bought it for really that good?!

maybe you could make a rule with yourself that you can't buy a new magazine until you've read the old one cover to cover?

[Pan]

maybe you could make a rule with yourself that you can't buy a new magazine until you've read the old one cover to cover?

OH! Good idea! I have a bunch of magazines that I've not read cover-to-cover and I should do that before buying another one.

Thank you so much!

[DragonLove]

Keep in mind that many magazines are online as well so read the articles you find interesting online if possible :D

[~*Ginger*~]

Magazines huh?

I have 3 wal-mart bags full of mags. My mother~outlaw gave them to me.
I take and cut the pics I like from them to use for decopage.

I haven't ravaged these yet. You want them?
Just let me know.

[Pan]

Magazines are my main weakness. I'll be heading to lunch and be like "I need something to read. I'll get this!" and out comes a magazine.

I tend to buy Woman's Day, Cosmo, Family Circle, Style, Style Home, Glamour, Vogue, and Vanity Fair. But I read anything and everything... even YM, 'Teen, Seventeen, and other teenie-bopper magazines. I'm a mag-junkie. :(

[Autumn]

bring a library book! then you'll have something to read
In the breakroom in the grocery store there was usually that days paper plus a gossip rag or two...could you read them instead?

[Amethyst Rose]

What works for me might work for you.... it's the opposite of what a couple of people have suggested.
Only carry cash.
At the beginning of the week, write up a budget so you know how much spending money you have. Get that spending money in cash and carry only that cash with you through out the week.... no credit cards, no cheques, no debit cards....just the cash. Spend it as you want. HOWEVER, when that cash is gone you don't get any more, until next week/pay cheque.
This worked wonders for my husband and I because we could physically see how much (or little) money we had, where as the debit card was just a magic money making machine....too often we'd go to the bank, see our balance and think, "where'd all our money go?!"

[Mnemosyne]

Hi Loki! I like to read magazines also. Sometimes I browse through them when I go to Borders. Other times, I check them out at the library. I subscribe to the magazines that I really like. A yearly subscription is quite cheap to most magazines. In addition, it's fun to receive them in the post.

[Pan]

I can't go to the library unless I pay my $33 late charge. :/ I never once got a notice in the mail, though they claim to have sent me one.

Recently, they've been having magazines and papers in the breakroom, so I've not bought a magazine in 3 days. :) I just read "Science News" and "The Globe" and the newspaper when someone else doesn't have it.

It also helps that we have a new third shift cashier. She eats lunch with me.

I used to bring the 5th Harry Potter book with me to work, but I finished that. I don't really have any other books I want to read right now at home, and since I can't go to the library ... I'm stuck.

I'm at a block in my novel, so I haven't been working on that. Sometimes I bring my drawing book and sketch during lunch, but then people watch me and I stop.

I'll be saving my spending money to buy more new books. :) That way, I can have something to read during lunch that will last more than one or two lunches.

[Pan]

Forgot to mention! I don't have a debit card, my credit card is useless, so all I ever carry is cash. 8O

[SylverStar]

I my debit card gets me in more trouble than cash. When I have cash I tend to think I have to save this. I use to get Mags. all the time. I would suggest getting a subscribition or two. It's cheaper. Also I have a horrible memory so when I want to buy a Mag I don't because I'm not sure if it will come in the mail. Also the more freetime you have the more money you spend. As far as food goes, I go to the store and buy things I can make or take on the go with me that way I have something when I'm out and about and I won't want to waste it to eat at a resteraunt.