Saving Money?

[MxAxC-_ATTACK]

Heres what I do, I grab something I like on impulse" I want I want!" then I walk around the store with it for a while... and Then I start to think of what I am saving my money for, and I say "DO I REALLY REALLY NEED THIS" If I don't I put it back , I end up putting things back like... 98% of the time

 

[user46]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Love Always Ivy i definetly feel your pain! i have been working my bum bum off this whole summer and i swore to myself to put aside $150 each paycheck into savings and not touching it, but it always seems like i gotta use it all to pay off my CC and my phone bill. now, its the end of the summer and im going back to school and i have NOTHING to show for any of the thousands of dollars i had made this summer, except a pile of makeup i dont need and a credit card bill i cant pay. i really really wish i had better saving ability i know i have a HUGE paycheck being Direct Deposited in on Friday but i feel like even though i know i should save it, im going to end up spending it all since i am going on vacation. i also catch myself getting a flutter in my chest when i see something i want and i make awful rationalizations to justify spending money, ESP on the sale/swap section here or when i go to sephora or even at my own damn store! i jsut get into this mentality that im in dire need of something i really have no apparent use for or i swear to myself that ill never find a better deal. now im swimming in makeup and brushes and clothes and shoes i dont freakin need! like there is no reason why i have 3 black dior show mascara back ups, or 16 gold eyeshadows. there is no reason why i convinced myself that i needed literalyl every color of Hollister polos, including different colored seagulls. ... to make things worse, im an avid anti returner, since i loathe those people who return things. idk.... maybe read the shopaholic books and it kind of gives you a little perspective, especially when you start reading her awful rationalizations and realize that you make the same ones too.

wow, it's as if I wrote this! i'm so glad theres other people that are sharing this feeling with me ... well its not good, lol. but its good to know ur not alone

 

[*Stargazer*]

Definitely don't cancel the card, it will only do more to harm your credit just like Stormy pointed out. Freeze it or cut it up and continue to pay it off.

 

[user46]

i did it! i cut it up. it felt surprisingly really good. it showed my boyfriend .. myself...my mom, that i was really serious about trying to get my spending habits under control.

 

[Stormy]

Good job, sweetie! That's a great first step! When you see you're saving instead of spending, you'll have such good feelings....it does feel better to save then to spend. YOu know you're doing this for yourself and your future!

 

[lady_bird]

I am hopeless in saving money ;D

 

[Beauty Mark]

If you're an online shopper and store numbers, make sure you also clear those out of your computer.

Directly deposit some money into a savings account. It makes it difficult to spend what is a pain in the ass to get.

Start looking at your things as items and not dollars. For instance, one $25 shirt equals a week's worth of groceries. It puts everything into perspective.

If you can't return what you bought, sell it. You won't recoup all costs, but it's earning more for you than sitting around your house.

To further prevent you from buying, tell yourself you're not allowed to buy anymore makeup, for instance, until you've actually used everything you've owned.

I don't know how bad your debt is, but are you a binge shopper? Do you deny yourself to the point you go out and buy everything? YOu may be better off buying one little thing for yourself than letting the temptation fester and buy everything in sight

 

[redambition]

first things first... cut up your credit cards, or put them in a (large) container, fill it with water and freeze it. the freezer option means you still have the cards in case of an emergency - but defrosting them takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, so it's unlikely that you'll defrost them for a random purchase.

next, pour all spare money into paying off those debts, and put minimal cash (if any) in savings. the interest rates on your debts are going to be higher than any interest earned off savings.

once debts are paid off, get a separate savings account and schedule a transfer to happen automatically every payday... so your savings go out of your account before you really have a chance to see them. some employers will even split your pay between 2 accounts (mine does), if they do that then you can get them to pay your savings directly into your savings account.

make sure that your savings account does not have an ATM card. i also have mine at a different bank to my everyday accounts, to ensure that transferring money out of it back into my everyday account takes 24-48 hours. i can't impulse buy something if the money is going to take a few days to get to me.

i also have a second savings account, linked to my atm card and normal accounts. this is my "ladies nice things" account. i try and put a smaller amount of money in it monthly, and let it pile up slowly. i use it for the occasional splurge purchase, so i'm not digging into my real, "touch only in an emergency" savings.

once you're in the swing of saving... get your credit cards out of the freezer (or get them replaced). don't use them unless you have to or you've planned the purchase. pay them off monthly etc.

it takes hard work... but once you start seeing the savings pile up you realise that having that nest egg is just as good as buying things all the time.

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark If you're an online shopper and store numbers, make sure you also clear those out of your computer. Directly deposit some money into a savings account. It makes it difficult to spend what is a pain in the ass to get. Start looking at your things as items and not dollars. For instance, one $25 shirt equals a week's worth of groceries. It puts everything into perspective. If you can't return what you bought, sell it. You won't recoup all costs, but it's earning more for you than sitting around your house. To further prevent you from buying, tell yourself you're not allowed to buy anymore makeup, for instance, until you've actually used everything you've owned. I don't know how bad your debt is, but are you a binge shopper? Do you deny yourself to the point you go out and buy everything? YOu may be better off buying one little thing for yourself than letting the temptation fester and buy everything in sight

This is exactly what I was thinking. I used to deny myself things for months, and would feel good about having saved all that money. Sooner or later, something would happen...bad day at work, I would feel down or whatever, and I would break down and spend. Don't let yourself do this!

Figure out what your patterns are and take it day by day.

Also, look at your statements (even your bank statement). When you see the amount spent compared to the amount you bring in, it is a sobering feeling. That helped me big time!

 

[MiCHiE]

Yeah, I agree with the above posts. Don't quit shopping cold turkey. You will binge out of control when you deprive yourself. If it's something you really want, get it. If it's a big ticket item, put $$$ aside for it. You may not even want it after you've done it, but you've still saved.

Also, if you have a checking account already, I highly recommend tying it to an ING Savings Account. The interest is very good and the money is not as easily accessible as a credit union or bank account.

 

[redambition]

i don't totally disagree with the idea that if you try and stop shopping cold turkey with no goal or time frame you'll end up breaking and binging. (god knows that's happened to me).

however, when trying to break a habit of shopping too much, too often and impulse buying all the time, i think it's important to spend around 3 weeks to a month in strict "no shopping unless it's food or a required item" regime as it can help break the habit of going to the shops whenever the urge hits.

by all means, if i need a replacement mascara, or face cream or whatever, that's fine. i just get that item and get out of the store (or off the website).

where i've gone wrong with this in the past is not setting a time limit on it. setting a goal (like, 3 weeks) and then budgeting a small amount to buy a treat, then setting another goal (then with another carefully budgeted shopping trip at the end) and so on means that i learnt to control those shopping urges (a bit

) and that i didn't impulse buy as many items. i learnt to plan and consider what i wanted to buy, rather than just wandering into a shop and buying whatever. i still splurge every now and then, but my splurges are now much, much smaller than they used to be... and i have a separate account which can usually cover them. i used to go on a shopping trip and drop $400 or more when i meant to spend $100. now, i won't drop nearly that much when i didn't plan to. i may sometimes go over budget, but nowhere near that scale.

 

[BloodMittens]

Stopping Cold Turkey probably won't help you right away. But set a goal, write down everything you buy besides that so you KNOW how much you can spend. You'd be surprised how much I am on my phone's calculator in stores to make sure I can buy something with the money I have and not the other way around. Money doesn't rule my life, and that should be how it is.

It's not that you shouldn't spend your money on something you want, but you should definately express caution in what you buy. Buying something you can't, or you'll never wear is a waste, because all you're going to do is look at it. And yeah... IMO that's a waste. My BOYFRIEND is the one with the shopping problem in my relationship. He's a techie. He loves new technological stuff, LCD TV's, Gaming Counsles, Video Games themselves. Infact a few days ago he pushed out $700 on a new LCD HDTV. And right before that he bought about 4 new games. $200 right there. So I'm normally the one who has to make him think about stuff. "Ray, do you need this? Are you going to die without it? What about those three games you bought last week that you haven't even played yet because of work?"

And he also just spent $500 on me shopping at MAC and the mall yesterday... so yeah >_> He's the spender.

It just requires a lot of thought process when you're shopping. I always go into the mall expecting to buy something, but that doesn't mean I have to spend $300. Sometimes I just buy a magazine or just one eyeshadow to crave my shopping hunger. I don't think I have bought a shirt in 6 months now... lol. As for your boyfriend, think about him when you want to buy something and be like "Doesn't he deserve this thing? Well... no shirts/pants/purses for me!"

And I do really feel your pain about the boyfriend thing too... I plan on getting my boyfriend a PS3 for his birthday, three months away and I started to save already, but I'm also expecting the counsle to go down to $400, and even if it doesn't, $500 is no problem. But I also want a bunch of stuff from the MAC Collections coming up. It's all about money managment. Write down EVERYTHING you buy in a notebook, or PDA or something! Seriously, always always write down everything. If you noticed you spent over what you wanted, return it, or exchange it for something similar but cheaper.

 

[captodometer]

Cut up all but one of your credit cards and freeze the one you have left; you have to keep one credit card for genuine emergencies.

Get a debit card and pay for everything with it. It's basically like using cash; when you run out of money, you are by default unable to shop anymore.

Get Quicken software for your computer and set up a budget. It can also download your transactions from your banks. You will be able to track where every single dollar goes. I get the impression you know that you spend too much, but don't know exactly where it all goes. The software may help you sort things out a little better.

Good luck