Impulse spending- How (not) to...

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gratefuldeb67
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Impulse spending- How (not) to...

Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Apr 26, 2005 12:44 am

Hi EDSers!
Here's a thought, and a problem that, I am sure, is, not only, on my mind...
I currently do not make much money, and I sure hope to change that over the course of the next year or two.. But I still spend like I am making lots of money, relatively speaking...
In a way, for me, this is almost the same problem I have had for years with food... Simply put, I need to have a framework which will help me nip the extras right in the bud, as regards to spending money.
It seems, also, that usually the money gets spent on ordering food out, not really on loads of other luxury items...
Each time I say the same thing "This is the last time for the week, or month" or some other idle threat, which the next time I have some cash available, I don't heed...
I think a lot of the time we choose to eat out (we being my son Richard and I) it's usually out of boredom, not really even hunger...
This just has to change. :roll:
Anybody have similar experience with this particular thing?
I wish I was able to create a financial version of NOS for saving money and allowing an occasional eating out or night out...
I really just need some rules here to stop my excesses.. I hate never having anything in the bank, and even when I know I have bills to pay, I seem to still fall into this trap... It's just so irresponsible, yet I do it over and over, so it's really gotten to just be a bad habit... I guess that's good, since I can break it then... So I just need some good way of staying focused on this goal.. Help!
I'll be making more money soon, and really don't want to have it all go down the toilet...
Please contribute any ideas and all is appreciated!
Peace and Prosperity!
8) Deb

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navin
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Money money money money...

Post by navin » Tue Apr 26, 2005 2:32 am

Well, I don't have any comprehensive system, but I've at least made a dent in the problem of eating out too much. Learning to cook was the first big step... the red and white checkerd Better Homes and Gardens cookbook is great for that - even a dummy like me can make most of those recipes! And it's nice in that it labels cooking and prep time, specifically marks recpies that are "fast" (< 30 minutes) to prepare. It also has info about basic cooking techniques. I'd recommend it to anyone, regardless of their cooking abilities.

I also try to take time to plan meals a few days or a week in advance. This helps for three reasons:
1. I know exactly what I need to shop for, so I don't buy a bunch of extra crap.
2. If I have something planned to make for the night, I"m much less likely to eat out that night.
3. I can be realistic and plan really easy meals for nights I have a feelign I'll be tired. (Yes, sometimes PB&J sandwiches show up on my plan.)

I've almost gone to the extreme of making gratuitous fast-food an S. If I eat out during the week, it's for good reasons.. co-worker's birthday, get-together with an old friend, date (okay, that one doesn't happen often anyway.. but in theory...)

Now, if you can figure out how to avoid impulse shopping in other areas of life, let us all know... :-)

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sandie
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Post by sandie » Tue Apr 26, 2005 4:57 am

Very good advice above. Try to keep foods you like in the house, like some chicken or shrimp for a quick stir fry. Make things easy on yourself, buy the bagged rice to drop in and boil, or instant stuff.

We don't get fresh veggies here until they grow in summer, but I can buy Japanese and chinese canned veggies, I keep them on hand to throw in the stir fry (use only olive oil).

Also if you buy and keep foods you like and can eat on hand you will use them because you won't want them to spoil and throw them out!
Shop more often that feeds your spirit as well.
Sandie

larisa0001
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Re: Impulse spending- How (not) to...

Post by larisa0001 » Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:06 am

Here's the system I used for managing spending, which enabled me to pay back about $16,000 worth of credit card debt while unemployed. Alas, I do not have a fancy name for it, but I know it works. It worked for me.

a) Record every penny you spend or earn. Know exactly how much you've got in the bank, how much you've got on your credit cards, etc. I used a PalmPilot for that, but you don't have to. It can just be a notebook.

b) Every week, withdraw X dollars in cash from your bank. (the size of X depends on your budget). When you go out to eat, spend cash. When you no longer have enough cash to spend, wait for next week. In my case, I had my own small business, and some clients paid me in cash. I would just spend that cash - that was my "mad money". The rest I put in the bank.

I found that after a short while, keeping track of expenditures became automatic - it's what I do. It adds about 1 second of time to your average transaction. But once you know exactly how much you've got and where, you'll hesitate before spending another $25 on a restaurant meal. I know I did.

Besides, this system makes tax time a breeze. It took me all of an hour to do my taxes, despite the fact that I had a small business and all the complex itemized deductions that came with it. I just had to press "Summarize" a few times. My father, who has a similar small business and equally complex itemized deductions, spent 2 months on taxes, the poor thing.

Larisa

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Post by mstevens » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:50 pm

I don't have a system at the moment, but I think I need one too.

I've got a big problem at the moment with impulse buys of books, dvds, etc.

I make enough that I can afford it, but I think I really need to cut out the impulse buys and start saving more. I'm buying them a lot faster than I can read/watch them!

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brownstudy
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Post by brownstudy » Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:48 pm

We've started eating more meals at home (helps with No S!) and then going out for a meal on the weekend. Makes the eating out more special.

I posted elsewhere on this board about The Bword (bword.com) which has a very good, simple system for managing your cashflow. Basically, I give myself an allowance twice a month which is my "mad money," and that's what I use for eating out. When it's gone, it's gone (until the next allowance period).

I also keep a monthly splurge list. I've blogged about it here: http://highunimportance.blogspot.com/20 ... -list.html

You may need to take a step or two back in the purchase process and see what it is that's spurring the impulse spending. Can you identify what the trigger is and then put a system in place that will short-circuit that signal before it moves you to spend?

Or something like that. :)

Hope things are going better.
Mike Brown

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reinhard
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Post by reinhard » Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:58 pm

Good to see you here again, Mike.

What cured me of 95% of my impulse spending was making a budget. It is very depressing to see how little money one has left over after just the most necessary expenses. If you're insufficiently depressed, try maxing out your 401k, roth IRA, and setting up 529s for your kids -- unless you're very rich indeed, that should do the trick.

Other random tricks: if you're a book and cd fiend, become a regular library user. Many libraries are part of regional networks. I can essentially get anything I want through mine, order it through the website and pick it up at my local branch. I view it as a free (if somewhat slower) amazon. If dvds are your poison, libraries are a possibility too, but a tad inconvenient. Just resolve to rent instead of buy (I'm a big netflix fan). There are very, very few movies I'm going to rewatch the 5 or six times it would take to justify buying.

If you can handle credit cards, try using just one, and put everything on it for easy, automatic record keeping. With a monthly, unambiguous, detailed day of reckoning looming over you, it's much easier to stay in line. Look over the last few months, and come up with a realistic goal number. I find this more effective than a thousand little rules. It gives me freedom to make little decisions, and balance them out by the end of the month -- enough time, but not too much. And the card keeps better track of purchases than I ever could, without me having to do anything extra (plus it gives me 2% towards my daughter's college fund). The big trick here is paying it in full and on time -- something I understand many people have a big problem with.

Reinhard
Last edited by reinhard on Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by carolejo » Tue Feb 28, 2006 3:42 pm

My sister has always struggled to keep the credit card bills under control. She recently consolidated all the debts, paid them all off in full and then cut up all but one card. She wanted to have a credit card just for emergencies.

To stop her using the card for anything other than dire emergencies, it lives in a plastic screwtop jar, filled with water and placed in the deep freeze. The card is totally unharmed by this treatment - its just a bit of plastic, afterall. :D

The theory is, it takes a couple of hours to get the card out and defrost it before it can be used. There are very few dire emergencies (of the kind that require money to be spent immediately anyway) that couldn't possibly wait for the card to defrost. HOWEVER, it's much too much hassle to fish it out and defrost it *just* because you want to take it on a spending spree in town!

So far, it has worked like a charm. Previously, she tried giving the cards to someone else to look after, but of course it was too easy to ask for them back, especially if your mate is the one you're going shopping with.

C.
CaroleJo

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Jammin' Jan
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Post by Jammin' Jan » Tue Feb 28, 2006 5:38 pm

I don't have anything special, but I'm very organized with the money.

(1) I write a monthly budget. Savings is included in that, and I pay that just like a bill.

(2) I got rid of all but one credit card. I have a budget for that, too, and that's another bill to pay. I try never to go over budget, but sometimes I am actually under, but I pay my budget amount anyway. It's nice to see negative numbers on the credit card bill!

(3) I make a weekly menu and then make the grocery list from that. I buy only what's on the list.

(4) I keep track of annual expenses, like car registration costs, and write them into the monthly budget.

(5) My husband gets a separate check from his parish paycheck for work done for the diocese, so that is our "mad money" which we use for eating out.

(6) Impulse sepnding is very very dangerous and to be avoided at all costs!

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gratefuldeb67
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:26 pm

Carolejo, that is hillarious!!!!!! :lol:
Love,
8) Deb

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brownstudy
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Post by brownstudy » Fri Mar 03, 2006 2:25 am

reinhard wrote:What cured me of 95% of my impulse spending was making a budget. It is very depressing to see how little money one has left over after just the most necessary expenses. If you're insufficiently depressed, try maxing out your 401k, roth IRA, and setting up 529s for your kids -- unless you're very rich indeed, that should do the trick.
Hi yourself Reinhard -- yeah, I'm back (for 21 days at least, I hope I hope).

Yes, the first time I sat down with BWord and worked out my expenses vs. what I was making, my ego deflated. I was paying big monthly Cobra expenses plus the mortgage; there was literally no way to balance the income with the outgo, the expenses were just too huge.

Fortunately, things have gotten a little better. I use a combination of Moneydance (as a Quicken substitute for reports and categorizing expenses) and Bword for planning and cashflow overview.

I have a line item for "emergency" and always try to allot some money there every pay period.

Yes, I love the library and secondhand bookstores. Netflix is a good avenue, also, if you go cheap enough. We barely watch 4 DVDs/month when we're both busy, so we can get by with the cheap subscription.

meb
Mike Brown

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Post by juniebumble » Mon Mar 06, 2006 3:33 pm

Hi Deb,
There were a lot of good ideas posted. Here's something else to think about. If you do decide to write a budget, you will probably notice that most of it goes toward fixed costs (ie $700 to mortgage or rent, $300 to insurance) every month. You have to pay those or you are in big trouble. One of the few variables is what you spend on food. That means that one of the few ways you can save money by spending less on food.

I have a budget like most people who wrote above. Some times when I am looking for a little extra money (to buy the kids a trampoline for instance) I spend less than my budgeted amount on groceries. Even $20 a week can add up over time.

Good Luck!

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