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I am a lousy spender. I spend what I earn before I get it. I have six credit cards, four of which are maxed out. I can buy a second-hand card with my debt. I hate it and I’ve been struggling to get my finances in order for five years now. My boyfriend has repeatedly tried to confiscate my cards. I have tried cutting some of them up, but I only ended up asking for new ones from the card companies. I read financial advice on websites, watch Oprah’s debt diet, and I’ve read Francisco Colayco’s books, but I’m still in the same boat. I budget my money and try to track my expenses but they don’t do much to control my spending. This blog is my latest attempt at getting out of the red. I figure, if I go through this with other people – you, readers – we’ll all have a better chance of being successful. So c’mon, tell me your story…
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Hang in there! I was pretty much in the same situation a few years ago. Your boyfriend is right. The number one thing to do is simple: cut your spending. That’s it.
Thanks, Ismangil! How’d you manage to do it?
The two big steps I did was:
1. List my spending. Seems simple, but turns out I was never really aware of what I spend on. Especially the non-monthly ones (insurance, car service, holidays). You will need to divide all non-monthly spending into monthly spending.
2. Simplify accounts. I was juggling several savings, loans and credit cards, originally in an elaborate scheme to save money by delaying spending by using credit cards, trying to earn interest etc. I now use a single current account for all my incomings and outgoings, always using a debit card whenever possible (cash seems to evaporate on me
). Credit cards are banned, except for some internet shopping because it has additional protection against bad shops.
ismangil is right. List down the monthly spending. I was surprised how much i spend on food and entertainment. Then i started alloting the budget for it. I dont necessary tighten the belt. Just enough where I can save and I can enjoy good food. I would visit my spending every week. I made my own excel template to track my spending habits.