Anyone shocked at how much you spend on junk?

[housewifey]

Me and OH rent and have never got in debt, don't own any credit cards, don't live in our overdrafts. Thought we'd being doing quite well and the last few months our outgoings seem to be more than our incomings and savings dwindling away.

So we finally sat down, got the bank statements out and worked out exactly how much we NEED to spend each month on rent, council tax, weekly shopping, etc. And took that away from our incomings. . . turns out we should have over £500 left at the end of each month!

Going through our bank statements we pinpointed that the JUNK we waste this money on is starbucks/costa, buying lunch at work, £10 in morrisons every day when I just pop in for a paper! So we've challenged ourselves to buy nothing that we don't NEED for a month and hopefully our money will start building up again!

Anybody else get carried away and not realise how much money you waste?

 

[aimee-lou]

I know exactly what you mean. We're living hand to mouth at the moment (hubby is a student but has recently got summer work, I'm unemployed and very pregnant! lol) so we're very aware of what's going in and coming out. It's amazing just how much you can spend without realising. I've taken a very firm grasp of the finances just recently and it's actually relieved a lot of pressure in a strange sort of way. I now KNOW that the bills will be paid, adn what is left over is truly ours. Hopefully soon, there'll be more left over than a bare minimum becuase that is slightly depressing! lol

 

[Evansangel]

We are the same, can easily spend £10-£20 in the co-op a few times a week and tonight we spent £20 on a pizza.

We need to stop it but its a hard habit to get out of.

 

[catty]

Between the two og us we should have £800 left over after bills and food. (that is at the moment will lose alot of money with me going on maternity leave) and we have been trying to figure out why we have no savings - majority of that goes on rubbish too.
Since iv been on maternity leave 2.5 weeks iv only spent £50 and iv realised i really do not needwhat we had before - although it would be nice!!! Guess you just manage with what you have!

 

[housewifey]

yeah we are trying hard this time to think about what we are buying and if it is actually needed! I am trying to avoid going for a wander round the shops coz it just results in more spending also when I go to soft play making sure I bring a packed lunch because they are normally expensive for food, small changes break a habit I believe so that's what we're trying! Hopefully build our savings back up! xxx

 

[Pearls18]

We have a four figure sum left over after bills and still only manage to save £200 a month because we are pros at whittling away money it's unreal, like you say coffee shops, random snacks, it's unreal how it mounts up. Each month I say "next month we will account for every penny...." We never do!

 

[babyhopes2010]

weve had to . dont have a choice but yes ur right its shocking how much we spend on things we dont need

 

[tinkerbelle93]

I know what you mean.. it's amazing what to can save by just having a few simple rules like always making a packed lunch, not getting takeaways, not getting coffee when out and about. xx

 

[ClaireLouise]

Defo true! I have a spreadsheet at work that lists what my bills are and what we should have left to spend each month.

But my OH is so frivolous, he spends too much money on crap like £6 on his lunches a day, games on PS3 network, eBay, iPhone apps! That's just off the top of my head! Then there's £4 magazines I get for Marley a week (they're crap, he only wants the free 50p toy!) haha.

Whereas I spend £10 a week on lunches (going to try and bring lunches into work from leftover tea etc now), make a list of meals and their ingredients, don't really spend any disposable income on myself. I do buy things I need like new make up etc, or a new coat but only if my current one is falling to pieces haha.

Birthdays are a big eater into our money: we have had 7 birthdays and Father's Day in June so I think we need to be more sensible with cash. We both earn ok money, but we always seem to have none left or are skint before payday and its annoying when so much cash could be saved by not buying junk in hindsight.

I suppose we get the payday highs. We spend like mad the first week and then have to scrimp for the next few weeks haha.

But now LO starts nursery in September I'm going to have to be stricter with the outgoings. It's just sometimes nice to treat yourself after all, you have earned your wages all month. That's life tho eh ladies!

 

[eew1471]

Yes! I am very stressed. We have been over spending for months now! Watching our savings fly out the window...

 

[seoj]

I absolutely know we spend more on "junk" than we need to- on shopping as well I'm sure! We still live within our means though and continue to build up our savings... some months easier said than done. I finally bought a coffee machine (as our espresso machine broke and I didn't want to waste that much $ for a new one)-- so it was $20 for the coffee machine and considing I could spend that much at Starbucks in 4 days-- it was well worth it! I still get the occassional Starbucks (as a treat)- but really, I like the coffee I make at home just as much and it's SO much cheaper! I am trying to do better with my shopping too-- as it seems to be my "weak point" oops

 

[shirlls]

Hell yeah! I can easily go the shop for a can of juice, pint of milk, etc and come out with 2 bags of shopping costing nearly £20! Ebay is a weakness too sometimes but I am getting better at staying off the site when I'm online lol.