If you love shopping like me, you find yourself with barely enough money for the rest of the month, and on payday, all your disposables go back on the credit card. You are likely finding yourself in a continuous cycle of overspending each month and can’t figure out a sustainable way to get out of that habit.
As someone who has struggled with money management in the past, I feel well-equipped to give some friendly advice.
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Write Everything Down
First, you need to write down all of your incoming and outgoing income so you know exactly how much disposable income you have to play with. If you are currently wanting to pay for last month’s spending, I would strongly recommend having a set amount of money dedicated to debt and having that as a part of your outgoings.
It’s best to bite the bullet and get rid of as much of your disposable income as possible so you aren’t paying off a debt for longer than you have to.
Do You Need It?
While sales and trends are constant temptations to spend your money, it’s time to have a serious chat with yourself before you click to check out. Do you really need to buy that mens hoodie in sale? No, not really so put your card away. You should prioritise re-wearing your clothes and ignore material things.
Once you have a serious talk with yourself, it does really help as you are coming to terms with the issue and that you don’t need these things; it’s all just a want.
Remove Money For Your Card
A good way to stop you from tapping your card is to remove the money for use. The way you do it is completely up to you but I’ve found it best when I withdraw money I don’t need for bills and keep it on my bedside table. That way I can’t transfer it back into my bank account when I’m out and about or order something online when I’m scrolling at home.
I find it the best method for me but you could alternatively put it in an ISA so you can’t withdraw it if you want to focus on saving and not overspending.
Remove Apps
Shopping apps, notifications and emails you need to get rid of. While you are harassed with paid ads on social media anyway, you might not see much point in it; however, it’s a step in the right direction, so this could be anything from fast food to clothing brands and so forth. This will be a reminder that you got rid of them for a reason and not to buckle under the pressure to spend spend spend.
Reduce Internet Time
On the topic of being harassed with ads, it’s more motivating to remove yourself from social media as much as possible. You scroll on Instagram, and you will likely see an ad every two scrolls. You are putting yourself in a tempting position so remove yourself from it as much as possible. Spending an hour on social media a day is more than enough. Start off slow or go cold turkey; whatever works for you.
