Tuesday 3 February 2015

Spending Ban // Week 1

Something I have had to come to terms with in the last few months is the fact that I am really awful at saving money. I have always been of the opinion that I am quite good with money but nope - unfortunately that is not a thing. As much as I would like to think that I only ever spend on essentials things like food, travel and dog food, that't not really the case. Although I do spend a large chunk of my paycheck on these things there is still quite a lot of it unaccounted for. I enjoy a weekly pointless trip to Penneys where I usually come out with €20 worth of bargains that I didn't really need, eating take out food or eating out when I really cannot be bothered to cook even though I spent another €20 in Tesco the day before buying food for the fridge/cupboards and my personal favourite, taking out money from the ATM to buy one thing but spending the rest of it anyway because it was clearly burning a hole in my purse.



Upon this realization I decided to embark on a spending ban for six weeks that started on Monday the 26th of January and will end the 9th of March. Obviously I'm still going to be spending money on essential things such as food and travel, and I will be allowing myself to go out and do things if I want but I'm mainly trying to cut out pointless spending on clothes, beauty bits and take out food. I'm hoping I'll be able to give you guys weekly updates every Monday to let you know how I'm getting on and to share any tips. So here's what I've learnt on week one!


  • Do a weekly food shop - This is something I had been wanting to do for a while now as I know a lot of money goes on little trips to Tesco, eating out and buying lunch when I could just make it at home. I spent €50 on food shopping on last Sunday (including buying a new wok, hurray) and managed to cook at home from scratch 5 nights of the week. I did make one additional trip to the shops to buy a Quorn lasagne after work and some baking bits but it is an improvement!
  • Buy a travel card - I have a really bad habit of taking money out of my account because I don't have any for the bus but still spending the remainder on crap I didn't need. I use buses quite often and I have purchased bus passes before for the whole month but some months it's just not worth it. This month I decided to invest in a Leap Card, which is a card you top up buy as much as you like and the fare is taken off it when you scan it on the bus, fares are also 20% cheaper when you use it. Cards like these are great if you're not sure if a pass if worth the money but you don't want to be left fumbling around the change when your boyfriend can't pick you up from work.
  • Avoid temptation - As I mentioned before, I really enjoy strolling into Penney's before work on a Sunday with nothing particular in mind that I need to buy but somehow I still manage to come out with a bag full of stuff. I walked in there a few weeks back and came out with a whole gym outfit, despite the fact that I have never been to a gym before in my life and haven't been since either. So in an effort to stop events like these happening I am trying to cut out window shopping and browsing completely. If I don't see all the nice things, I'll never know I needed them and be able to live without them.
So those are my top three tips for this week. Although I have had a few hiccups, one of which included a nude coloured Rimmel Apocolips, (but for less than €2,who can really blame a girl?) I am pretty proud of myself. The real test will be next week when I get paid, I may treat myself to a new camera but I'm going to call that an *essential* for the sake of my blog. 

Thank you so much for reading and let me know if you have any tips for me! 



2 comments:

  1. I am doing the same thing this month! Must be a February thing :)

    Your ideas to keep yourself from spending are great! Avoiding temptation is so important. I always get coupons each month that say "$3.50 off $10" and that makes me go wild for makeup I don't need.

    It really helps you appreciate what you have! That's a big deal for me, to remind myself that I already have a lot of things and that I should take a look at old things I loved instead of always buying more new things.

    Celestralite.blogspot.com

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  2. I feel your pain with the spending ban! I'm currently trying to save up to do a bit of travelling and it's so difficult!


    www.rachelcoco.blogspot.co.uk

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