How to control your spending

Trust me, I get the irony of me putting this post out, when all I seem to do is spend, spend, spend! But trust me when I say, that I’ve learnt some great tips over the years to control your spending. And I want to share with you, the tips and techniques that have helped me.

I used to be a terrible spender. Always wanting to spend whatever was in my pocket and never save. But over the years, I’ve changed. Like really changed. I cleared £20,000 worth of debt and saved £25,000 as a house deposit in just five years.

If you’d have told when I had that debt that I would manage to turn my life around the way I have. I’m not sure I would have believed you. I always assumed that something, or someone, would come and save me from the debt. I just needed a better job, have a lottery win or meet someone who had money. What I didn’t realise that I had it within me to be the change that I needed. Which is why I want to share the ways I managed to control my spending.

SLEEP ON IT

This one really helps. If you feel yourself wanting to make an expensive impulsive purchase, then sleep on it. Sometimes those expensive purchases don’t seem quite as attractive in the morning.

CHECK FOR MONEY LEAKS

We all have them. But check your bank statements for your subscriptions and direct debits. Do you need them all? Do you use the gym enough to warrant the £50 a month membership? What about TV services? Do you need Now TV, Netflix, Amazon and Apple? Probably not. Work out where you can save money and cancel the services you don’t need or don’t use.

LEAVE YOUR CARDS AT HOME

This one really helped me control my spending. If you don’t have your cards to pay for it. Then you can’t be tempted to over-spend. I used to work out how much cash I needed, and then just took that. That way, whatever I was tempted by, I couldn’t buy anyways as I didn’t have the means to pay for it.

MAKE YOUR DEBT OR SAVINGS A PRIORITY

Now this might seem like an obvious one. But I found it really helped when I made my debt goal. And then my savings goal a priority. I love a spreadsheet. And would have it set up showing when I would be debt free (or achieve my savings goal) if I stuck to the same amount each month. By having that focus, it helped me realise that controlling my spending would help speed up both processes.

AVOID TEMPTATION

And the final way I managed to control my spending was to take away the temptation. I’m a big impulse online shopper. And I can’t resist a bargain. So I would block, and delete emails from my favourite retailers to stop that online shopping temptation. I would also avoid physically going to the shops. It seems drastic. But if you take away temptation it’s easier to control your spending.

Let me know if these tips on controlling your spending are useful. And if you have any others that help you stay in control of your finances.