How do you control yourself from over spending?

12 comments

1. I don’t allow myself to go into debt and I make sure my savings don’t go below a certain amount.

2. When your salary is deposited, set aside the amount you need for:

   – your monthly expenses

   – savings and expenses (15% of your income ideally)

   – groceries and other weekly needs (separate bank account)

   And if there is anything left after that, you can use that as “fun” money.

3. leave wallet or card at home. cant spend money if you dont have access to it.

4. Very simple: Subtract fixated costs (living, eating etc) from earnings and then subtract a amount you want to save (for vacation or if you are american for possible hospital spending)
   The outcome is what you can spend

5. Set money aside as soon as you get payed and not at the end of the month

6. I wish I could. I always seem to go overdrawn at the end of each month. I’m a big spender I guess! 😅

7. I eventually run out of money

8. >How do you budget your income?

   1. Total up all of my monthly expenses ( break up yearly expenses into a monthly portion ).
   2. Subtract that from my monthly net icome
   3. Decide how much from #2 I want to save, and subtract that out
   4. #3 is what I have left to do with what I want.

   I have two checking accounts:

   1. The first, which is set to have no ATM/debit card access, is for all of my bills. I have direct deposit set up to send #3 directly there.
   2. The second account, which does have ATM/debit card has the money for food, gas, and my disposable income in it.

   I have bank account #2 set up to send me a text when the balance falls below a certain amount. That keeps me from spending too much and incurring banking fees for a low balance.

9. Growing up in poverty gave me extreme money anxiety, that stops me from overspending. I don’t budget my income.

10. Learn budgeting skills. Start by plotting out last month’s income and spending, then loosely categorize each expense. Don’t get too granular with it or else it just becomes a ledger not a summary.

    Then copy last month to the next month. Plot your bills and when they are due and when your paychecks come in. Assuming you have a steady income it should be pretty easy to manage your cash flow in and out if you visualize it or put it on a calendar. Start putting money in savings. Even if you can just do a few percent that is a start. You can slowly increase savings, say 1% more every month until you get to 20.

    If your spending exceeds your income and you can’t save at all, then look at your categories and start figuring out where to trim. The easiest places are prepared meals and subscription services. Don’t discount saving $10/mo on cable, $20 on an unused gym membership, $15 on a cell phone plan, $20 on one of the 17 video streaming services you might have. It adds up. You can also make huge progress on outstanding debt with things like 0% balance transfer offers.

    I actually use the above methods and plot out a year’s budget in advance. I know when all of the one time expenses occur like car tabs, 6 mo insurance renewals, annual HOA renewal, and I know exactly how I’m going to pay for them when they come due. I have a separate account for spending money that’s written into the budget every month as well. Obviously there are unexpected expenses but with good cash flow management they are easily addressed.

11. I have 4 bank accounts. Obviously 1 is a transaction account and is where my pay goes into.

    When my pay arrives I transfer money into my other accounts. So now if I want to spend money I have to log in, transfer money out etc. Making the process manual and tedious just makes me not be bothered constantly going in to transfer money for spending. Shit works really well.

    People end up spending alot due to ease of spending (Just a swipe from your card for example or just shopping from home). Making it harder to spend will have you reconsider your efforts which is what you want if you want to save. Its also a good way to eventually changw your spending habits.

12. Ah yes I need this, oh yes I wanted this. Oh I’m at 200 bucks? Nah mate next month