How Do You Stop Going Crazy With Money?

[Cool Cat]

i haven't had disposable income since I was 11. Our economy when I was growing up went through an economic boom and suddenly, huge recession where absolutely everyone was completely broke. After we got used to it, I actually grew to love living a modest lifestyle.

Suddenly, I have gotten a new job. It is just for the summer but my income has doubled. My plan was that I would continue living my modest lifestyle and save the extra money but I am finding it really really difficult. I actually feel like I'm going a bit crazy with money and constantly checking my bank balance, I have never had money to spend before. I do need to save though, I will need it for college in September.

A friend suggested to me, even though I used to buy everything on my debit card, to try not use debit card. To take my budget out of the bank at the start of the week and not think about it at all, and then I'm living in my old budget. It's funny how I always wanted to have lots of money to spend and now that I do, I don't like it at all.

 

[ihateusernames]

A cash only system works pretty well for me- when I actually do it. I divide it among envelopes for various things. But it's time consuming and it falls along the wayside every time I try it. We are so bad with money it makes me physically ill. I'm constantly worrying about it, constantly spending too much of it, constantly arguing about it. I have an interview coming up, for a job that pays significantly more than we have ever made and I worry about that, too: I worry that if we do manage to get more money it will just disappear faster!

So frustrating. I don't have any good advice except self discipline, which is far easier said than done. But I definitely relate.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

When I start to overspend, I stop myself and promise myself to be more frugal. i have never been able to do that before but I have had some painful and costly lessons in my life. I am disciplined enough to put on the brakes of my spending once I realize that i am spending too much.

 

[Friday]

I could have sworn I answered fhis! :p PTSD brain.

For me,,, I give myself some wild money, and everything else I budget out & pay in cash.

How much that wild money is depends on a lot of factors, but the one Consistant thing is? I budget that out, too ;). Meaning whether it's $100 a month or $1000 a month or $10k a month... It's a realistic burn a hole in my pocket amount compared to the total of the whole.

LOL... Which means I not only get my silly stuff, but I can budget for it. Meaning if I want a $200 pair of boots? But I have $100 a month going begging? It simply takes me 2-3 months to save my wild money for them. 3 months, Becuase *all* my extra purchases come out of my money to burn stash. Whether it's a $10 book, $1 song, or $200 boots. For myself, I usually find it's better to have little luxuries and wait an extra month, than to gut up for 2 months. Shrug. But that's me. In either case? I don't dip into outside money.

 

[Friday]

Also... I personally have several different bank accounts.

- Pay into... Only gets paychecks and other sources of income. I don't spend out of it... Ever. I transfer funds into other accounts.
- Bills. Straight off the top, all my bill money goes here.
- Spending. Groceries, meds, whatever. I then budget these things out in cash.
- School/Tuition (or other big expenses).
- OSF (Oh Shit! Fund) To cover things I forget or do not know to budget for (birthday presents, travel to a funeral, lab fee at school, etc.), and the things that *invariably* crop up each month. (Car repairs, a larger bill than I thought, medical expense, etc.).
- Personal. ($100-10k) Coffees, books, dinner out, clothes, haircuts, shrug. Absolutely anything personal.

 

[The Albatross]

Make a long term goal and save for it.

 

[Changing4Best]

I had this problem when I got my inheritance. I blew it in short order.

Then I got a checkbook which makes a carbon copy of everything I write a check for, so I don't goof by forgetting to write some purchase in my check register. This works pretty well for me. Also, I see nothing wrong with checking one's bank balance regularly. It is a kind of precautionary measure to keep such tabs on your account. It helps me not to worry or feel guilty about things that I have purchased.

I am facing, most likely, a cut in my income in the not too distant future. I have started to plan for this event reluctantly. I don't have it 100% figured out yet, but I know I will need to cut something from each major area of my budget, even food. I know it will not be easy. It is one of those grit your teeth things and tolerate it as best you can.

 

[rainy_daze]

save the extra money

You could transfer some of it to a savings account that doesn't give you access to it without 30 days notice or something like that *vaguely remembers banks do high interest savings accounts*.

To take my budget out of the bank at the start of the week

That is good advice.

 

[Deleted member 34424]

Remember that you're lucky to have money, budget!, and remind yourself that when it's all gone, you're in trouble.

 

[Deleted member 29920]

I use cash instead of a card, that way I can see how much I'm losing!

 

[Anarchy]

Congratulations on the job and the income!

Don't forget to get yourself something nice for you, something that you'll enjoy for a long time.

As regards saving for more than a few weeks or months, you'd be doing it against a constant stream of new money being printed and that dilutes the purchasing power of your savings.

one possibility to beat that if you want to save for the long term, is to have a word with a bunch of the shops that buy old gold and silver stuff, and find out what rate they pay compared to which gold price
so for example 5% under that days London Metal exchange fix
and what price they'd sell you say half sovereigns, sovereigns or pre 1920 british silver coins at (pre 1920 british silver coins were sterling silver 92.5% silver with the remainder being copper, 1920 to 1946 they were 50% silver 50% copper, then they were just worthless cupro nickel) compared to that day's precious metal prices

make sure you do your homework first and have somewhere safe to store the coins. and make sure it is physical coins that you get, not some bank scheme that says it will hold gold or invest in gold for you (they don't)

you take a loss at the start, but you are then immune to future "quantitative easing" and "keeping interest rates low" which are both cant ways of saying "printing more money for the government to spend"

check out the gold price graphs in British pounds for the last two weeks, it's pretty dramatic

 

[Changing4Best]

A friend of mine died on Wednesday and Friday I went on a spending spree. I am now regretting what I did on Friday and have asked for help to cover the $100.00 installation fee that my new internet hookup cost me last Thursday. All this happened so quickly that my head is spinning!

I have asked my Pastor this morning if the church could help me to cover the internet installation (which they gave me no warning about until after it was installed!). She thinks the church can cover the electric bill for this month ($53) so I am hoping that will help some. I asked my sister if she can help, and she said she has to ask her husband, and that he does not like to give me money (I am not close with him, and did not know this). None the less, she said that she would ask. She seemed more inclined to send a Walmart Gift Card, but it costs me $10 by bus to get there, so I am not crazy about that idea, and I told her so.

I went to the Free Food Bank yesterday and they gave me some really great things like a pork loin roast, some blueberry muffins, Raisin Bran Cereal and so on....

Between all the above, I should be OK, as long as the church and my sister come through for me. I do have some food stamps too.

Please keep me in your prayers this month, that I can keep it under wraps from now on. I have a tendency to shop online or by catalog sometimes when I get overemotional and I need to stay away from that sort of thing now especially, since I am seeing a Dr. for my Sciatica once per week and have co-pays and bus fare to pay to get there. It is going to be a LONG month, I fear....