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James
Snoop with pots of money

Tackling my (over) spending habits

Another difficult month for our finances. The availability of interest-free credit cards will be kicking that can down the road though.

**Quick rant warning**  You'd need to earn sixty-thousand pounds a year to put three children in full-time day care where I live in southeast England. 

That is before food, accommodation, travel or any fun. Sixty thousand pounds.

We have the second most expensive childcare system in the world, three times more expensive than most developed countries. It is a joke, sexist and makes me so angry.  **Rant over.**

This stress, along with Snoop, is improving my financial literacy no end.

The latest update beautifully presents, in increasingly pernickety detail, an ever-informative analysis of my day-to-day spending. 

The new graphical comparison to the previous month is a brilliant motivator to spend less.

I put some time in to correctly categorise the last three months transactions. This produced an exhaustive breakdown by merchant and category.

Initial highs at the newfound depths of my understanding were sadly blunted by the reality that I am mostly powerless to help myself. 

Food, transport, mortgage repayments, household bills and childcare are, after all, essential. 

But there is still some non-essential spending and I have the impetus to reduce that this month as we've booked a driving holiday to see family in France later this year. 

The recent Snoop 'How to tackle overspending habits' has given me some tools to work with.

Understanding why I spend has allowed me to avoid some frivolities. Stress, mood and location all lead to certain types of spending.

Ironically if I'm anxious about money I often buy something to feel better. 

This month I am trying to both spend less whilst not worrying about the end result. A tricky mix to get right but here are two examples:

  • Instead of buying a book I want to read, but won't have the time to, I add it to a wish list (save £5-15 a time). 
  • Instead of buying an expensive lunch and coffee, because I am hungry and decaffeinated, I get a meal deal from the local supermarket and make a cup of tea at work or home (save £3-4 a time). 

Ultimately I am incredibly lucky and don't need more than what I already have in many ways.