…you know, it’s the little splurges here and there that get me in trouble.
I spend $4 on coffee for BF and I, and then to me, it’s $4, so I’m able to spend another $4 somewhere else, and that adds up to another $10, and before you know it, it’s a $100+ day when I didn’t even plan for it to be.
That was a real problem for me when I was less concerned about money and tracking it (uhh 2 years ago, I’d say?) and that’s something that I’ve realized is an issue.
If I DON’T spend any money at all, I tend to not spend for the entire day.
With me, it seems to be all or nothing.
And if I start the trend with buying an expensive pair of shoes (because I actually wanted a good pair), then it spirals into getting a cute scarf because I don’t already have 25 at home in different colours, then headphones to replace my old ones, then I need a cute notebook, then….. you know the drill.
But that was then.
This is now.
Now that I KNOW what my trigger is (small splurges = priming me and fattening me up for larger splurges), I know how to avoid it or at least stop triggering it.
And it’s the reason why tracking your expenses so you can see how much all of those “little things” really add up, can cost you in a big picture kind of way. Hell, I could’ve probably saved a couple thousand not spending it on little things!
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
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I agree with you and QL girl! And once I’ve busted the budget, it’s like “oh, whatever, may as go all out. I’ll get this…and this…and this…”. It’s definitely not good! Thankfully I’ve never really been a shopaholic and I usually turn to food when i’m stressed.
.-= eemusigns´s last blog ..Spending report =-.
same with food.
if you journal, you’re more aware.
if i start the day eating junk, i junk out ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!
p.s. thx for alerting all of us to your “trigger” concept .
I'm OK until I buy a "treat"… if I can afford one treat, my brain loses its grip & starts pushing to splurge left & right. Not outrageous splurges by most people's standards, but my budget's tight at the moment!
On the up side, I get my act back together faster each time.
Revanche: that is so cute! Give a mouse a cookie…
koko: I am too I think. When I feel bored or stressed I head to the mall. But now it’s harder to GET to a mall so I don’t bother.
Sharon-Rose: AGreed
Make do: And it can get boring too sticking to your budget… No highs..
hklover: I like the fancy coffees too, so I always get screwed!!!
i totally know how you feel!!
we have a starbucks in the same plaza as my work, and now i go there all the time because its RIGHT there. like if i dont have time to eat in the morning im like oh well ill get something at starbucks, to get like a coffee and some sort of muffin/bread type snack is like $6-8 dollars. (ok so i dont drink real cofee only those fancy caramel machiatto type things).
it can really add up! plus i hardly ever bring a lunch to work because we also have a few fast food options next door 🙁
Gosh there are so many triggers but most of them are due to emotions. Once you take emotion out of it, it is easy to stick to budgets and not spend money. I’m sure spending money is due to boredom or lack of fulfilment in some cases.
Hi there-I think stress is a trigger for me!! I’m like, let me go thrifting for a couple of hours-it’s my wind down and obviously fatal if I see something I want too!!
my trigger is emotions. i am a totaly emotional shopper = if i had a bad day at work, or fight with friends – i just go out and buy the whole city!
Ooh! Trigger, yes!
I’ve known for some time that I simply have to deny myself. No little treats to get me from one tough time to the next, otherwise two hundred dollars later, I’m looking around like, WTH happened here?? Or I’ll get one little (big, whatever) thing, and suddenly the list of “I wants” are ten thousand leagues long.
Every time BF offers me something or says I deserve it, I warn him “remember, if you give this mouse a cookie ….”
Eneriyama: AH! I went through that last week! “I can wear that to work, SOLD!”
Ashe: I like eating out too except it takes up so much time and without a car, it sucks. When I get my car….. 😛 And i have no permanent friends here either so that helps
QL: OMG! Hungry/Cranky. I forgot about that trigger. I’d pay $20 for food at that point
I’m not sure if this is the kind of trigger you’re talking about, but going over my budget (ironically) triggers me to overspend when it comes to shopping.
I guess being hungry and cranky is a trigger too…I’ll pay up, as long as I don’t have to entertain the thought of preparing a meal, no matter what the state of my budget is.
(I’m so embarrassed to admit this! What kind of a PF blogger am I?! lol)
Eating out, definitely! I go grocery shopping, to discourage it. Then someone wants to go out, so I do. Then suddenly I’m on a slipperly slope of wanting (or doing) to eat out twice a day. And damn does it rack up!
Wow, I’m the same way, and I didn’t stop to think about it until now. I’ll have to watch that. Also, for a while I needed work clothes and let myself get anything if I could “wear it for work.”