throwing away money

[moneymom]

hello every one.
I have posted before asking for advice on how to get myself out of the mess
that i have created with my money. I am about 4,000.00 dollars in the hole
with credit card that i have not made a payment on in a long time. i get paid
bi--weekly from job #1 and i get paid from job #2 weekly the amount is never
the same from job # 2 because it is in retail.The problem is i get my checks
direct deposit i go to the ATM machine and i get the money out for my car
payment weekly and pay that faithfully and the rest of the money i just go
and blow it foolishly by the end of the week i am looking for chg. I just need
to know how to set up a budget for the week when payday comes so that i
can have some money in my pocket week by week. My husband takes care of
the major bills. I need advice on how to start saving and paying the old credit
card amounts that i owe. my goal is to be debit free by spring time with a nice
savings account for vacation. I have even tried the old envelope system but
could not understand how to set the envelopes up. I just waste money if i
have a money tree. help.............................................. ...please

[scfr]

Is your husband better with money than you are, and is he an understanding and supportive man? If so, then I would recommend you cut up the ATM cards so you can't access the money easily and have your husband give you a small weekly (or even daily) allowance, and use any excess after making the car payments to pay down on the credit cards.

Is this a severe solution? You bet it is. But once you develop some better habits, then you could gradually take full control of your money again.

Good luck to you and your husband!

[JanH]

That's a good suggestion. If he doesn't take it over, then could you have your vacation money automatically taken out of your account and deposited into another account? Our bank has several accounts you can set up with your main one--Christmas, vacation, special. Maybe have an automatic amount removed and put in special for your credit cards. You would have to not touch the money except for paying the credit card when it comes due.

[autoxer]

Originally Posted by moneymom

... and the rest of the money i just go and blow it foolishly by the end of the week i am looking for chg. I just need to know how to set up a budget for the week when payday comes so that i can have some money in my pocket week by week.

What are you spending money on? Do you have the will power to stop spending when that part of your budget is empty?

I have a very rudimentary budget. I set up two checking accounts to separate my 'blow foolishly' money from my 'paying bills' money. If I run out of 'blow foolishly' money in the middle of the week, I STOP spending until the next paycheck and never touch the 'paying bills' money. I don't carry an ATM card that can access my 'paying bills' money account, so I can't screw it up.

Budgets are good, but if they are too complicated, then they won't last. I think you just need to put your bill paying or savings money in an account that you don't have easy access to and STOP spending when you run out of 'blow' money.

[PrincessPerky]

try cutting up the CC and the ATM card...

and you never mentioned...have you told your husband? You should and ask his help,maybe by turning the finances over maybe by just doing it with you every week, helping you pay the car AND the CC....

[Budgeteer]

People have sort of already hit on this, but here's what I'd do:

1) Get a second bank account.

2) Make sure that you do NOT have CC/Debit/ATM access to one account, assuming you cannot resist temptation to take money out (sounds like you can't)

3) Have all your money deposited into the account you do NOT have cash access to.

4) Set up automated payments from your non-accessible account to everything that needs paying. Have some go to your CC, some to car payment (billpay this if possible).

5) Have some money automatically transfer to the account you CAN access. This is extremely important. You need to have some money that you can still blow on stupid stuff, if you can afford it. You just need to make sure that this is a reasonable amount that you decided in ADVANCE that you can afford to blow.

Since it's all automated and you can only retrieve cash from the account that is receiving a fixed amount, it should pretty much force you to not overspend.

[Langlo Family]

What I do is always estimate how much I will be paid ahead of time. I generally estimate a little low just in case something happens. This way I have a game plan. Then when the pay comes in, I pay my bills right away or at least put them into a checking account where I can't touch it. Then I have already estimated how much I will be saving from the paycheck, so I take that money and put it into the savings right away as well. The money that I have budgeted for spending, I get in cash so once it's gone, it's gone. No more spending for me.

[kristinecfp]

There have been some great replies so far. I especially liked Budgeteer's suggestions.

In addition, I would suggest that you sit down and write down where you have been spending your money. Carry a notebook around with you if necessary. Include your husband in this exercise.

Then, compare where you have been spending your money to your goals. You mentioned that you want to be debt free and that you want to save for vacation. What's more important, being debt free and going on vacation, or the things you've been "blowing" your money on?

I've found that budgets don't work for a lot of people, but it DOES help to review your spending periodically, and to determine if your spending habits are in line with your goals. If not, then make some of the changes that Budgeteer suggested until you have spending habits that are in line with your goals.

Good luck!