The thought popped into my head when I was walking to college today that I haven’t bought anything online since mid-March. So? Well the fact is I do tend to buy quite a few clothes online, not huge expensive things but small items and they add up.
So I began a detox. The first step was to note down everytime I bought something, its price and the date. This meant I could keep an eye on how much I am spending rather than thinking oh it is just £15. At the same time, I began to reduce the amount of time spent on shopping websites. Oh I know they can be tempting, with their bright big student discounts end of month sales. The way to avoid falling into their evil trap is to simply ignore the barrage of emails that attack your inbox daily. USC, River Island, Topman, LaRedoute; they will always find any excuse to hold a ‘sale.’ This Easter, I shook my head in disgust when I received emails from three different shops with the corny line: Eggtastic offers! Clearly as well as learning the defenition of a sale, they also need to brush up on their marketing.
At the end of the day, no one can teach you how to save your money unless you have some level of self-control. This can mean just taking the bus instead of the train as it will save you £1.40 or waiting half an hour till you get home to eat rather than buying a sandwich. What could help is using the depressing fact that your boss hasn’t given you a pay rise as a tool to say no to your whims and desires. This means attaching the value of time as well as money to an item. So if you want to buy something that is around £6 (Or around $10) then think, is this worth an hour of my hard work?
Keeping to a budget can be fustrating at times so when you do decide to treat yourself, make sure it is an excellent and long-lasting treat. What would make me most happy is if I did not have to save up for university. Of course I would still spend responsibly but the weight of this concern would not be a drag on my spirits and at the forefront of my mind.
Until next time,
A Worried Student
A WORRIED STUDENT 
Reblogged this on bexxababy and commented:
maybe i should do this….
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Haha yes join the detox!
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hahah i am seriously thinking about it…. i need to get a lot better at saving, and i also need to downsize on the amount of stuff that i have lol
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Lol if you have alot of stuff then try selling them or giving them away. Saving works if you have a goal in mind, like something to save for rather than thinking I just need to save generally as that would not usually stop you from spending on those small things that add up. Avoiding shopping websites is definitely a great way though to avoid temptations.
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yeah.. my mom suggested donating a lot of it. the question is what can i part with? i seem to use everything….. lol i like rotating my wardrobe and accessories. and i think thats a good idea, maybe picking an object to save for will help. i think thats a good idea. and i need to go through my email and unsubscribe to some websites so i stop getting their sale ads…..
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Aah yes that difficult dilemma, whenever you think hmm should I give this, another voice in your head says noo!
Yes unsubscribing would definitely help!
If you have money as in its physical form then having an actual money box where you keep it sealed and open after say a year, also helps. It may sound a bit childish but it works! And the great thing is you will open it one day and go wooow I have saved all this!
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hahah i don’t carry cash normally….. im tempted to take my debit card out of my wallet unless i know im gonna need it, and then if im out and decided i want something, i won’t be able to pay for it. that should teach me to stop impulse buying things…
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Yes the debit card is a danger to saving plans because its always ready to be used. That sounds like a good plan!
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Enjoying reading your blog. Budgeting is a necessary evil. Lol
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Yayy glad that you are 😀 haha yes it is
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Thank you for visiting my blog!
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You’re welcome! 🙂
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