Purse Strings - they need tightening

I’ve always been intrigued by how others organise their money.  I think it’s because I’m not that great at organising my own.  I can think of nothing more interesting than having a nose through someone else’s bank statements, wondering how they decided upon each transaction and understanding their approach to getting through the month. 

I remember in magazines when I was younger I would get so excited if there was one of those spending diary articles; you know the sort where different women had to keep track of their expenditure each week day by day.  There would always be one diarist either end of the spectrum (spendthrift and tightwad), and I never knew where I would be if I had to feature in something like that.  You see I would love to be the sort of woman who knows when her car insurance is up for renewal and puts enough cash aside throughout the year, who pays her mortgage off early and saves a ton of interest, who has a monthly clothing budget and sticks to it.  I have the best of intentions and I cannot tell you the amount of excel spreadsheets I’ve started by typing in ‘Income’ in cell A1.  

But then the Boden sale catalogue will arrive or I’ll get a desperate need to buy some allium bulbs and all that sensible planning evaporates.

Momentarily.   

Momentarily enough for me to purchase the must have item. 

And later in the week when examining my dwindling bank balance I’ll think - Why.  Did. I. Do. That?

I then imagine I’m one of the women in those magazine articles I remember, and realise in a moment of terror that I would be typecast the spendthrift!  The woman with all of her purchases laid out for readers to study the details of incredulously.  And that’s not who I want to be.  

So if you’ve been here and come through to the other side let me know how you did it.  What changed your relationship with money?  How did you become the spender you wanted to be?

Disclaimer - this post contains a sponsored link.

Sofa

Shallow I know...but there is much joy in a new sofa. 

After much deliberation following the collapse of our sofa on Christmas Eve, we decided to go ahead and buy a new one.  And it arrived yesterday...along with a whole set of rules about not jumping on it, eating on it, drinking on it.  Sitting is permitted!

Do you think my little cushions and throw look at home there?  It seems to me they were almost bought for it, even though I've had them years.  Okay well I confess, the linen and felt daisy one may have caught me eye yesterday whilst out shopping in John Lewis.  But I stopped at just the one.

There has been more than enough spending now. Back to reality and making do.

What I did with all those paper snowflakes.....

 We have had *a lot* of snowflake creating around here, since we found the tutorial mentioned in this post. The scissor action is mainly instigated by Yoyo, but the boys have also had a go (I admit somewhat reluctantly where my eldest is concerned).  This has resulted in their little masterpieces waiting for a purpose.....hence my snowflake wrapping paper!

I am determined not to buy a single roll of paper this year, it is just so expensive for anything remotely nice isn't it? So I'm using brown parcel paper with the kids snowflakes glued on.   A little bit of homemade Christmas goodness. The only thing I've had to buy is the red raffia which was £2 for 3 x 10 metre lengths.  The luggage labels I already had, so feeling rather smug about my frugal wrapping method.

It's not the most stylish presentation, but I'm hoping anyone who receives their parcel will know that snowflake on it was crafted with a whole lot of love.

Personal Finance books I have known and loved

I found myself in Waterstones today, and realised my first port of call in a book shop is always the personal finance section.

I'm not sure when my 'thing' for personal finance books began.  It was probably around the time I discovered Alvin Hall about 10 years ago. Anyway I thought I'd list some random musings about them here - I won't go as far as declaring this a book review.  If there are any others you think I'd enjoy please do leave a note in the comments below.

The Tightwad Gazette

I love this book.  It is so well thumbed it won't even close anymore - that's why it is bottom of the pile in the photo. Okay this is written some time ago, and is very US centric so is less relevant than other books - but it is the 'can do' attitude of this author that is so inspiring.  If you haven't read this and are interested in living on less it really is worth the money - it is often referred to as the frugal living 'bible'. 

Sheconomics

An interesting take on personal finance.  Explores womens relationship with money and moving away from the 'my knight in shining armour will come rescue me (and contribute to a stakeholder pension fund on my behalf)' approach.  Gosh that was a long sentence.  But I hope you get the point.  I liked this book a lot. 

The Thrift Book

Harry bought me this last Christmas. Beautifully presented.  Perhaps aimed at the Boden crowd who usually shop at Waitrose and need to cut back on the champers.  So worth the read but you are not going to find any earth shattering revelations in here about your relationship with money.  

The Spendless Revolution

Now this is good - particularly the first section that discusses prevalent attitudes to money in society why we are all motivated to be spendthrifts.  The second section is devoted to practical ideas - and some of them were rather far fetched, and dare I say it somewhat preachy.  But the first section makes up for this, so again worth the read.

The Money Secret

The secret, in case you're wondering is this, 'don't spend more than you earn'.  Simple enough, but a nice story leads you to this revelation.  This book had me cutting up my credit cards before I had finished it.  This was some years ago (and sadly the cards are partly back in use.....perhaps I should read this again!)

Thrifty Ways for Modern Days 

This book is a compilation of tips from the 'Old Style Forum' on Martin Lewis' site, Moneysaving Expert.  Whilst I have a lot of time for him, I felt a bit dissappointed with this book.  It was as if he had paid some work experience student to trawl through the forum and turn individuals comments into a book, but they didn't edit the rubbish out.  Is that too harsh?

So tell me...can you recommend any other books I can add to this list?