Controlling the urge to spurge

If the urge to splurge constantly lands you in hot water with your credit cards (or worse still your partner) then you really need to start getting your spending under control. Too much credit debt can become a real problem so here's four tried and tested methods to help you get things under control :

1. The Cash method - restrict yourself to paying cash for everything. Don't even use lay-by. Just spend the time saving up for things you want like new clothes etc and pay cash for them when you have enough saved up. A good rule of thumb here is to work out how many hours you'll need to work to buy that new piece of clothing etc by dividing your hourly pay rate by the price of the item. By doing this you will see things in a whole new light.

2. The 10 percent method - reduce your overall spending by 10 percent by cutting all of your current expenditures by 10 percent. This method applies to all of your spending including the groceries so try and shop for things a little smarter. For example try and buy items on special when you are shopping for groceries or only shopping at the annual or warehouse sales for your clothes.

3. The Cold Turkey method - Not a very nice as it involves you cutting up your credit cards (and store cards), cancelling your shopping trips, setting up and sticking to a budget. Here the only spending you should be concentrating on here is to pay off your debts and putting food on the table. This may sound a bit extreme but it is designed for those who really need to buckle down and stop letting their money just slip through their fingers. A fair bit of discipline is needed here as you will need to focus very carefully on exactly where you spend every cent. This is where a detailed budget will come in handy. If you haven't put one together before you may consider doing the 28 Money Challenge or having a go at our Money Tracker to help you identify exactly where every cent goes.

4. The Avoidance method - if you are too tempted to spend when you go shopping then stay away. It's quite simple if you're not at the shops you can't spend. When you have to make a trip to the shops however, be sure to restrict your trip to buying the essentials only. For example if the trip is for the groceries then only buy the groceries you need by using a list.