I am a compulsive spender, do you have any advice for me on how to save money?

I feel that my long hours spent at work are punishment. As a reward, I tend to spend a lot of money on unnecessary items. How can I get out of this mentality and start saving some money?I am a compulsive spender, do you have any advice for me on how to save money?
Compulsive spending can start from many different places. It might help you to first consider how and why you spend. Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers: When do I find it most important to shop and spend? What do I usually buy? How many of the things I buy are actually useful to me? Are there ways that I can do a little spending without spending too much money?





When you've identified some of your habits, you can see where they come from. Sometimes we spend when we are bored, or lonely, or feel that we're not allowed to have the lifestyle we believe we're supposed to have. Sometimes we spend when we're alone, so that there's no one there to suggest that we 'don't need' what we're shopping for. When you look at some of those reasons, you may find ways to help you curb your habits.





One sure way to help with spending is to become aware of what exactly you're buying. Start by looking at the things you bring home, look at the receipt from your purchases, and match them up. You'd be surprised to see that what's in the bag actually DID cost money; probably more money than you ever intended on spending.





Another way to help your buying is to buy differently. You can easily become something of a bargain hunter, and end up saving yourself tons of money by buying smartly. This can actually become a very fun game when you get into it. Being able to save money is one way to take advantage of the fun you get from shopping.





Now, as to saving money, it's simply a habit that you need to form. Keep your money in a savings account and remember that that money is off limits for spending. Doing this through your bank is one way, but also consider opening an online bank account, or opening a stock account online. The usual minimum for this about $500, but you'd be amazed at how cool it is to actually buy some stock and see how it's doing in the market. It's not quite as fun as spending, but when you see your money grow, it's very gratifying.


I am a compulsive spender, do you have any advice for me on how to save money?
Give yourself an allowance in cash each week for rewards/motivating yourself to keep working. Once you've spent your cash, don't buy anything else fun or unneccessary. If you really want to save money, you should track all of your expenses for a month and create a budget. Also, set goals for buying more expensive items that you'd like (but might not need) and keep the money in a different account, drawer, or envelope.
If you really want to ';reward'; yourself for your hard work, you will ';pay yourself first'; -- put a set amount each payday straight into your ';opportunity fund'; or ';future fund'; or ';wealth creation fund.'; Since when is a TV or worthless knick-knack or yet another t-shirt a ';reward'; for a week's work? Stop selling yourself short. Are you really worth a real investment in your future, or are you a piece of trash like the last bit of schlock you splurged on? When you want to splurge, ask yourself that question. What you are really worth -- and what you want to be worth?
If you have direct deposit at work, have a portion of your check sent immediately into a savings account - preferably one that you can only take money out of electronically, like emigrantdirect.com or ingdirect.com. You can still withdraw money, but it takes a couple of days - so you can't impulse shop as much.
use coupons and off-brand products. Normally is just a different packaging anyway.