Keeping up appearances.......

Seasidegal58

Hi there Happynow - great news on little Miss H - here's to a corner being turned successfully! :j.


I downloaded YNAB trial as well and am going to have a tinker with it and look at their credit card debt tutorial.


To get a 20% discount on price type following into google:


you need a budget camel 20% discount


Every little helps!:)

HappyNow

Dolphin1 wrote: »

Lovely news about Little Miss Happy, may the good days continue! :j

I have heard mention of YNAB several times on different MSE diaries and everyone seems to rave about it. I think that I might take a look and see if it has anything to offer me.

Dolphin1

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

Lovely to see you posting again Mrs Happy and I am so pleased to hear that Little Miss Happy is having some good days. Heres to many many many more of those xx

Think I will take a look at the YNAB that you have mentioned, my expenditure has been all over the place of late and that's not going to help with clearing the PG Debt Moutnain ! xx

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

Hi there Happynow - great news on little Miss H - here's to a corner being turned successfully! :j.


I downloaded YNAB trial as well and am going to have a tinker with it and look at their credit card debt tutorial.


To get a 20% discount on price type following into google:


you need a budget camel 20% discount


Every little helps!:)

Thanks for popping in. I wish I could pass everyone's good wishes on to Little Miss Happy, but of course she doesn't know that my diary (and therefore you lot!) exists! Maybe one day.....

I am LOVING the YNAB! It's very American, but it translates perfectly to our systems too. It took a while to personalize to my own budget and spending priorities, but it was very, very interesting and actually fun! Some bits aren't really suited to someone in serious debt -mainly the goal of working towards spending last month's income this month. If I have any surplus cash it's going to those pesky credit cards! Someone on another board described it as 'a spreadsheet on steroids' 'with all the bells and whistles' and that's a perfect description. I've also synced it to my phone so I can record any spending in real-time and it updates immediately. And - get this! - it balances your budget to your bank statement too!! Normally I find that really complicated monthly job involving pens, paper, calculator, much swearing and eventually half a bottle of wine. Now I just have to press a button!!!

Thanks so much for the discount code Seasidegal because I have decided it's a priority purchase once the trial runs out. I've booked in for the free webinars first though, to see if I can win a free copy - they give one away after each session. Ever the optimist ! Anyone else tried it yet?

HappyNow

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Your gardening budget seems very reasonable to me. Those tubs, containers and pots are going to give you a real boost every time you see them during the summer. My was forward is to grow all of the herbs we use, but I have made a mistake this year - anyone know what to do with salad burnett? It tastes like grass to me. Having said that, I worked out that I spent a couple of quid every month on herbs which a few seed packets have knocked on the head completely. Little and often on saving money works for me every time.

Thank you so much for the M&S tip. *dashes over to green redeem*

Yes, the flowers will be beautiful all summer long and we will spend lots of time enjoying them (weather permitting) so hopefully they're a pleasure-investment. And empty containers do tend to make the place look neglected which I don't like.

I had never heard of salad burnett so I just did a quick google. It's supposed to taste like cucumber rather than grass! Hopefully you will grow to love it (particularly as it's a perennial ) but if not, at least you will enjoy it's medicinal benefit of (apparently) protecting you from The Plague :rotfl:. I have planted some more of the Speedy Salad which Pooh recommended last summer, plus loads of garlic and some rocket. The salads are already showing, but no sign of the garlic so far and it's been three weeks. Perhaps I should stop poking at it!

Hope you managed to get some M & S vouchers from Green Redeem, Honey Bear. The meal deal has ended now which is a shame, but I daresay they will run it again before the end of July when the vouchers expire. If not, hopefully there will be other good offers which will be even better with 20% discount!

kirstypark

hi, just delurking to say thanks for the tip about the greenredeem vouchers - i got mine today :j. Great to hear your daughter is recovering - these kids are as big a worry when they grow up as they were when they were babies, aren't they? my granny used to tell me "little children, little problems, big children, big problems". I reckon she was right, grannies always are. x

Seasidegal58

I'm really into YNAB as well now Happy. The trial is going well and I agree with everything you say about it and will be signing up for the credit card webinair to see if I can win a copy. I love the "doughnut" graphs on the "Reports" section. Shows all your credit card debts in percentage blocks. Rather daunting to look at but useful!

Fortune_Smiles

Wonderful to hear Miss Happy is on the mend.


Fortune x

HappyNow

kirstypark wrote: »

hi, just delurking to say thanks for the tip about the greenredeem vouchers - i got mine today :j. Great to hear your daughter is recovering - these kids are as big a worry when they grow up as they were when they were babies, aren't they? my granny used to tell me "little children, little problems, big children, big problems". I reckon she was right, grannies always are. x

Thanks for delurking Kirsty and good news on your greenredeem voucher. I got another one through on Friday so that's four now. I just hope they do the £10 meal deal again soon, they are brilliant value . And I agree wholeheartedly with your granny! I thought I'd be finished with the whole parenting thing by this age but the end doesn't seem to be anywhere in sight yet . Not that I'm complaining (much)!

Seasidegal58 wrote: »

I'm really into YNAB as well now Happy. The trial is going well and I agree with everything you say about it and will be signing up for the credit card webinair to see if I can win a copy. I love the "doughnut" graphs on the "Reports" section. Shows all your credit card debts in percentage blocks. Rather daunting to look at but useful!

Ooh, I haven't really studied the 'Reports' section yet. I'm still trying to fit all my really big 'outflow' numbers onto the actual budget sheet :rotfl:. I've ended up with 49 categories!!! Might need to do a bit of trimming

Fortune_Smiles wrote: »

Wonderful to hear Miss Happy is on the mend.

Thanks Fortune. We picked her up from her uni town today and she is definitely much better, but there's still a long way to go. She has her next consultant appointment in 10 days so we're hoping we might get some more answers then

Seasidegal58

Hope you are enjoying your time with Miss H!


I got my greenredeem M&S voucher on Friday so thanks for that Happy. It's a really good site!


Re YNAB - my geekiness goes on and on! Have now divided my monthly categories into weeks (1, 2 3, and 4!) - does work well though!:D

HappyNow

Thanks Seasidegal. It's lovely to have all four of us at home, although the grocery budget is taking quite a battering! Yes, I like greenredeem, and they email whenever they add more questionnaires so we can hopefully keep those M & S vouchers topped up.

OK, time for a quick update:

• Five items listed on Ebay yesterday, all 99p starters. One offer already
• Got my free Cafe Nero hot chocolate on Friday via O2 Priority Moments. Not a saving as such because I wouldn't have got it if I'd had to pay, but still a nice free treat.
• £20 Quidco money seems to have hit my bank account this morning - I have no recollection of what it's for but it doesn't really matter!
• Nothing wasted over the weekend. Only spends were essentials (petrol, milk and cheese).
• Sent off Mr Happy's dental receipt to claim a refund, as he is included on my work healthcare scheme. I have an additional £23 deducted from my salary each month to include him and upgrade my own cover, but we always claim back more than we contribute so very worthwhile.
• Just about to update my YNAB, which I am determined to keep on top of daily.
• I'm off work today so I'm taking my mum shopping (they no longer drive) but she has invited us to stay for lunch which will be not only free but gorgeous, as she's a much better cook than me!

brizzledfw

Great to see you posting again Happy. So focussed and positive! Great to read