The impossible dream

armchairexpert

Tallulah, your YNAB misadventures made me laugh. I've done that whole frustrating thing about having to buy things I don't want to get change for something else palaver as well. But look at you doing it all from category balances!

Determined Saver, I can't work out how you'd budget weekly - surely most bills are monthly, or even quarterly? Would you just multiply everything by 12 and then divide by 52? So you're dripping little bits of money into all the bills and things every single week?

Unicorn cottage, I'm another YNAB fan (as Tallulah well knows, which is why I'm hoping she'll forgive me for popping into her diary and answering questions!) and I think it's definitely worth a go. If you can set aside a bit of time to watch the how-to tutorials, at least the getting started one, that helps a lot.

Tahlullah

New month, new budget. So, following in ACE's footsteps, here is my monthly roundup.

Have transferred my savings out of my personal account into their new home. Savings are for things like House repairs, car repairs, Rufus's teeth and Christmas. I have £220 in the account. Not a lot but I am very happy with this.

Transferred the bits of change and have £52 in the buffer account. I know, how can I have bits of money within YNAB? Easy, by over-budgeting for a bill by a few pence. This will grow when I can settle and ensure I have everything sorted going forward.

Have £200 in the account to pay the visa. This is coming down nicely. Not getting into this situation again where I can't pay it off as part of my monthly payment. Not looking long term as to how long to clear it, but it will be within the next 6 months.

Made my £50 mortgage over-payment on Mortgage 2, so happy with that. When the visa bill is gone, I can increase this to £100 per month to make a bigger impact.

Mortgage 1 is now at £20k and will shortly be at £19k when the payment comes out of the account this month, so happy with the progress being made on becoming mortgage free. Still looking to reach that goal of freedom by 55.

Managed several NSD's and cycled to work a couple of times as well as wombling 21p! Will continue to aim for 4 NSD's per week. Works well as it means I have money in my pocket for longer so less requirement to spend from the account.

All in all, I say a big green shiny month.

Right. Rufus at the hotel (cattery). I'm off on my mini jollies. Money allocated in the budget for spending. Hopefully will under-spend and will come back with some as a starter for the next big holiday.

Tx

TallGirl

Have a lovely holiday hope Rufus enjoys his stay YNAB sounds intriguing.

armchairexpert

What an excellent roundup, and I don't only say that because you called me Ace. I also over budget bills by a wee bit and end up with little bits of money here and there. I could shift them to the mortgage category for an official Tilly Tidy, but it's all sitting in one account in real life so no point. Love a good money shuffle.

Hope you and Rufus both enjoy your respective holidays! I'm jealous of the sunshine, go soak it up for me.

DeterminedSingleMummy

Hey ACE. Yea I times my bills by 12 and divide by 52 to get a weekly figure for bills and spending. I get paid four weekly so i just divide that by 4 to get a weekly figure.

All my income ( from four difference sources all in different weeks) gets paid Into one account and every week I transfer my weekly budget for bills and spending Into my bills account where all my bills/spending come out of.

When i transfer the money I put the date as pence so i don't lose track of which week I've paid Into my bills. E.g. let's just say my weekly budget was £500. For next week it would show as £500.05 transfered as 5th is monday. Then the next week would be £500.12 (12 june) £500.19 (19th june) etc...

Currently I've paid up to 12th June and I know I won't be getting any more money come in until 13th. So I know I'm not behind on any payments. All my bills come out of the account at the 1st month.

Hope that all made sense

Welshlassie

Sounds like you're making great progress with YNAB - well done. I over budget slightly - usually to round figures and then use that money to WAM during the month if over spend. I also include a breakdown of what is expected each month in the notes section of each category so I can adjust my goals when bills change.

I merged a lot of my monthly bills categories a year or so ago and it's so much easier to manage, eg utilities include, gas, electric and water - over budget to round number for each bill and then set up a goal for the total amount. This also means if I have been underpaying on any of my utilities I have a pot of money to pay from - although doesn't happen very often as I send month meter readings so my bills are accurate - (had £90 back from last electric company when I tarted somewhere else).

Hope you had a great holiday. I've just got back to a huge inbox to plough through.

Welshlassie

TallGirl wrote: »

Have a lovely holiday hope Rufus enjoys his stay YNAB sounds intriguing.

TallGirl (or anyone else) I can send you a referral link for YNAB (where we both get a month free if you sign up) on top of your 34 day free trial. Drop me a PM with your email address if interested.

Unicorn_cottage

Really struggling with YNAB - it's mind boggling!

Welshlassie

Watch some YouTube videos or attend some of the online classes. Its worth persevering with it. Or ask specific questions - there are a couple of great FB groups.

Tahlullah

Hello all. Back from my jollies. Nice to see so many lovely people on here. Thank you for visiting and for commenting. It is appreciated.

So, I didn't overspend and brought back some of my allocated spending money so very happy with that. The remains are in the bank and will be added to for my next holiday in September and then my winter jollies in March. The spending money will be sorted out but actual purchase of the holiday is an ongoing commitment, but I have no intentions of borrowing money to do this. I really need to look at YNAB and reallocate a lot of my spend to save for this next holiday coming up as it will be expensive. Far more than the Winter holiday.

However, the weather was great and the Factor 50 was out! And back to rain...

Oh well. Checked the bank and all was well. Everything corresponding with YNAB. As assumed, all allocated monies are in the right place awaiting their time to be utilised. Currently, it is telling me that my money is 19 days old. Really not sure about this, but I guess it looks good.

The mortgage has been paid and so I am at £19k and the interest payments per month are at £75. I am very happy with this as it works out about £2 per day. I will feel I have made it when I am paying £1 per day interest.

Still haven't come in on ERNIE, but the savings are going up slowly. I am not one of those lucky people, so the Premium Bonds are just another savings vehicle and if one day I get lucky, then fantastic. Until then, I can squirrel a bit away per month in the hope I may become rich beyond my wildest dreams.

Now, back to reality. Again, aiming at 4 NSD per week. It won't be tomorrow as I need a fish filter for the Biorb and some fresh fruit and vegetables would be nice. Used everything before I went on leave, so need to re-stock.

Have an Audit at work tomorrow. Tall Girl has been through this with me before, so lets see how it goes. Worst case scenario is corrective action. I can't see the point of getting stressed about it all. Never giving that much of myself to work again.