Looking forward - Debt Free in 4 years

mizmir

Don't you go anywhere Ali - I love your posts!

Feeling slightly sick this evening. Have just put OH's salary into YNAB and budgeted it - and we can barely cover the fixed outgoings and food. Nothing for fuel (diesel or wood/coal) - nothing carried forward - minimum paid on debts. We are down a little because of a strike day before Christmas but even so. Proves I absolutely HAVE to bring in at least £1K each month to avoid getting into more debt.

We may have to ditch the pet insurance - it is now over £200 a month - and that only includes the two smaller dogs - the big lad came at aged 8 and we couldn't afford to add him. Trouble the collie is on regular medication at £67 a month (I can't budget for that right now ) and should be having another CT scan this month. And the lurcher is the most accident prone dog I have ever had! And they are all getting older. But £200! Even if we put that aside ourselves it wouldn't take us long to build up a reserve! Maybe we should get the CT done and get a prescription for 3 months - then cancel it?

So rather a depressing picture. I need to crack on and get more clients!

mizmir

Just checked online banking and OH has been paid an extra £300 for additional work done. It's a fantastic start to the additional budget we need for Feb. Phew.

mizmir

Right - quick update here then I really need to get on with my jobs for the day. Even in the grey light of this morning, things don't seem so bleak as they did last night. Gratitudes:

1. The budget so far covers essential bills, minimum payments and we can eat. Additional money is starting to come in. I have a month to get more.

2. We are all relatively healthy. Even the collie. Last year we were told he had cancer and a few weeks to live. The diagnosis was wrong - he has a heart problem - but he is still with us and no worse

3. We may be soggy, muddy and fed up with the rain but we are not flooded.

So today I get the final touches done to the course - am having to add a couple of captions to the original videos as they (stupidly) mention the dates of the last run. It is not worth redoing them this time (maybe for next time) but I should at least caption an errata!
Plus sending out all the emails with login details. We get started properly on Monday.

Also need to pick up dog food and get some dates in the diary for weekend courses. Have a list of people who want to host so it is just a case of juggling dates. Logistical nightmare but worth it as it is a major part of my income.

mizmir

So confession time. I am an iPhone user. I use it for video for my business, apps (including YNAB and banking), as well as the usual stuff. It syncs beautifully with my Mac at home. But I have been doing a lot of soul searching as it is not very MSE. It is upgrade time - and I do covet the 5S - the video is wonderful. BUT - instead of upgrading and justifying it by saying I wouldn't be paying any more, I took a long, hard look. My current iPhone 4S is perfectly fine. It does the job. And I discovered I could "upgrade" and keep my phone - switch to a 12 month tariff which is the same as my current one except with 50% more data (and data is the only thing I ever run out of) - for £20 less than I am paying now! So I have done that. And I will do OH's as soon as she gets home. Between us we will save at least £40 a month for the same service we currently have. Happy with that.

boredofbeingathome

I am a bit like you Miz-i currently have a samsung. (It's a smart phone which annoys me though) Contract was a bargain.
But i want an i phone so i can do face time with eldest daughter Which would be great. Currently trying to get cheapest deal.

mizmir

OH had a Samsung for a while but hated it. I would find it so disrupting to switch it would not be worth it - plus it would cost more as I am now down to £16 a month.

Good luck finding the best deals. :money: has a good comparison tool if you haven't already seen it http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-iphone

Karmacat

Loving the gratitudes, miz, reminding yourself not to freak about Feb money when its the 31 Jan ... you'll get there.

Luckily for me, I don't do smartphones - I *have* one, so I can write texts quickly, and take photos, and make notes to myself, but it isn't connected up to the interweb I feel like a dinosaur, but I don't *need* it for anything - I work from home, don't travel anywhere for that self employment, I've got enough.

I do have a kindle though. And a super duper new camera.

StressedSteph

Hi Mizmir,


Just stopping by to say THANK YOU :beer:.
I saw your post on ForMyGirls thread about the 50% Discount for YNAB.

I was REALLY worried purchasing it, because I have a Windows PC and I couldn't really find anything on there confirming that it would work, except for that one comment. I had to go for it though as the cheapest I have ever seen it was £33 and that was with two discounts and they usually don't let you use both at the same time.

Anyway, It worked :T. I now have YNAB yay.
Thank you for posting about the discount really grateful. xxxxx

Ps. Hope you are feeling better xxx

mizmir

You're very welcome Steph - I put it on there as I thought everyone would find it! I am so pleased it did work for Windows too - I was worried in case it wouldn't and I didn't want to mislead anyone to waste their money. But it turns out a bargain for both of us! :beer:

So now it is going to pay its way. First day of February and all the money we have is allocated. Very little wriggle room at all this month so am going to need to be careful. But on the plus side we have full cupboards, a full freezer (not a huge one - but at least a week's food for us and the dogs), and - after a morning of breaking up the old shed - a full wood store. So I don't anticipate doing much in the way of shopping until we are into week 2 of the month. May need milk and veg but otherwise should be OK.

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

Suziebabe

Hello! Found your diary - well done on your dog/owner training journey! Just read through from the first page, so many tips to pick up! What's YNAB? Sounds addictive, and useful! And boo to shingles - sounds horrid.

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