Looking forward - Debt Free in 4 years

StressedSteph

Morning Mizmir,

Yes YNAB will most certainly pay for itself. One question though - Are you managing to get the app working? My app won't seem to update with the Dropbox and keep showing an out of date budget. Very frustrating. Will keep trying.

We have a very tight February though, still playing catch up with bills that were'nt overly urgent (N.I contributions being one of them:o).

Haave a good Sunday x

mizmir

Suziebabe wrote: »

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.

<<subscribes>>

Hi Suzie and thanks for dropping by my diary. Glad you've picked up some tips along the way - that is the great thing about DFW - we can all help each other.

YNAB is You Need a Budget - a piece of software that helps you manage your budget. It is different from most other systems in that it works with the actual money you have at any one time rather than with theoretical or future figures. So when you get money in you put it in your budget and allocate it to different categories (give it a job). Immediately you know if you have any "free" and if you have a shortfall. For instance when OH's salary came in I allocated it first to the priority payments (fixed DDs, min payments on cards etc) and to food. I could then take what was left (very little ) and make decisions about what was a priority. If you need to spend on something unexpected you then have to move money from one category to another to balance the budget again - focuses the mind on whether this is really a necessary spend! I love it - it really works for me and is helping me to see much more clearly what I need to earn and where our money goes. It also syncs with a mobile app via dropbox so you can have your budget on the move. A tip though - if you want to use it you can get it half price at the moment on https://deals.macupdate.com/deal/15334/you-need-a-budget (works on Windows as well - though you probably need to download the software from YNAB's site (free trial) then get the activation code her). But the offer only has 3 more days to go so it might be worth having a play with the free trial and seeing if it works for you.

StressedSteph wrote: »

Morning Mizmir,

Yes YNAB will most certainly pay for itself. One question though - Are you managing to get the app working? My app won't seem to update with the Dropbox and keep showing an out of date budget. Very frustrating. Will keep trying.

We have a very tight February though, still playing catch up with bills that were'nt overly urgent (N.I contributions being one of them:o).

Haave a good Sunday x

Yes the app is working great here. When I downloaded it I linked it to Dropbox and since then it has been syncing fine. I think I would probably delete the app then download it again and see if the linking to dropbox is working. It may be something to do with permissions. I am using a Mac/iPhone so I am not sure about syncing PC. Good luck with it though - it does make it so much more useful when it works.

February is tight for us too - I've set myself a "make an extra grand" challenge. Should be interesting!

mizmir

Today is going to be a quiet "get on top of things" day. My online course kicks off - so will be busy from tomorrow. So today I need to get the next couple of weeks sorted and cued to go plus tie up some jobs. I also need to schedule my workshops for the year - I have a list of hosts but the schedule is always a logistical nightmare - can't put it off any more.

And I am going to make another batch of dog biscuits this time with liver juices collected from cooking the dog's treats. Am hoping this will be tastier for them!

Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

mizmir

Forgot to say. Sorted out OH's mobile yesterday too. Hers was even worse than mine - on a slightly higher tariff with minutes that she never used. So I have shifted her onto a Sim only tariff as well - £16 a month from £43! :eek: So altogether we have saved nearly £50 a month by doing this. Plus I get to keep my iPhone guilt free!

Ali-OK

Well done on the mobile phones, great savings there. :T

Hope your gang enjoy the liver biscuits - just cooking cheese ones here. Dogs are hovering, though it might be our dinner of pork and roast spuds they're guarding the oven door for!

Lots of good luck vibes for your course start tomorrow too.

mizmir

Thanks Ali. Course starting enthusiastically and very few hiccups so far - fingers crossed it continues that way.

A lot of transactions run through the bank this morning and my minimum payments are all out because I did so much juggling last month. So I have had to squeeze an extra £200 out of an already tight February budget. Making that extra money this month is becoming increasingly urgent.

On the plus side I have crossed a small boundary in my overall debt figure and have paid 1.5% of the overall figure. Just 98.5% to go! _pale_ :eek:

But today brings everything into a little perspective - my 80 year old father is having cancer surgery as we speak. Prognosis is good - they have caught it early and it is believed to be contained and fully operable. But 4 hours of surgery at his age is still a worry. And I am a long way away (couldn't go up because of the shingles ).

Ali-OK

Fingers crossed the surgery went well and he is ok. Everything else pales somewhat where health is concerned.

Excellent news on the course too :T

We all have to start somewhere with the debt and the stake is in the ground now You're moving forwards which is great and I'm trying to get excited about a 0.21% increase in my house ownership this month - it's going to take me all of 2014 to get to 1.5% on that :rotfl:

Whoever said it's not a sprint, it's a marathon was spot on

mizmir

Thanks Ali. He was in recovery late into the evening but eventually got back to the ward. All seems to be well and to have gone as planned. will know more later when my mother has been able to visit him.

Lovely surprise to cheer me this morning - my tax rebate! In the past these have taken weeks so it was very cheery to get an alert this morning that £932 had gone into my account! :j It's all spoken for but eases some of the pressure this month.

in_need_of_direction

Best wishes for recovery to you and your dad.

mizmir

Thanks inod - much appreciated. I am sure he will be feeling a lot better today as the anaesthetic gets out of his system. It may be my mum who needs good thoughts later in the week as I suspect he won't be the easiest patient!

Well I have put the tax rebate into YNAB and given it all a job - not much allocated to debts but I now have a healthy budget across the piece including allocations for annual expenditure. This is important as it is these that throw us when they come in.

I am not going to count this as part of my £1K a month challenge as it would make me freewheel for the rest of the month - so still £700 to find.