Looking forward - Debt Free in 4 years

mizmir

Payday! And our first month on YNAB ends with cash still in the bank (no O/D) and a goodly amount still in the Easter pot. All good. Not sure how long it will stay there however. Scary how fast OH's not insubstantial salary is allocated once fixed monthly expenses and debt repayments are set against it. I have to have a crown this month, buy some equipment for my workshop and the dog is going back to the vet hospital for a follow up CT scan. The last of these is ultimately covered by insurance but will have to be paid for up front - will "borrow" the Easter money for that I think rather than putting it on a card (more likely to be paid back once the insurance comes in!). So I need to work out how much we will need to cover these plus general expenses and make that my target. I wonder if I should "over budget" in YNAB so it is there in b&w as a reminder that things are already committed!!

So grateful for money coming in and being able to cover the basics, and for the ability to earn more (this might be the month that MB comes back into my life! ). But no room for complacency.

Out for dinner this evening with friends. Just a local pub but will still probably be £50 by the time we include two of us with drinks. Still will be lovely.

mizmir

Holey moley! Just did the overbudget and we need another £2K to cover expenses this month! :eek: Ok £800 of that is the CT scan which will be covered by insurance eventually but that still leaves £1200 to find. Still did it last month so will set it as my target for this month. Think will have to organise some more events PDQ!

Karmacat

Yikes! Thats a lot of dosh okay, get back to the coalmine (erm, laptop) ... you got there so well in February, here's hoping you can do it in March too.

StressedSteph

Hi Mizmir,

Hope all went well going live today. Sorry it has been abit tricky fitting your oh's spending into YNAB. Is this refundable business expenses or just misc bits?. Good luck hope is all gets sorted, I know how aggravated I get when I have to try to fit extra spends into my YNAB budget.

Shame on HAVING to find the £1200 during March, although you made finding £1000 look very easy during Feb so I am SURE you can easily do it.

Hope you have a great night out tonight. xx

mizmir

Thanks guys. Had a LOVELY evening yesterday catching up with old friends. £60 down but worth it - haven't been out like that for ages.

Site launched this morning to the private group - and they're beginning to get signed up. They will be my test group and I'll get an idea of the sort of things they want from it before making it available to others.

No other news really. Managed to get a free ticket to Crufts next week because I am a full time trainer - saving £18 on the normal ticket cost. Means I can afford to go especially as we used a minute amount of diesel last month so we still have more than 3/4 tank left coming into March. Should be fun - and I will take cards etc in case there are places I can leave them!

Am going to have a day off line - sorting and baking! Hope you've all got sunshine to enjoy!

StressedSteph

Yay well done on getting the free ticket to Crufts. Would love to go there, although would probably want another dog after that


hope you had a great day baking xxx

Karmacat

Excellent news on all counts lovely dinner, website launch, and free ticket! I hope you have nice cheap Vistaprint business cards that you can flash around at Crufts?

mizmir

Well another Monday and I can feel the temptation to skip a day on here creeping up. I think I need to make sure I at least post on this thread even though I don't get around all my subscriptions each day.

First day of DDs going out since payday and bank balance dropped by best part of £1K! :eek: But £450 of that was debt repayment and all was expected so all good. Meal plans and shopping done - within budget though still shocked at how much the "extra bits" at Tesc0 come to compared to the whole shop at Ald1! But anyway plenty of food for a fortnight except for fresh fruit and veg.

Disappointing take up for the membership given it is free and these are very motivated people who were really looking forward to it. It was meant to happen just after the course but being ill after new year plus then the shingles delayed it by a month and this is the result I think. Am hoping some are just away or busy and haven't got round to it as there are 5 or 6 that I thought would be definites who still haven't joined. Will see. Only real problem is we probably don't have critical mass for the forum at the moment - will need to have a think.

But other plans afoot for new ventures. Really need to repackage the course - will focus on that this week then take stock.

In other news - I managed to pick up two pool/snooker cues on freecycle - will go with the pool table top I also got from freecycle a few weeks ago. Now just need full size set of pool balls and a triangle (have got a mini set but might look a bit silly - though will do for now!).

Anyway time to make dinner. Have a good evening everyone.

Karmacat

Posting on your own thread, at minimum, is a good idea - keeps the focus on the debt free and business journey, even if you're not doing the social stuff (thanks for posting on mine, I appreciate it ). Great freecycle finds, tho!

Don't be too despondent at the takeup on launch - thats just one day, this is just one week - see how it goes this week.

I know what you mean about the forum for your website - I've seen several forums start up (including quite a few that pay to have new members join). It takes time - the ones that pay, by the way, ask for:
- avatars
- relevant new topics, as well as responses.
- posts that are full sentences, more than just a few words.

I haven't been doing that for ages, but hope it helps.

StressedSteph

Hi Mizmir,


Think we are all very busy lately, I am struggling to post on my subscription threads, your included. Like you said, in the VERY least you need to make sure you post here. Just to offload your thoughts, worries, annoyances etc. It really helps keep you on track.
I know that in my part there has been a direct correlation to me stopping posting on my diary and my spending going off budget.


Bums to people not taking up the online launch, like you said hopefully they are just busy bees. I know its tricky getting a forum up and running because until there is a body of questions and answers, an empty forum is like an empty bar, not a very nice place .


I would be willing to post a few questions and answer a few if that would be any help. I am sure some other regular posters on your diary here might help also. Just an idea. xx


Keep smiling, you are still on budget and have made sooo much headway already this year.


Please post on here, we don't mind if you don't make it to our diaries. xxxx