Six year retirement plan

Ninno820

its a hope lol x

Seasidegal58

You're on a roll ninno - keep up the good work!

Ninno820

So - another rambling update. I am loving YNAB seasidegal - have set up my budget and am still trying to be frugal until payday next Tuesday. However I have also watched a couple of the webinars - great help to anyone starting out - and I have added my purse contents to the budget so am tracking it on the iphone app.


My desk is nearly sorted - no treasure chest I am afraid - I just need to file some receipts / statements and get myself a system that is workable to deal with post / bills / reconciling accounts.


I have a couple of items which should sell - possibly for pennies - on ebay in the couple of days so am starting to build up a small sum of money and am amassing half a table's worth of goodies for the table top sale on sunday - that's the £5 stake split between the two of us. I am also booked into a sewing workshop (my downful) and it would be nice to raise the £20 fee through the small sales - the fund is at £12.90 so far so its doable.


In terms of YNAB I have also added the cc debts to the plan - thought about not doing so but need to face up and be honest - if it gets too big a mountain I can always move their position so that I don't always see them.




Thanks for all the help and advice - I'm enjoying that initial challenge / fun phase which I am sure will pall after a while.

Ninno820

Okay - so further to yesterday's ramblings - and, btw, who on earth is up at this time of night sorting their budgets out!!! - I have taken another look at YNAB. My budget is now broken down into weekly amounts and I have fessed up about all the debts / cc etc. However, and for those who are au fait with YNAB this would make more sense than to those who aren't - I have changed the location of the pre YNAB debt category. Normally these debts appear first in bright red - presumably so that you can never forget about them - but the mountain was seeming insurmountable. So I have created a second pre YNAB debt category and moved it to the bottom of the budget list. That way I can keep the debt that I am reducing at the top and focus on this whilst servicing the others.


I feel happier now - my mind just wouldn't settle thinking about how to manage this.


Off now to collect some nectar adpoints - sadly don't feel very tired but a hoping to get back to bed for a couple of hours if I can - although a bacon sandwich might just deter me lol

Ninno820

Evening - just rushing in to report my first ebay sale - only £3.50 but it all helps. I have also signed up to a review site so am hoping to pick up some points there - points mean prices / cash after all.


My first green redeem voucher arrived today - very impressed with the speed of that one - only claimed it on sunday. Its a £5 off a £25 spend at M & S but I have also claimed a £10 voucher from the mail rewards online and am nearly at another £5 voucher so that should give me a total of £5 for a £25 spend if I manage my totals right.


I've updated my signature to reflect this additional funding plus the £5 argos voucher that I've found in my purse (won it a few weeks ago but forgot that I had it) will have to investigate what I can get for £5 and put it in the Christmas box!

in_need_of_direction

Well done on the sale.

Ninno820

Thank you INOD.


Another early start - so its another chance to do something productive.


I am working my way through the YNAB webinars and am watching how to handle the credit cards - through budgeting and the software. This time of day is also a chance to earn some more nectar points. Its pretty boring stuff but every little helps - right?


Only 7 days until payday - and I can evaluate how my meagre efforts have started to chip away at the first debt - the overdraft.

Ninno820

I can't believe how much my attitude and behaviours are changing. I went out last night to the cinema and duly entered the cup of coffee and the lolly into my YNAB budget via the phone. I then popped into Tesco, kept my spending to essentials after checking the grocery budget, entered the spending into YNAB and then wombled a couple of receipts and entered everything into receet to generate some points which can be changed into cash.


AND I slept in until the alarm went off - any connection do you think between a good nights sleep on the hottest night of the year and a clear mind?


I had a couple of cc bills yesterday which have also been recorded into YNAB - along with scheduled interest payments. I think that I have also sorted the concept, in my mind at least of my salary having to straddle months - YNAB only works in distinct months. I have entered the income on a split basis for budgeting purposes.


All in all I may not have generated much extra income but I am creating systems which will help in the tracking. I am hoping that the tracking will result in surplus cash in some of the categories which can then go towards the debt repayment.

Ninno820

Morning - another good nights sleep!


Only 4 days until pay day and I can truly start this budgeting lark! I've had a quick win with some overpayments to Barclaycard refunded - but put against my account so it reduces the total. Truthfully I would rather have used it to pay towards my OD but its a debt repayment so I'm not complaining too much.


This weekend is really busy - a sewing workshop today and a village horticultural show tomorrow. There's the cost of the class today (£20) but we bring a packed lunch and its 6 hours of fun and laughter so its money well spent. Tomorrow should be a low spend day and may even earn me some funds - I have a table top sale with spare crafting things that I came across last weekend when I tidied up the craft room - here's hoping!

Seasidegal58

Your positivity is wonderful ninno and lovely to hear you are sleeping so well.

I split up my months on YNAB as well as I get paid on the 25th of each month. Seems to work for me. I think you find out by tinkering what works best for your individual circumstances

Your sewing workshop sounds great fun. Wish I could sew -I'm useless. In my first year of secondary school we had alternate weeks of needlework or art. I ended up getting booted out of needlework and just did art for the rest of the year! Am ok with buttons but even my hemming isn't that great!