Starting again with debt....again!

sashybo

Hello, my it's been busy in here whilst I've been away.

Hello betsycat (love the name) nice to see you. :j

Re paying £1 off my CC every day, this is down to the Payment A Day thread which I found very useful in the past when dealing with debt and is a nice friendly thread too.

Good to know how you use YNAB as I think I might have too many categories - I keep thinking of new ones to add. Definitely think I will get good use out of it though.

Lilt, good news on your savings. :beer: Glad to hear the coconut oil is good, I bought a small tub ages ago but never used it until last night, must have read somewhere about it being good for hair and thought about poor DH's scalp.

Ah I see about the Yoga, Pilates is actually a very good workout - I definitely find it more challenging than Yoga. I guess that's a good thing though.

BB good on you for buying YNAB, I hope you manage to get it set up soon.

betsycat

Ooh thanks sashybo, will check out that challenge/thread!

That's a very good plan your friend has liltdiddylilt, I must admit life post-debt seems a little daunting – staying debt free is harder than you'd think, I'm sure! But that's a very good idea

sashybo

No problem betsy, I think it's a great idea, at least I know that extra £1 a day is going towards paying off debt & I don't really miss it.

Well yesterday was a long day - left the house at 11:30 & didn't get back again until near enough 11pm. :eek: Went to collect my replacement Clarisonic heads & they were in ridiculous packaging - a big cardboard box for a tiny box! They would have fit in a Jiffy bag!

We both enjoyed the film but didn't think it was as good as the previous Hobbit/LOTR films.

Went back to our friends & got a Chinese takeaway which was lovely. Very kind friends paid for dinner so we will do the same next time they come over to ours.

The girls (nearly 3yo & 18 mo) kept me busy playing most of the night. Kept being taken by the hand & told what to do - had a child's chef hat & apron on at one point playing in the toy kitchen. Had to make a lot of pretend scrambled egg. :rotfl:

The oldest girl is very funny "I love you - want to go upstairs & play?" :rotfl: This was whilst eating dinner, she was sitting next to me stroking my arm, wanting to hold hands & trying to climb onto my knee. :rotfl: Think she had taken a liking to me. :rotfl:

Today has been a bit lazy so far, DH has done a washing of towels and stuck them in the dryer. Want to do some Pilates or Yoga to ease myself back into exercise and also need to take the Christmas tree down.

The bag I ordered for my friends' 30th has arrived & I think she will like it, so need to get a card and some wrapping paper for it at some point. Probably won't see her until my other friends' 30th at the end of the month.

liltdiddylilt

Haha kids know who the nicest and softest people are and they make a beeline for them - sounds like a good day and night had by all!!

Jealous of your dryer. Mines wang it all out on the radiators or open my bedroom windows wide, freeze to death and stick airers by them, for it to dry in approx 24-48 hours lol

Still no macbook sigh

sashybo

Ha Lilt I think those kids know I'm a soft touch and they can boss me around. :rotfl:

This is the first proper dryer we've had and it's so handy in the winter for things like towels that take ages to dry. I try not to use it too much as don't want to hammer the electricity though.

This was also the first summer I've been able to hang clothes out on a washing line for about 8 years, no nicer smell than line dried clothes. When we were in the flat everything went on the radiators & the clothes horse too.

Managed to take the tree down and put it away with DH's help, he then hoovered the living room & put my lamp & nest of tables back where the tree was.

Have folded & put away the towels but no exercise as yet. :whistle:

debtfreeoneday

Hi Sashybo.. its been busy in here whilst I been away.. I'm going to pinch your idea of £1 a day against our loan, so will go pay £5 off now!

Lilt - hijacking the diary here, but I need a YNAb guru! I have three accounts, all totals balance at the side, but I am £18 overbudgeted, so I figure I'll just adjust the income figure so that the first month is right and I know where I am, but then it kicks the bank account balance out.. any thoughts? I can't see where I overbudgeted.. and if I try to tinker, it throws the bank balance out!

That aside, am loving YNAb - got back today and was on it within a few hours, sorting out bank accounts in / outs that had happened whilst we were away!

liltdiddylilt

In each of your budget categories on the side, is each one going to be fully utilised?

For instance, if I was £18 overbudget but my bank balances added up, I would look to the budgets I had allocated for groceries and travel, and see if I had budgeted too much or could cut down here.

In essence, what it is telling you, is that you've used more money in your budget categories, than you have in the bank! It means you need to either produce more income this month, or borrow from next month, which you can do, but that leaves you short next month, etc etc, and that is how you end up with an overdraft!!

Changing the bank figures won't work as it has to be accurate - so your starting balances were correct on the day you started, all income and expenditure since this day has been added correctly, so your bank accounts still add up properly... Making changes to those just throws out the bank balances versus your real bank balances which is what you need to stay in line with.

I hope this makes sense. Usually when I go overbudget I move some spare cash from groceries to household, etc. I have also mercilessly drilled into my emergency fund at times, but that is what it is for I suppose!

Hope this helps. If not, mail me and give me the figures and I will work out what is happening! xx

ETA: Also, remember overpayments to your debt etc, have to be taken from somewhere else. So if you saved £1.20 on your food bill and paid it to your debt take it off the food budget. The budget credits roll through to the next month, so I most often go in and tidy up at the end of the month on my everyday spends/bills, and any loose budget cash goes into my emergency savings pot. That way I can accurately figure out my precise monthly spending at a glance, between the budgeted amount, and the amount spent/leftover!

HTH

And sorry for the hijack Sashybo - am in that blissful stage of doped up with tiger balm working so I have to make my move and sleep now or never! Back tomorrow for my final day of freedom! xx

sashybo

Hi DFOD & Lilt, no worries about hijack lol, always good to learn more about YNAB.

DFOD, I think the payment a day is a good way of chipping away at debt. I have set up a category in YNAB for CC over-payments so it's even included in the budget.

So far today have made my £1 payment to my CC and have done 40 mins of my Yoga DVD. Didn't get round to any exercise yesterday so thought I would take it gently today, the real test will be making it back on to the cross trainer. :eek:

Back to work tomorrow for 7 late shifts and really really not looking forward to it.

Had a nice night with DH last night though, we cooked dinner together and set the dining table properly as well. We then had music on and had a few drinks and just talked about nonsense, no tv and lit one of my big scented candles from Melt.

No real plans for today, just chilling out before going back to work.

liltdiddylilt

Sounds like such a lovely evening bless! Honeymoon period... :rotfl:

I was going to do a bit of ironing, have a lazy bath and sort my hair for work tomorrow and cook dinner for the next couple of nights... Then I got a call from my hairdresser. Was meant to be there this morning. my barnet is all over the place and needs washing, drying and straightening before my hairdresser will touch it, without charging me an extra £20 to do those things pre cut. So now have changed appt time and am running around like a loon trying to get sorted.

Sigh.

Hope you have a chilled day!!

sashybo

Aww thanks Lilt, can you still have a Honeymoon period after 12 years?:rotfl: Well I suppose we have only been married 18 months so it still counts.

Hope you get sorted and out to the hairdresser ok.