Mad May - How was for you?

andyfromotley

Jon_B wrote: »

£170 travel insurance, what are you, an international spy???

Its a group insurance for everyone in my trade association. Its an annual policy and covers any existing medical condition which is great as i have heart problems and the cheapest i could get on the open market was £600 for a week in the US.:eek::eek::eek:

Dandytf

I need to start again via ynab had a rushed attempt with the trial version

I have 2 credits different days of the month

Various debits start of month

Is it easier to start with recent months salary or next months (wasn't sure) didn't seem to go smoothly, though didn't spend much time.

andyfromotley

Start with TODAY. just use your balance from today. Watch as many of the video lessons as possible, they help a lot.

Dandytf

Thanks, start Weds afternoon whilst off work.

Iolanthe

I managed to get YNAB via steam in January when they had a special offer on so only paid £19, might be worth checking now and again. Some kind MSE person put it in the grabbit forum.

Dandytf

Thanks for the YNAB advice, a few days left with trial version.

Got my income and budget setup, even just synced it with iPhone 6 (though the YNAB app just shows outgoings. not what left each month)

Think i'll let the trial run before I spend 30.00 from next months wages

Pollygarter

Am continuing to sell anything which isn't nailed down, chase up any sums due, eat up the unappealing from the back of the store cupboard and refuse to be lured by the precious things of the shops, pull my belt in as tightly as can be and am not paying any interest on my debts thanks to you, Mr AndyfromOtley, and managed to slice £2k off the debt in May. Exhausted but delighted!

Pollygarter

I've heard lots of people talking about YNAB. I don't cope well with spreadsheets. I use Evernote which is a free app and I use it as a cash diary, taking pix of minjstatements, working out projections and budgetting shopping lists and it works well for me as I'm much more a words n pictures person. I did my budget on the service here. Is there anything in YNAB which helps you save more? I am aware of every penny now. This is very new, but I like it.

phoenixx

Hello all - I don't know about you but May felt like the longest time. Didn't help that I was paid a week late and by the end was searching for coupons down the sofa and enthusiastically filling doggy bags from meetings of jobs 2, 3 and 4. I got 3 nights of free hotel stay too so they did feed me then too. I worked my tiny socks off in may but won't see the money until July at earliest as it all has to be claimed etc. I am soooo tired...had one day off in May. No weekends, nothing. I became pretty angry this afternoon to learn that MPs will get a 10% pay rise! Outrageous when we're all
expected to put up and shut up. Writing PPI letters tomorrow.

andyfromotley

Pollygarter wrote: »

I've heard lots of people talking about YNAB. I don't cope well with spreadsheets. I use Evernote which is a free app and I use it as a cash diary, taking pix of minjstatements, working out projections and budgetting shopping lists and it works well for me as I'm much more a words n pictures person. I did my budget on the service here. Is there anything in YNAB which helps you save more? I am aware of every penny now. This is very new, but I like it.

Hi polly, it sounds a if what you have is working well for you, if so i say stick with it.

As you know i'm a huge Ynab fan and it works for me. You could always give it a go for free for just over a month and see how you get on. It kind of replaces your bank account in that i never ever check my balance in my account now other than when i reconcile it with Ynab. Ynab not only tells me how much i have in the bank but what every single penny in there is earmarked to do so provides a much fuller and simpler picture. I have used other budget tools but always stopped using them as they were either too much of a faff or they looked too much into the past or the future. I think Ynab does a great job of controlling the money you have now, Today. The key thing for me is that i have kept on with it and that is the single most important task of any budget tool, thats why i say if you have something that works for you, stick with it!