My Journey To My Pot Of Gold

MuffinTops

Having thought very hard about my new financial situation and after reading lots of your diaries about how much people can really get paid up and/or saved in relatively short periods of time, I have decided that I want to aim for £20,000 per year to put aside. This money can only be dipped into for home upgrades.

I also need to invest some money in myself as well as budgetting realistic figures for all outgoings.

To do this I'm going to start a new YNAB sheet from 1 September (my first full time salary is on 31 August). I'm also going to go through the reports from my current spreadsheet and see exactly what money is being spent where. I'm so glad that I kept that up to date with honest calculations!

During August I'll close accounts I don't use or that no longer work for me, and I'll go through all of my standing orders and direct debits and make sure they're in the right places. I'll also set up standing orders from my main account to go into all of my spoke accounts to make sure there's always sufficient funds everywhere.

Today I'm going to ask about the Hawaii itinerary so that I can hopefully find some good deals based on the amount of time there is until we go (next July). It would be good to have all costs paid up on this before the end of 2016.

I'll also pay off the last of my credit card bill on 11th August (when the DD comes out), and do my best to have zero debt balances everywhere in the hope of starting with a clean slate.

Until I make a decision on what to do about my house (tszuj it up a bit or reduce the price) I can't know when I'll be able to save this money rather than spend it on the house. But I need to figure out how to put that amount aside and do all the things I need to. For now, it's a work in progress and my August Project.

So I've put it out there now!

Tinkerbelle2000

MuffinTops wrote: »

Hello Tink,

We're all so pleased to see you back. I'm really looking forward to catching up with your diary once you've posted.

Are we really the same age? Isn't it a great age to be? Fantastic news on landing your dream job. Is it an accident or is it the Universe giving what you deserve?

I think the lovely thing about our diaries is that people don't give us kicks, we get hand holding and encouragement, and you'll definitely get that.

YNAB is worth, in my opinion, sticking with. If it goes wrong and you need to start again then do that. It took me a little while to get it working to how it should while also fitting in with how my head works. I'd had so many different accounts for different things and gradually, over time, I've moved my thought process around to fit. But it took me quite a few goes at it before I found where I was really comfortable. I enjoyed that process.

I'm so excited to hear your updates. Take care.

MTxx

Hi MT

Yes I love being this age but now I've given myself 5 years or less to clear this debt, Finally updated my diary, get a cup of tea and a seat before you go there, it got pretty long :rotfl: Oh well, its all off my chest now. Onwards and upwards.

I really do need to get my head round YNAB, at the moment everything is in my bullet journal (which I discovered on Pintrest) love it, it goes everywhere with me, so I want to be like that about YNAB. I want to have that months advance wage so I'm not living paycheck to paycheck.

Its good to be back :j:j:j:j

Tink xx

MuffinTops

I need to look up this bullet journal Tink. Am I missing out on a good list maker?

Tinkerbelle2000

Oh wow you certainly are but please don't shout at me when you start spending. They are so lovely and so many many lists lol.

If you're also a stationery addict like me it will really be your thing.

Check out you tube.

Tink xx

doingitanyway

Eavesdropping on this conversation and off to explore as I am such a stationary geek and I love lists too. Thanks Think and MT

RosaBernicia

I am resisting even googling it as I already have a Desire Map planner I should get back to but it sounds fab

moneyonmymindsam

I'm still fainting from the 20K savings goal - that's my girl - aim high

MuffinTops

Oh dear!!! The bullet journal looks AMAZING! I feel I need one!!! I love that you set them up yourself too! So that's my task for this weekend as I think that will suit me better than the organisation style diary I have. Thank you Tinks.
MTxx

Tinkerbelle2000

You're welcome. It's making me organised although I didn't buy anything lol. I just use a a5 journal I had bought from asda and some fibre tip pens and I already had both of them

Tink xx

MuffinTops

That's what I liked about it Tink, the fact you set it up your own way with the coloured pens etc. My current personal journal is along the same lines in the most basic form with different updates having a different colour pen and my coloured tabs on it too. But it's nothing like the bullet journals I've been looking up on YouTube.
MTxx