Climbing the Mountain

maddiemay

You are doing well and I am so pleased that you can now believe that:D

Whilst I think that YNAB would probably be good for me to use, there is no way with my current level of brain fog (much better than it was though:D) that I could work my way through it, I will continue with recording my spends each day and categorising it onto the spreadsheet for now and see where that takes me. If you do try Goodbudget please let us know how you get on with it.

Smolly

Hi Misty

Nice to see you back! I have been using GoodBudget since 28/11/16 and I'm loving it! I didn't find it too hard to set up and I think I did most of it blind (ie without the use of the instructional videos!!!).

All this talk of journals and pens led me to spend a good hour on so on Pinterest last night - what a gold mine that site is! I had to tear myself away!

Hope you have a lovely weekend xx

MistyMountainTop

I am feeling tired today, in an old age achy sort of way. I am still too young to be feeling like this and must take more care with my health. I saw a friend on Friday who is using a walker and has trouble catching her breath. I don't know how much longer she will be here and that makes me so sad - yet I could easily be in her shoes. So many of my health problems can be completely controlled by diet and exercise. It should always be number one on my priority list but seems to slip much further down, especially when there is cake and a nice cup of coffee on offer. My self control is terrible. I have been doing a lot of walking but am not seriously furthering my distances or quickening my pace. All these things I've said I would do and not have done.

I'd thought about trying to get a few jobs crossed off the list today but remembered that I do need a day off, so am going out to take a nice walk in the winter sun. When I get back I'll have a proper go at setting up Goodbudget.

MistyMountainTop

I feel like a bit of an idiot as I am having no more luck with Goodbudget than I did with YNAB. I've been trying to figure it out for well over an hour. I've watched the videos and they seem to make sense, so I don't know what I am doing wrong. I'm becoming pretty frustrated with it all. :wall:

I could just go back to pencil and paper but when I was doing that it was really just tracking my spending rather than making a proper budget. I did know down to the penny how much I had and how much I needed, but I want something that helps me keep track of long term goals as well as the weekly expenses, and to be able to change the numbers with a click of a button rather than re-writing everything. I really want to make this program work for me.

maddiemay

Sorry I cannot offer any help, I have not made time to look at it yet, and am behind with entering my spends too:o

I hope that someone will be along either with advice on Goodbudget or how they are able to use pen and paper or spreadsheet to work out their ongoing budget, don't get too down, some things take a while to get a handle on:D

Smolly

Hi Misty

I meant to come on here yesterday but life got in the way as it has a habit of doing!

Did you get any further with GoodBudget? To be honest when I first started with it I thought I knew what I was doing but had to tweak things along the way as I went and there are still a few little things I'm not sure of but I've got the basics (I think...) Is there anything in particular I might be able to help with? When I first started I just listed my basic monthly (or weekly) envelopes. When the money comes in I allocate to them and then when the bill needs paying, or I go shopping I take the money out.

The goals envelopes are quite interesting but the annual ones are confusing me. However on the whole it seems to be working for me but I'd like to give it a couple of months at least to see how I get on. Anything has to be better than my past budgeting which consisted mostly of crossing fingers and hoping!!

How's your day been anyway? Hope you are ok xx

MistyMountainTop

I haven't looked any further into Goodbudget after having the trouble, Smolly! I'm not sure where the problem lies, I'm just not getting my head around it properly at the moment. I have extra work hours and between that and various appointments, I haven't had much time to sit down at the computer.

I wish I could change all the numbers instantly with a pen and paper maddiemay, because that I understand! I am too lazy to re-write everything though and would like to see how little changes here and there would effect things over time.

I'm still not feeling right, I think the cold weather and high humidity are to blame. I'm extremely tired and achy. I took my little dog out for a walk and coming back felt like I was walking through mud or treacle. I'd go back to bed but have quite a lot on today, so will drink another cup of coffee and get on with it!

EssexHebridean

I pretty much budget using a combination of the bank account and online savings accounts - the money goes across to the various different accounts (mostly) via automatic transfers - so I know the car, holiday, household etc money goes where it belongs. Personal spending ONLY comes from our personal accounts, OR gets put on the CC to earn cashback but then we're responsible for clearing our own balances on there when the bill comes in. The main "budget" is done via the MSE budgetbrain tool but I only update that once a quarter at the most, or when a new item of expenditure comes along - it's not something I need to be able to carry with me - day to day checking I can do via my banking app.

For anyone who does the bulk of their grocery shopping via the dreaded T's, can I suggest looking into the ClubCard Plus? It's effectively an interest paying current account - you fund it via DD (or can pay money in at customer services if I remember rightly) and it does help keep your grocery budget in one place. It pays an extras CC point per £ spent, too. I assume they still do it - we've had ours for years!

MistyMountainTop

That's a good idea about the accounts. I could do something similar. I'd like to be able to figure out YNAB or Goodbudget though - you'd never think I had a background in finance

Unfortunately MtT is not that easily accessible for me, I go there on occasion if I am in the area but I do most of our shopping at A£di. It's a shame because the card sounds like a good thing. I would consider having it delivered but the main reason I venture into MrTs is to look for yellow stickers.

I fell asleep for a couple of hours and feel a bit better, but am still having trouble keeping warm. I'm going to do a small job and then make a start on dinner.

EssexHebridean

I have toyed with the idea of using something like that before Misty - not YNAB because I refuse to pay for something to help me manage my money - that just seems totally counter-intuitive to me - but one of the free ones. In the end though, for me, I realised that it was mainly that I felt like I *should* be using something like that, but in actual fact what I currently do works just fine, and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"