Geeking out with YNAB

Jigglebiz

Payday update! :j

Unfortunately another screw up from PAYE and I was taxed on this month's income when I shouldn't be - quick call to HMRC again and turns out that they had another job listed as my main source of income. I have never earned anything from that job... it's always worth a call . My tax code is amended and I'll be refunded next month.

Total income received this month: £3163

I've allocated this as follows:

Debt Repayments: £367
Fixed Monthly Bills: £1146
Fixed Expenses Rental Flat: £207 (no longer saving for tax as confident my taxable earnings this year will be under personal allowance)
Variable Monthly Expenses: £515
Fixed Non-Monthly Expenses: £110
Savings toward selling and buying properties: £368
Holidays: £0
Optional Expenses (Fun): £40
Long-term Savings Goals: £286 (some of this is re-allocated income on investments, so doesn't come out of listed income)

I'm chuffed that my debt is rapidly reducing and now totals £632 in total:

Student overdraft: £301
Family loan: £332

I am determined to pay off all of this debt by August at the latest to allow me to take on new debt (!) for the much-needed second car for my commute. I'm aiming to to allocate £316 in June and July to eliminate it, but this could be challenging with my variable income.

There are (as always) several things I know I'll need to buy soon - mainly leisure but also items for the car. I will try and delay as much as I possibly can.

Still have a few things to do to bring in extra income:

- Chase freelance job's pay (£255) DONE
- Clear old laptop
- Sell old laptop on eBay
- Look out for extra freelance income over the next month as my main income will reduce over July and August

Jigglebiz

Quick update - was pleased with myself today as I managed to get my annual car insurance down a great deal . Not only did the premium reduce, but the excess went down from £350 to £100, we added business use, and went fully comprehensive. To top this off, it includes joint breakdown cover on any car we drive (I was previously paying £110 annually for this seperately). Effectively this has brought our costs down from £585 to £370 per year - a saving of £215! Not bad for a couple of hours’ comparison site forms (thanks MSE) and a call to our chosen provider.:money:

Jigglebiz

This month is not going to plan so far...
Have splashed out on something needed for the summer... a leisure item (tent) but well worth its cost in terms of it allowing us to have cheap family getaways over the summer. However, I was naughty and bought it before I knew how to pay for it. Now transferring savings to cover this.
Then the car insurance renewal was paid for up front, and I only had about half of this saved up. Had originally planned to pay monthly but the yearly cost was so much less...again have been required to use savings to pay for that (took this out of the buying/selling savings).
Feeling a bit bad about buying the tent, but it will get well used and enjoyed.
Work and budgeting seeming a bit relentless and otherwise my spending is well under control and in budget. Unfortunately the prospect of increasing my income is unlikely now as I have not been very well. Receiving treatment but can’t do much more work than I have already taken on. One day at a time...

Drawingaline

The tent will pay for itself as long as you use it. Do you have all the other bits needed for camping? It can really add up. I was lucky, my sister got all my mum and dad's camping stuff when they stopped going, and then they bought a caravan four years ago so gave us their tent and all this camping stuff. The tent only lasted one trip (windy site, trying to put it up was a nightmare, at one point we had seven kids lying on it to stop it blowing away!) but my sister had got it from a charity shop years before so it had had a good innings as such. So because I had all the stuff I did splash out on a tent and love taking the kids away. Unfortunately hubby refused to camp, static caravan is his limit, oh well, he is the one missing out.

kuratowski

Loving this thread! :j
Hope the treatment goes well - good luck!

Jigglebiz

Thanks for checking in, kurawtowski!

Drawlingaline, indeed we do already have the rest of the camping stuff. Bought most of it at an estate sale, including a lovely old poly cotton frame tent. But this wasn’t practicable for short stays as it takes too long to put up and carry to and from the car! Hence the new smaller tent. Have booked 2 stays coming up in local areas as we are fortunate to live near some lovely countryside.

Gearing up to sell our property at the moment. Notifying tenants and starting to plan estate agent valuations etc. It will be our first time selling a property. Hoping to achieve about £250k and then buy in our area up north for 230kish. Very excited by daunted by the whole process. It should save us about £500 a month in rent/service charge costs due to our current renting out and renting ourselves scenario being really inefficient. Can’t wait to have our own house and no estate agents in our lives. About a year away though, realistically ...

Jigglebiz

Quick update -

Tenants!!!8217; rent has been paid in = £1012.
Have allocated this to the following YNAB budget categories:

£319 : essential property expenses (service charge, insurances, tax)
£363 : debt
£330 : saving to sell & buy property (service charge and bills while vacant, moving costs)
Any leftovers cover small category overspending in May

Glad to have been able to allocate funds to the debt before the end of the month. I!!!8217;m going to transfer this now so that I am not tempted to eat into it.

Debt is now close to being paid off :j

Student overdraft : -£104.99
Family loan : -£165
Total : £269.99 !

Jigglebiz

Think it’s time to update my priorities
1. Repay family debt at £167 per month for 6 months (Started Feb 18 - on track to complete Jul 18)
2. Pay off student overdraft (On track to complete by Aug 18)
3. Contribute to rainy day funds- especially saving to sell and buy properties (Started Feb 18)
4. Take on 0% debt for new car and pay off fixed amount monthly
5. Sell tenanted property, buy new property for us mortgage free
6. Save up a larger emergency fund (£12k)

Jigglebiz

Payday update - only a brief one as I will post detailed breakdowns later.

A low-earning month due to working fewer hours in April. Have reduced payment towards debt and not saving as much this month to meet basic costs. Have also set aside some in order to pay for a few nights’ camping. Feel this is pretty important as we are all in need of a few days away from the daily grind.

I’ve just put in a pay claim for May which will be a bumper month - but have only now understood how deductions work. I’m hourly paid and have been highly motivated to increase my bookings to bring in more cash so I can even out the lean months where I can barely pay the rent. But every month I earn a decent amount, about 30% gets deducted so I’m unable to save much. Honestly don’t understand how others do it.

Glad I will be doing something else and paid better with many more prospects in a few months, as I’m feeling fed up and exploited . Woke at 4am this morning having bad dreams about money :mad:

Jigglebiz

Back with payday category breakdowns:


Total income received this month: £2609

I've allocated this as follows:

Debt Repayments: £317
Fixed Monthly Bills: £1059
Fixed Expenses Rental Flat: £319 (Recalculated tax and think I should put aside some for tax return every month now)
Variable Monthly Expenses: £502
Fixed Non-Monthly Expenses: £69
Savings toward selling and buying properties: £111
Holidays: £55
Optional Expenses (Fun): £39

I'm on target to eliminate the debt next month :T

Now it stands at:


Student overdraft: £151
Family loan: £165


It's a lower earning month but I'm glad I'm still able to put the planned amount towards debt, and contribute to our buy and sell fund. I need to remember that while my current job is a weak earner, it has enabled me to begin my training later this year. Confident that once I'm qualified I will have less pressure on the budget (I will try and avoid 'lifestyle drift'!). I think I've learned pretty well how to budget in the last few months. As long as I feel like I'm moving forward, I'm happy.