Geeking out with YNAB

Jigglebiz

My work is now slowing down for the Summer and my next paycheque will need to cover 2 months’ living expenses. I plan to do the following over this and next month…

- Photograph and list spare tyre to sell on eBay (c£40)
- Clear and sell old laptop for parts (still not done this! c£100)
- go through all deep storage in the house and sell what we no longer need/use. Typically, there is loads that I know we have forgotten about. Won’t bring in a lot of cash but a few quid.

In other related news...

- spoke to a mortgage broker and it seems we are eligible for a mortgage if we ‘get a favourable underwriter’. Theoretically if agreed this could go up to £125k ::eek: I wouldn’t want to borrow more than £60k as I feel that’s a reasonable stretch given our current earnings.
- have paid off a debt to HMRC (£150) rather than saving towards something specific. This frees up £50 a month

:A

Jigglebiz

Some progress made:
- Have listed spare tyre on eBay as well as an old bike frame
- been looking into ways to make a bit of extra income over the summer - intend to get back into matched betting. I’ve dabbled in this before but never made a concerted effort - this time I have a figure in mind I’d like to earn, so I can put it towards our selling property fund
- signed up to survey sites and done some prolific surveys
- have been using spreadsheets to work out the lowest offer we could accept on our property to allow us to buy what we want (taking into account stamp duty, legal fees etc). My aim is to buy a property without a mortgage, to do this we’d need to sell for at least £220k. Last year similar properties to ours were going for £260k, but the market has taken a beating and not much seems to be moving without hefty reductions
- Spreadsheet budget has also given me a better idea of the savings cushion we need before the tenants move out and we lose that income. To cover 12 months of waiting for the property to sell requires nearly £5k, this is 3 times what we’ve already saved so I have some work to do there
- looked into new bank accounts with 0% interest rates to support us in case our property takes a long time to sell and we can’t meet the bills over several months - there is a good possibility we’ll need to borrow more :mad:
Nevertheless, feeling positive and motivated to bring in some extra cash

Jigglebiz

A little update. I've had some success with bringing in odd bits of extra cash:


- Sold old bike for parts - £11
- Completed a few surveys - £8.31
- Matched betting income - £35


Will also be adding £45 to my pay for next month as I've found some CPD I can claim for, so that's a bonus.


On the other hand, I've been a little spendy. Cheap items (eBay, charity shops) and arguably required, but still. Devils hands, idle work and all that. I need to find ways to occupy my time now that my work has died down THAT DO NOT INVOLVE SPENDING MONEY!! :rotfl:


(However I had a bit of birthday money to spend, so have stocked up on things I actually need with that rather than luxuries. Eg. work clothes for my new FT post, a much-needed backpack, clothes hangers!)


I've needed to transfer money between savings and current accounts a fair bit this month, which makes me a bit wary... but YNAB is reassuring because I have learnt that the actual bank balances are irrelevant. It's the categories that are important, so the cash needs to be where it is most liquid or accruing the most interest, as appopriate.


Remain concerned about our selling and buying of houses, as where we will sell is very sluggish with a high supply and flats listed at 10% down what they were last year. Where we are buying, there are few new houses coming on to the market. Considered delaying the purchase, buying elsewhere, etc. but there are no signs that this is a temporary dip in prices, and we are throwing away a lot of money in the meantime. So we will push ahead with the sale and hope that we can get enough to buy in this area, where the schools are good and our networks are. Even if it means buying a smaller house or a do-er upper. Fingers crossed.

Jigglebiz

Quick update. I can’t say the last week or two have been very MSE, as I’ve been spending on clothes. I’m putting together a capsule wardrobe for work for Autumn/Winter (ie. trying to buy as little as possible, but that all match with each other). I am starting with virtually nothing as I’ve lost a lot of weight recently, and since I’ll be working full time I need a fair few items. However, I’ve managed to be quite strategic in my purchases either in the sales or via eBay, and have done quite well. Still involves spending money though !

Extra income to add:

- matched betting £177 :j
- surveys £5.30
- eBay £2.20 waiting for payment :mad:

Looking forward to payday on Friday - I’m hoping for a bumper pay plus should finally be paid for some freelance work I did in March.

Jigglebiz

Oh, and I!!!8217;m finally going to sort the sale of my old laptop TOMORROW. I!!!8217;ve been been putting this off for months, but I have set the morning aside to sort it out once and for all. That should net me about £100.

Jigglebiz

Pay is in, and it's a very good month :T


Total income received this month: £4001

I've allocated this as follows:

Debt Repayments: £316
Fixed Monthly Bills: £1292 (I've added an additional £150 to the rent category for next month)
Fixed Expenses Rental Flat: £283
Variable Monthly Expenses: £967
Fixed Non-Monthly Expenses: £107
Savings toward selling and buying properties: £694
Holidays: £155
Optional Expenses (Fun): £54

THIS MONTH I AM CLEARING MY DEBT! :j


It's a great feeling to know that I won't have this burden on my income next month, although I plan to buy a second car ASAP partly using a 0% credit card. Have calculated that the repayments plus insurance, tax etc. will come to a similar figure as I am paying towards current debt. At least this way it won't feel like much effort !



Also good news, I know that next month I'll be earning enough to cover the bills despite working half the hours I usually do.



I've also listed a few items on eBay, including old laptop. Matched betting continues to bring in a steady stream of income and I'm doing the odd survey etc too.

Jigglebiz

Quick update:

eBay income : £246
Matched betting income : £280

Decided not to take out debt to buy a new car, we should be able to get something decent although old with cash. Happy about that as it’s a great feeling to be debt free.

Jigglebiz

Another quick update. Will be back with full payday breakdowns.

eBay & Facebook marketplace income : £384
Matched betting income : c. £380

Still have £150ish worth of stuff for sale.

Bought a functioning car without using debt - pleased with that.

Jigglebiz

Slightly delayed payday breakdowns for the month, but here we go:


Total income received this month: £3010


I've allocated this as follows:

Debt Repayments: £0
Fixed Monthly Bills: £1054
Fixed Expenses Rental Flat: £76
Variable Monthly Expenses: £587
Fixed Non-Monthly Expenses: £55
Savings toward selling and buying properties: £773
Holidays: £33
Optional Expenses (Fun): £71