Extracting head from sand and facing the truth

redmel1621

Lydia42 wrote: »

:rotfl: no i don't think it's cheating to allocate money before getting paid - although previously i did so maybe that's part of where i have been going wrong? It's all there listed, now i have planned it all first, including what i'd LIKE to spend money on as well as what we HAVE to pay for. So all our direct debits etc are listed as well as what i have budgeted for food, then i will allocate wages once they come in. Currently it's a huge red negative number lol but I'll allocate in order of most importance and when the DD's get taken, and update when hubby gets paid on last day of the month and allocate his money too. If we are short, i'll have to look at cutting back on what i'd like to spend on - something i definitely have gotten wrong for a very long time :cool:
At the moment i'm still on the free trial so i haven't made my mind up yet, but i'm liking the look of YNAB so far and plan to stick to using it properly until the free trial ends before i make a decision.

Sounds like you are doing really well with it and really getting the hang of it.

I am tackling my shopping bill. We seem to be spending more than ever, although I know that is because the kids are all getting older now and eating a lot more. It is also because all 6 of us need packed lunches now. Wheras a couple of years ago dh was out of work, I was at uni and the two younger ones were in primary (so free meals) so I only really had to do 2 packed lunches (and one for me on the odd day I was at uni all day) Dh and I ate at home, which seemed to be a lot cheaper. He now does a manual type job, which mean he gets super hungry. DS1 is a typical teenage/man that never stops eating and DS2 a growing teen that also has hollow legs...

Just debating the logistics of a monthly shop, but given we fill a trolley overflowing just for a weekly shop, I am not sure how I would do it :eek:

Lydia42

Redmel1621 - i feel your pain. Our shopping bill is shocking. I've just joined the October Challenge over on the 'old style' board to try and keep focused on it this month. I've budgeted £360 for food for the month and £40 cleaning stuff/bog rolls. Neither of my kids get free school meals now and my son seems to inhale food constantly. I've started sending hubby to work with sarnies to reduce his spending in petrol stations and coffee shops during the day as he didn't used to take anything with him. I did a weekly shop yesterday at Lidl - usually use our local Tesco but need to crack this food budget lark. Perhaps if you do a weekly shop first and see how you get on, rather than trying to do a whole month in one go?

On a positive note i've just paid the final installment on our Barclaycard - just waiting for it to show as zero balance. Eeeeeeeek. I was contemplating keeping the CC in case we need to do a balance transfer from one of the others cards at some point, but i'm thinking that perhaps i might be able to get a better deal on a new card by then, and should remove the temptation completely by closing it.........decisions.

BabyStepper

I seem to be replying to this over three different threads now (!) but just wanted to add that mortgage lenders don't seem to care so much about overdrafts as long as your wage goes in there once a month and pays most of it off. Even if it's only for 10 minutes until the bills start flying out.

Also wondering how much credit you have available just now?

Great news about paying the Barclacard off! You deserve a small parade, a fanfare, and a 'well done!' letter from Barclaycard.

Brookside88

Lydia42 wrote: »

Redmel1621 - i feel your pain. Our shopping bill is shocking. I've just joined the October Challenge over on the 'old style' board to try and keep focused on it this month. I've budgeted £360 for food for the month and £40 cleaning stuff/bog rolls. Neither of my kids get free school meals now and my son seems to inhale food constantly. I've started sending hubby to work with sarnies to reduce his spending in petrol stations and coffee shops during the day as he didn't used to take anything with him. I did a weekly shop yesterday at Lidl - usually use our local Tesco but need to crack this food budget lark. Perhaps if you do a weekly shop first and see how you get on, rather than trying to do a whole month in one go?

On a positive note i've just paid the final installment on our Barclaycard - just waiting for it to show as zero balance. Eeeeeeeek. I was contemplating keeping the CC in case we need to do a balance transfer from one of the others cards at some point, but i'm thinking that perhaps i might be able to get a better deal on a new card by then, and should remove the temptation completely by closing it.........decisions.

I have a cleared Barclaycard with a 8.5k limit and called them to ask about a balance transfer offer and they said no. General consensus is that they don't do balance transfer offers for existing card holders so I'm going to close mine and apply again for a new one

Lydia42

Gutted. Just re-done our balances and we've overspent pretty badly. CC balances are coming down slowly and Barclaycard cleared this month but we've just been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Really took eye off the ball and our over-draft balance has increased big time. So cross with myself for being so crap at this.
Off to sulk for a bit, take a deep breath and go back over the bank statement to see what's going on. Still can't get my head around getting started properly on YNAB. Feeling like the only stupid person as everyone else sings it's praises and gets on with it. I can see how good it would be i just can't get it started as a current working thing. May need to spend the next few nights looking for and watching how to videos. Gotta get a grip on all this.

blue_eyed_girl123

Don't give up! I tried YNAB and wasn't a fan much prefer piggybanking - separate accounts but know how much the monthly DD's are for example and they are in one account and shopping money in another etc . Hope this helps and keep on working on the bank statements

redmel1621

Lydia42 wrote: »

Gutted. Just re-done our balances and we've overspent pretty badly. CC balances are coming down slowly and Barclaycard cleared this month but we've just been robbing Peter to pay Paul. Really took eye off the ball and our over-draft balance has increased big time. So cross with myself for being so crap at this.
Off to sulk for a bit, take a deep breath and go back over the bank statement to see what's going on. Still can't get my head around getting started properly on YNAB. Feeling like the only stupid person as everyone else sings it's praises and gets on with it. I can see how good it would be i just can't get it started as a current working thing. May need to spend the next few nights looking for and watching how to videos. Gotta get a grip on all this.

You are not the only one who has overspent. I also feel like a failure this month, but I am going to keep on going. Keep on updating the diary and try my best to get on top of it.

Have you bought YNAB for the year?

Lydia42

Thanks Peeps.
No, i haven't bought the subscription for YNAB yet. I've just totally confused myself with it. I've gone back to spreadsheet for the moment and am trying to keep receipts too to see whats going on. I'm checking bank account every day and marking off all payments as they clear (direct debits and card payments, etc). Hubbie and i are doing Stoptober this month so hopefully no alcohol will help control our food spend which i know is a major over-spending area. It's also allowing me to see on a daily basis the state of our bank balance.

Blue_eyed_girl123 - i may well have to go down the route of piggy banking if i can't get this to work. I've actually got some separate bank accounts that would allow this so may look into this as an option next month.

So, big girl pants are pulled up and i'm back on this. Can't give up. Have decided to leave the empty Barclaycard as it is for the moment as it shows as unused available credit when we go for our re-mortgage. I may have to do a balance transfer to the card to get rid of our over-draft which is the only debt costing us each month at the moment, but i'll see how that's looking next month.

Working_Mum

Hey Lydia42,
Try not be too downhearted!You recognised an issue and are taking action.

I get up 20 minutes early every day to be able start my day with a good fiscal head on (like Wurzel Gummidge!!). Whilst the kettle is boiling I check my bank account and track the previous days spends in my spends book/journal. I always ask for a receipt much to my children's embarrassment :-)

I balance the cash in my purse in the back of my spends book and any card payments at the front - I have columns for fuel/food/kids school/kids other and LIFE!!

I take £150 cash out each week (less if I have less) and this is my FFF Money (Fun, Fuel and Food) - I always put £30 fuel in my car each Thursday as that tends to cover it and then depending on my social life I either eat really well or have beans on toast!! I keep it flexible because I don't like to feel constrained.

I use my early starts to get myself up to date and then I know there is nothing else I can do towards my debt paying and know how much I have to spend for that day and have a rough To Do List of other stuff.

I never got on well with YNAB despite trying very hard!! This little "analogue" systems has worked brilliantly for me for the last 9 years I can't imagine changing anytime soon to be honest!

Good luck

Lydia42

Thanks Working Mum. I think i'm trying too hard to get systems in place and have been flitting from one thing to another and not actually tracking stuff properly. Sounds like you have got it cracked. I like the idea of getting up early, before the chaos of the school runs etc take over, and getting on track for the day. I could do my to-do list at the same time, as i am struggling to keep on top of other things at the moment too.

Petrol for the car is a bit of a black hole. I'm struggling to get hubbie to keep a track of what he is putting in his car - must try harder to get this info. And i have a fuel card for my car. I've started keeping receipts to track what i am filling up the car with as work deduct straight from my salary each month, but they adjust depending on my work mileage and apparently what we pay at the pump isn't what the company gets charged?! All very confusing, so my take home salary is actually fluid dependent on fuel deductions which i am unable to calculate.

I think next week i need to take out cash for the week and pop it in a purse to keep in the kitchen. Once the money is gone, it's gone and we need to wait for the following week. I think it really has got to be that strict at the moment......