Giving every £ a job

Makingabobor2

Looks amazing. We keep saying we would like to try Gurnsey, but seems expensive to get there. 

Blackcats

@Makingabobor2 - we take our car on the ferry to Guernsey and it is quite pricey but we treat the crossings as part of the holiday and we don't end up spending much when we are there as we are self catering.  It is a very beautiful and interesting place.

Makingabobor2

Blackcats said:

@Makingabobor2 - we take our car on the ferry to Guernsey and it is quite pricey but we treat the crossings as part of the holiday and we don't end up spending much when we are there as we are self catering.  It is a very beautiful and interesting place.

Same for us when we go to the IOW. I love the crossing, especially early morning when the sun's just coming up. 

Blackcats

@Makingabobor2 - we sailed late evening last time and it was really pretty.  Spinnaker Tower looked great lit up.

we recently spent time with some folk who were being really careful with their spending.  I'm not sure if it was because of choice, necessity or habit.  I would guess it's choice and habit.  It reminded me about keeping an eye on spends and not wasting money on little bits and bobs that add up.  However, there were a few instances when I thought "just enjoy yourselves in the moment".  It's all a matter of balance I suppose and it highlighted for me that as long as we have a firm financial footing and our health we should keep having fun but not waste money on things that aren't important.

we have de-cluttered and organised the house a fair bit over the last few months and I certainly don't want to fill it up again.  It's so much easier to keep it clean and tidy and not waste time wandering round looking for where things have been left.

foxgloves

Please tell me you haven't succumbed to buying a plastic cactus......

Blackcats

foxgloves said:

Please tell me you haven't succumbed to buying a plastic cactus......

Ha ha 🤣.  Don't forget that the cactus was plastic AND sparkly.  The sparkly, plastic cactus is forever my benchmark of "do I need that cr^p?"  Interesting that at the time, the plastic cactus seemed to represent something that would enhance my home and therefore fill my life with happiness as I can think of no other explanation of why I used to buy tat.  I still look at homeware in garden centres and supermarket aisles and will occasionally buy things but by and large less things equal less mess equals less tidying, dusting etc.

However, I do have a beautiful tub of real succulents in the garden that even without the addition of glitter are beautiful.

Blackcats

I'm excited to be starting September with another attempt at using YNAB.  I think I've set it all up but I'm still making errors like outflowing when I want to inflow, using the wrong source account etc but at least I've worked out how to correct my mistakes.  I thought I'd give it another go to help with holiday planning and other mid to long term savings goals.  I know @joedenise uses YNAB to plan for her trips so I've been inspired to setup a few lines for holidays.  I was surprised at how much each pot needs to be funded every month in order to reach the required amount.  I think I was kidding myself and allocating the same money to more than one place.

Wanna_Bee_Free

Good luck with YNAB. It is a rather odd suggestion but I have taken the time to put a little emoji at the start of each category name, like a plane or a guitar or a Christmas tree or something. I don't know why but I find it makes me feel more happy. Might just be me! I am terrible for stealing stuff from one category to another so I'm giving it up until the end of the month as per my diary title. 

savingholmes

You seem to find the right balance to me. I recently came across a book on dying with 0 as an aspiration - part way through but an interesting read. Makes you re-evaluate social tropes / norms but not sure where the book will lead me as I don't yet feel I have 'enough' to be able to quite working and still be 'responsible' i.e. able to pay my mortgage!!

Blackcats

Thanks SH - finding a new balance is interesting.  Spending without feeling guilty on wants rather than needs is not as easy as I had thought, especially after years of spending the bank's money without a second thought.  We are definitely enjoying experiences rather than things for the sake of things.  

So, I've persevered with y nab and have concluded that my regular bills and outgoings don't need such close attention to detail.  This isn't as reckless as it might sound because I manually record how much they are and they are always funded each month.  I think I would find it too tedious to fiddle with these which I know sounds a bit lazy but I'm not setting myself up to fail.  

That leaves discretionary spending and saving.  I've had a wake up call about how much I really need to put aside each month to fund holidays, annual bills, birthdays etc.  

Christmas should be well and truly fully funded through a regular saver and I'm fine with just leaving the money there til it's needed.  Birthdays are tricker as this will be a rolling fund and the amount will fluctuate rather than accumulate and my poor brain finds that difficult.  

Anyhow I've started with a realistic assessment of birthday/celebration spends over the next 12 months and divided by 12 - this rocket science isn't as difficult as they say it is 🤣.  Again a real wake up call as we have lots of grandchildren, a fair few kids, other family and friends who we buy for and I also enjoy just giving a gift, just because it's a nice thing to do.  We also have 2 milestone big birthdays in the next 12 months so I've added in extra costs there.  It's been really helpful to come up with a monthly amount and I've front loaded the birthday pot with 2 month's money to add to the £50 that was already there so I don't feel like I'm chasing my tail. 

I'm really pleased to have clarified my muddled thinking and to have a plan in place.

will focus on another category this week.