YNAB...ing my way to freedom!

ceremony

Are you treating yourself to things that really make you happy, or just frittering away things wastefully? Could you increase your 'fun' budget very slightly, then make yourself a bit more strict about sticking to it. So you don't feel deprived but are thinking about what you spend?

Bad example, but I buy a coffee while I'm waiting for the bus after going grocery shopping. I'd really miss that part of my weekly ritual if I stopped doing it. I don't 'need' to buy a pastry with it. It was easy to stop buying a pastry with it when I decided I was going to tackle my debts and spending - and the money I save by NOT buying a pastry is enough to clear my two smallest debts in a year. When you put it like that it's easy to stop.

SuperFrank88

ceremony said:

Are you treating yourself to things that really make you happy, or just frittering away things wastefully? Could you increase your 'fun' budget very slightly, then make yourself a bit more strict about sticking to it. So you don't feel deprived but are thinking about what you spend?

Bad example, but I buy a coffee while I'm waiting for the bus after going grocery shopping. I'd really miss that part of my weekly ritual if I stopped doing it. I don't 'need' to buy a pastry with it. It was easy to stop buying a pastry with it when I decided I was going to tackle my debts and spending - and the money I save by NOT buying a pastry is enough to clear my two smallest debts in a year. When you put it like that it's easy to stop.

Hi @ceremony

The things I am overspending on definitely don’t make me happy so it is more impulse buys. My fun money pot is already set at £200 which is 10% of my take home pay so I think that is more than enough. 

I think it is just a bit of a backlash from saving so much for the first 9 months of the year. But I do need to sort it out because I have worked had to get my budget in place and working well, I don’t want to start unraveling all the good work. 

ceremony

@superfrank88 being aware of what you're spending is a huge part of the battle! Yes, it's definitely easy to feel like you "deserve" to treat yourself and this year has been pretty rough so far. It sounds to me like you've got things pretty well in hand, so as long as you're still on target just really THINK about what you're spending

SuperFrank88

ceremony said:

@superfrank88 being aware of what you're spending is a huge part of the battle! Yes, it's definitely easy to feel like you "deserve" to treat yourself and this year has been pretty rough so far. It sounds to me like you've got things pretty well in hand, so as long as you're still on target just really THINK about what you're spending

I went through my categories on YNAB and most of the spends are in 'eating out' venues. I also need to have a 'Golf' category as I have now started playing again and it is an expensive hobby, but I love it! So yes, I need to be more 'strict' with my categories and stop being lazy by putting it all in 'fun money' then wondering where it all went without having fun  

joedenise

Definitely need a Golf category!  As you say an expensive hobby.  Haven't played for a while but DH and I are thinking about playing more now so will need to add a line in YNAB to cover this.

SuperFrank88

Well we had some bad news yesterday. Long story short, my OH started her nursing degree course a week before Covid shut the country down. She was originally told that all of her first year would be taught online as it was not safe for them to go out on placement. She was relieved about this as she had been shielding due to having a condition that puts her in the high risk category. Two weeks ago she had an email saying that normal placement practices would resume w/c 21st Sept. She was given a placement on a ward which she obviously could not attend as she is still off from her job as a healthcare in the hospital as it is not safe for the shielding staff to return. She approached the university to ask them to find her an alternative placement where she could socially distance and would be in a low risk area. The uni could not find anywhere apparently, so the only option they have given her is to suspend her from the course! She is heartbroken as she has worked so hard during lock down and has got above 80% in every exam/assignment. She is in touch with her union now to try and fight it. The part she was most annoyed about from the meeting yesterday was when the head of nursing said "It will be easier for me if you suspend from the course as it is less paperwork and we won't have to scrutinise the occupational health report, it will also look bad on the university if we suspend you and we don't want that because we get audited"...wow she is lucky I was not sat in the meeting, cheeky ***! She is effectively putting my OH's career on stop and all she is thinking about is how bad it will look on the uni because they will have to give a reason why they are suspending her, which is that they have not got enough placement places. That sounds like a them problem to me! 

But that is not the worst of it, as she will be suspended, it means her NHS bursary will stop immediately! This is effectively reducing her monthly income by 60%! So this weekend we are going to do some number crunching to see how I can support her. We both use YNAB so it should be easy to work it all out. She hates the fact that she is going to have to rely on me financially for a period of time as she is so independent, but we are a team!

I have told her it is a small blip and to try and look at the positives, she is safe & healthy and we will be just fine, Ok, the golf category is going to have to take a back burner but needs must    

Sarahwithlove

That's awful. Let's hope her union can do something to help her out. She surely has rights? 

SuperFrank88

Hi all, 
Been quiet for a couple of weeks so I thought I would write a post. Nothing really happening at the moment. We are in local lockdown in South Wales but I am still travelling to work so nothing seems different. One of the apprentices phoned yesterday to say he had been in contact with someone who had tested positive so he now needs to self-isolate for 14 days. It has really dropped us in the $**t as we are such a small group and rely on each other to get the work done. I wouldn't be so angry if he wasn't being so irresponsible by going out with his mates every weekend. He is 19 after all and maybe I am being a grumpy old man but when the rest of us are trying our best to be mindful, it does leave a sour taste in the mouth. Hey-ho we will crack on without him.

OH is still waiting to hear the outcome from her uni about her suspension due to not being able to go out on placement as she is in the high risk category.

In finance news, I actually added up all my savings 'pots' and accounts this morning that I started only back in January this year. I have a total of £6.5k!! I was so shocked at this because the pots all look small value, but they really do add up. This has given me the much needed boost to get back into the saving mindset. I have been pretty good the last few weeks after a bad couple of months where I think a bit of saving fatigue had kicked in (plus I started playing golf again!)

I need to start thinking about the dreaded Christmas shopping soon as don't want to leave it too late. This is the first year ever where I will have the money set aside and won't be frantically rushing around the shops after December 20th' pay check! 

That's it from me  

Frank

greensalad

SuperFrank88 said:

I need to start thinking about the dreaded Christmas shopping soon as don't want to leave it too late. This is the first year ever where I will have the money set aside and won't be frantically rushing around the shops after December 20th' pay check! 

This is what I'm excited for too. Usually the pre-Christmas paycheque goes on topping up presents and then somehow inexplicably is used up by 1st January. It was actually the "inbetween week" time that made me first start using YNAB. I started my YNAB journey on 31st December 2018 shortly after buying a bottle of champagne in Sainsburys on my way to a party and realising I now didn't have enough to get through the month

Drawingaline

Normally I would have started my Xmas shopping last month. But we are hoping to move house in early November And I really don't want to be moving stuff like that then! I have a list though, and money set aside. It's such a nice relaxing way to do Xmas.