varfor's mystical journey

varfor

Mortgage update

Ticking away at ~£109,800. No overpayments since Feb '24.

October will be the first time in 3 months that we'll have two salaries coming in. This gives us a much needed opportunity to rebuild an emergency fund. As much as I would like to overpay the mortgage I need to ensure we don't end up with cash flow issues in the short to medium term.

Cutting expenses

Takeaway update

We managed to go a week without buying takeaway. It got close but I cooked dinner at 9pm after the kids took aaages to fall asleep. The air fryer has proven great for times like this. We can get something healthier than a takeaway ready in a similar amount of time for a fraction of the cost.

Coffee update

All coffees made at home this week which is another saving.

Amazon update

Only one purchase this week (a birthday present). Amazon is something I want to look closer at. For a long time we have used it to side step our budget. It's so convenient to buy anything and everything there that we buy things without thinking and then regret it later.

Nerdy stuff

Grocery bill tracking

Over the past couple of weeks I have built a system where I can input the receipt for our weekly grocery shop and turn into spreadsheet / data form. Today I added the ability to track wastage and map it against a receipt to calculate the cost. This weeks wastage was ~£9. Over time I'll be able to see if we're throwing away the same things and aim to reduce that.

YNAB

I have used YNAB for years but have fallen into a bad habit of using it as a passive expense tracker rather than living within a budget. This week I want to go through existing categories and update them ahead of planning for October.

Non-finance

I did some form of exercise every week day this week. It is difficult to find time during the weekends due to the kids but chasing them around has somewhat compensated

varfor

Mortgage update

~£109,900 at the moment. Kind of sucks seeing it tick up with the 5% rate. It will be a while before I overpay but will get there eventually.

Cutting expenses

Takeaway update

No takeaways. This is working out much better than in previous months. It became at least a weekly event earlier this year. Deliveroo/JustEat are far too convenient. The notifications they send at 5pm worked even though I know what they're doing! I can't rely on my discipline so no more fast food apps for me.

My wife had a couple of meals out with family / work. She rarely gets the chance so it was worth it.

Coffee update

Another successful week of coffees from the coffee machine only. Probably a bit too successful in terms of caffeine consumed!

Amazon update

No Amazon purchases this week. The monthly Prime £8.99 was paid. Maybe in time we can reassess if it's needed. It's a good deal for Amazon because Prime has definitely made us spend more over the years.

Nerdy stuff

Grocery bill tracking

Still need to buy this week's shop. We've made better use of food this week though. A common thing we did was eat takeaway through tiredness and leave food in the fridge to go off. It feels good not to be as wasteful.

I have noticed in the past couple of weeks that our 'top up' trips to the local shop have decreased. This wasn't a goal (or something I had really noticed) but it does represent a decent saving. Multiple ~£10 trips a week add up.

YNAB

I found some time to sort out all of the budget categories and make them more realistic. There's still some work to do to get my wife on board but it's going to be slowly slowly.

I've started exploring the YNAB API to see what budget related data I can experiment with. I am going to wait until I think of a useful idea before doing any more. Otherwise I'm going to end up building a bad version of YNAB.

Non-finance

I've kept up daily exercise in one form or another and have been eating more healthily. Between children and work I am exhausted.

varfor

Shop wastage was ~£7 this week. Mostly veg that has gone bad. With better meal planning and more intentional purchasing this should come down. I'm noticing our shopping list more accurately reflects what we need rather than being a last minute cobbled together thing.

varfor

Mortgage update

Ticking along. The payment came out at the start of the month. Balance ~£109,200.

Cutting expenses

Takeaway update

One takeaway last weekend after a marathon of children's parties. (I'm sticking to that as a good excuse).

I opted to cook dinner instead of having another takeaway today. It was tempting but thinking about the cost persuaded me.

Coffee update

Two lattes out and about today but that's it for the week. At the height of my profligacy I was buying at least one coffee per work day.

Amazon update

A couple of small work-related purchases. No mindless buying.

Nerdy stuff

Grocery bill tracking

My software is a little buggy but I am living with it due to limited time.Wastage £5.60 this week. It has fallen week-on-week so far. I think there's room for improvement still.

YNAB

I have started adding categories as I identify them rather than over-using the emergency fund category. This will give a better picture of our true expenses.

Non-finance

I have been binge listening to true-crime podcasts this week. I enjoyed the six billion dollar scam and am now onto Crimetown.

julicorn

We've just overhauled our YNAB set-up as well after not using it as effectively as we could over the last few years, so October is a bit of a fresh start for us as well

Thank you also for the podcast recommendation, I love a bit of true crime. Will have to check that one out 

varfor

Finance update

I fell off the wagon with my updates. I find these days I have to leave goals to one side if work or family life becomes too much.

I'm not beating myself up about it though. I know I can pick it up when things are easier again.

Mortgage update

I'm not overpaying at the moment due to building up an emergency fund. Balance sits at ~£108,200.

Emergency fund is ~£2,500 which is the healthiest it has looked for a long time. I'm hoping to get it to £9,000 before looking at any over payments, investments etc.

Cutting expenses

Takeaway update

No takeaway spend this week. It has been better this year but just calculated we've spent £842 since my last update. Lots of work to do!

Coffee update

This category may have to go. My spending on coffee is negligible these days. I've been enjoying my 'Hot Lava Java' in the mornings.

Amazon update

Our spend since the last update has been ~£2,000. This is largely Christmas and birthday presents with a lot of convenience purchases thrown in. I need to work on categorising these better in YNAB. Right now this spending doesn't feel quantified.

Nerdy stuff

Grocery bill tracking

I'm back on track with this. It has really helped me track what has been received in the online shop and query missed items. I've also discovered the most wasted thing in our household is broccoli. Wastage this week was £4.75.

YNAB

Continuing to use it as more of a expense tracker although we are staying in budget and using any income for the next month. I'm trying to get Ms Varfor on board with budgeting but it's best to do that slowly and not be pushy.

Non-finance

I've been enjoying the 'Origin Story' podcast a lot. It's a good listen when so much of the political news is incredibly depressing (to me at least).

LadyWithAPlan

Sounds like you are nice and focused despite being busy. I have ynab categories for gifts, home /office stuff and no general AMaz*n category - so i pretty quickly stopped my pr*me subscription

varfor

Finance update

DW and I have been unwell with a covid/flu/cold thing now for at least a month. She's getting better while I've been at the peak of it! I think I am on the mend now though. I have fallen off with exercise, goals etc but our budgeting has not suffered too badly.

Mortgage update

£108,316. I'd love to pay more than the monthly payment but it's not going to happen for a while.

Cutting expenses

Takeaway update

Another week of no takeaway which makes it £0 spent for February.

Given it's half-term this week there will be some eating out costs but it's conscious rather than unplanned.

Amazon update

One of the baby monitor cameras broke so we made an unexpected £60 purchase on a replacement. Generally not spending too much on Amazon at the moment.

Nerdy stuff

Grocery bill tracking

£7.69 wastage this week down to not sticking to the meal plan fully. Not beating myself up about it though.

YNAB

It's entirely me using it to inform spending which is not ideal. We do have a monthly budget meeting in the calendar but it hasn't happened yet due to general life chaos.

Non-finance

DW is considering leaving her 'part time' job due to the amount of work expected outside of hours. It has a real impact on stress, health and family life in general. I think she's better off finding truly part time work on lower pay. We can adjust to that and have more slack day to day.