Facing reality

Sarahwithlove

Blackcats said:

Hello - just echoing others saying how well you've done this year - great progress.
fingers crossed you get the bathroom light sorted out quickly.  I have a vision of Bridget Jones when she was putting her make up on in the dark and used blusher instead of face powder 😱

Thanks its deffo helped being in lockdown and ynab has been a game changer for my budgeting.

t2rry said:

Hello!  I've just caught up with your diary and you're doing so well!! I had the same sinking fund/pay off dilemma recently.  Actually I have it repeatedly because I always re-evaluate month after month, but definitely whichever I think is better for your mentality!! Sorry to hear your property/sofa sagas though, hope you can get both sorted soon!

I'm the same every month i look at it and wonder to myself whether I should build up the sinking Fund or pay off more debt. Its a hard battle to decide between the two. I usually end up somewhere in a mix of both or paying for a expense when it occurs. 

welshspendthrift

Sarahwithlove said:

Thanks its deffo helped being in lockdown and ynab has been a game changer for my budgeting

I downloaded YNAB but it seems there is a charge for it. Is that right or did I download the wrong thing? I have cancelled as don’t want any additional outgoings! You are doing very well and I’m reading and learning 😀 thank you 

Sarahwithlove

welshspendthrift said:

Sarahwithlove said:

Thanks its deffo helped being in lockdown and ynab has been a game changer for my budgeting

I downloaded YNAB but it seems there is a charge for it. Is that right or did I download the wrong thing? I have cancelled as don’t want any additional outgoings! You are doing very well and I’m reading and learning 😀 thank you 

There is unless you are a student? I got a free year due to apprenticeship at work even though I only did a few weeks before they realised it wasn't relevant to my job role I had the letter so could get my free year. It runs out in March and I'm gonna renew it because for me it's saved me so much money that it's worth it. I believe you get a free trial of a month to see if works for you. 

welshspendthrift

Yes there is a free month, must admit I haven’t got to grips with it and being a bit half hearted as I thought would not carry on anyway due to cost. Thank you Sarahwithlove

Sarahwithlove

welshspendthrift said:

Yes there is a free month, must admit I haven’t got to grips with it and being a bit half hearted as I thought would not carry on anyway due to cost. Thank you Sarahwithlove

It's very much a love or hate thing people find. But if you need longer to get to grips with it before deciding whether to pay just contact them they are quite good and extending the free trial. But make sure if you do sign up you do it through them direct and not apple or anything as you pay more. 

joedenise

I'm quite lucky in that I still have the old YNAB4 (now called Classic) which I bought outright after the free trial about 6 years ago - the only problem being that if anything goes wrong with it they no longer support it and then I'll need to decide whether I want to move over to the new YNAB and pay that ongoing cost.

I have to admit I have found it very useful and will probably move over to the new version at that stage, although I might just try setting up my own spreadsheet first to see if that works for me!

mark55man

nothing wrong with an old piece of software, so long as nothing else changes on your system it should go on for ever (except that things are always changing!!) - but generally things stay backward compatible for longer than you might imagine - so you should get a few more years out of your system, until it breaks.  why don't you start putting the YNAB fee (which you are not paying) into a savings pot for a new machine so that when it does go pop you are used to the expenditure and hopefully got a few hundred pounds towards it

joedenise

Thanks @mark55man but I should be OK for a while yet with the laptop as I only bought it a few months ago (a refurbed Dell for £99!).  I've got a PC pot on YNAB which covers things like a replacement laptop, replacement printer, paper, ink so should be OK so don't really need to put anything extra in.  I only had to buy the laptop because I usually use a MacBook but when it updated it went from 16 Bit to 32 Bit and the old YNAB will only work on 16 Bit so it was cheaper to buy a new laptop than to keep paying monthly for something I didn't really need!

PS Sorry for hijacking your thread @Sarahwithlove.

mark55man

one last post - £99 for a refurb Dell to avoid paying £7a month is the most MSE thing I've heard in a while.  I like Dell as that's what I use at work

 I love the way these diaries are full of inspiration and progress

jwil

I've just read through your diary.  You've made so much progress this year.  Hope the sofa is sorted once and for all.