Facing reality

ryanm8655

mark55man said:

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

Agreed ha.

Sarahwithlove

joedenise said:

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.

Ha that's OK. If I like you had access to original I think I would have done the same. Although I mostly use the app on my phone for ynab so for me the newer version is probs best. 

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

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

I swear by the app so for me paying the fee will be worth while. 

Sarahwithlove

jwil said:

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

Thank you it's a nice feeling going into 2021 with just the one card. For now I am focusing on building the sinking funds back up and then in 2nd half of year will attack the debt more aggressively. I will carry on paying £125 a month off the card which will clear it before end of 2021. My loan to my dad I am going to just keep going with £100 a month until my card is cleared and I have a better sinking fund built up.
Of course I'm more than likely to change my mind several times throughout the year. But I will get there in end and just keep doing what I'm doing. 

Sarahwithlove

Had a very productive day today. Been and done a big food shop so hopefully next week shouldn't ever too much as only have about £80 for the month left in the budget oops.
Set up mortgage overpayments on my online banking. Made a £1 tester overpayment. Worked out if can manage £75 a month then would bring my mortgage below £100k by end of December 2021. So that's my aim. 
Also cancelled two of my empty credit cards and sent an online message about closing the 3rd. That will leave me with my virgin one which is 0% purchase until October and my credit card which is 0% until May 2022 on current balance transfer. Both always send me new offers as well so handy ones to keep open in case of emergency in future. I want to say i will never use one again but I'm also realistic enough to realise that sometimes unexpected situations happen. I am saving up my sinking funds and I have an EF of £1k so hopefully it won't be needed but I'm just being realistic.
I am still musing over my goals financially for next year. I know I want my card paid off by end of it but I'm debating between going hard at it and clearing it or just setting up regular payment and using remainder for my sinking funds. Right now I'm leaning towards that a I'm aware that I have a lot of car stuff that needs doing in next 6 months and odd jobs I'd like to get done around the flat. 

Plan for 2021
- £125 pm on credit card. Cleared December 2021.
-£100 pm to Dad loan - just keep this ticking over as is. Dad is in no rush for the money and I can always save extra after sinking funds are saved up.
-£350 pm minimum to sinking funds.
-split remaining between increasing emergency fund and mortgage overpayments.
-minimum of £75 a month mortgage overpayment.

At the moment I have small amount of personal spends money which I will need to consider increasing next year as things go back to normal a bit more. Or just be better with it. Think might go back through my banking and ynab to get idea of what i am spending it on. Amazon I think. I have removed the app from my phone so have to go through Internet explorer which makes it bit more difficult. I have about £50 left for this month, not sure what will need to spend it in. Hoping i might get chance to meet up with my bestie once I have got rid of this cold. Which actually a lot of my money is going on, about £10 a week along with cost@ and M@ccyDs. Also need to stop buying so much sweets and chocolate and fizzy drinks. Not good for my health, bad for the diet and bad for the bank balance. OK maybe I don't need to go through my bank statements. 

mark55man

once you have sorted out the big one off things, there is often a lot of money to be saved by looking at the small frequent things.  If you half the frequency you half the cost - by the laws of mathematics.  and often you only really want one half the time so in terms of reward and pleasure you half the cost for 80% of the enjoyment 

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

once you have sorted out the big one off things, there is often a lot of money to be saved by looking at the small frequent things.  If you half the frequency you half the cost - by the laws of mathematics.  and often you only really want one half the time so in terms of reward and pleasure you half the cost for 80% of the enjoyment 

Yes I'm thinking i will limit myself to a coffee once a week and takeaway/McDonald's every 2 weeks. I have cut my hairdresser down a lot this year, was 6 weekly at start of year and now it's 10 weekly. After my cut next week going to not book next one and just go for when I need it. Only due to being Xmas time that I actually booked it in for next week. 

mark55man

Sarahwithlove said:

mark55man said:

once you have sorted out the big one off things, there is often a lot of money to be saved by looking at the small frequent things.  If you half the frequency you half the cost - by the laws of mathematics.  and often you only really want one half the time so in terms of reward and pleasure you half the cost for 80% of the enjoyment 

Yes I'm thinking i will limit myself to a coffee once a week and takeaway/McDonald's every 2 weeks. I have cut my hairdresser down a lot this year, was 6 weekly at start of year and now it's 10 weekly. After my cut next week going to not book next one and just go for when I need it. Only due to being Xmas time that I actually booked it in for next week. 

LOL - I love it when my DD2 is at home as she gives me a buzzcut (clippers @ 4) and manages to do it better than OH or myself.  I haven't actually paid for a hair cut this year - but I do understand my need for hair style may be considerably less than most people

Sarahwithlove

mark55man said:

Sarahwithlove said:

mark55man said:

once you have sorted out the big one off things, there is often a lot of money to be saved by looking at the small frequent things.  If you half the frequency you half the cost - by the laws of mathematics.  and often you only really want one half the time so in terms of reward and pleasure you half the cost for 80% of the enjoyment 

Yes I'm thinking i will limit myself to a coffee once a week and takeaway/McDonald's every 2 weeks. I have cut my hairdresser down a lot this year, was 6 weekly at start of year and now it's 10 weekly. After my cut next week going to not book next one and just go for when I need it. Only due to being Xmas time that I actually booked it in for next week. 

LOL - I love it when my DD2 is at home as she gives me a buzzcut (clippers @ 4) and manages to do it better than OH or myself.  I haven't actually paid for a hair cut this year - but I do understand my need for hair style may be considerably less than most people

Yes sadly I can't cut my own hair. It's a lot longer now so doesn't need doing as much. Think it's easier for guys lol. My hair is also really thick so have it thinned out when they cut it as well. 

ryanm8655

Sarahwithlove said:

Had a very productive day today. Been and done a big food shop so hopefully next week shouldn't ever too much as only have about £80 for the month left in the budget oops.
Set up mortgage overpayments on my online banking. Made a £1 tester overpayment. Worked out if can manage £75 a month then would bring my mortgage below £100k by end of December 2021. So that's my aim. 
Also cancelled two of my empty credit cards and sent an online message about closing the 3rd. That will leave me with my virgin one which is 0% purchase until October and my credit card which is 0% until May 2022 on current balance transfer. Both always send me new offers as well so handy ones to keep open in case of emergency in future. I want to say i will never use one again but I'm also realistic enough to realise that sometimes unexpected situations happen. I am saving up my sinking funds and I have an EF of £1k so hopefully it won't be needed but I'm just being realistic.
I am still musing over my goals financially for next year. I know I want my card paid off by end of it but I'm debating between going hard at it and clearing it or just setting up regular payment and using remainder for my sinking funds. Right now I'm leaning towards that a I'm aware that I have a lot of car stuff that needs doing in next 6 months and odd jobs I'd like to get done around the flat. 

Plan for 2021
- £125 pm on credit card. Cleared December 2021.
-£100 pm to Dad loan - just keep this ticking over as is. Dad is in no rush for the money and I can always save extra after sinking funds are saved up.
-£350 pm minimum to sinking funds.
-split remaining between increasing emergency fund and mortgage overpayments.
-minimum of £75 a month mortgage overpayment.

At the moment I have small amount of personal spends money which I will need to consider increasing next year as things go back to normal a bit more. Or just be better with it. Think might go back through my banking and ynab to get idea of what i am spending it on. Amazon I think. I have removed the app from my phone so have to go through Internet explorer which makes it bit more difficult. I have about £50 left for this month, not sure what will need to spend it in. Hoping i might get chance to meet up with my bestie once I have got rid of this cold. Which actually a lot of my money is going on, about £10 a week along with cost@ and M@ccyDs. Also need to stop buying so much sweets and chocolate and fizzy drinks. Not good for my health, bad for the diet and bad for the bank balance. OK maybe I don't need to go through my bank statements. 

Sounds a solid plan. I also had similar debates re: priorities and changed my mind several times haha. I personally think it’s a good idea to regularly review, helps maintain the motivation and interest.