My 5 Year Plan to a better life!

savingholmes

Just caught up on your diary. Another introvert here... Good luck with getting your home exactly how you want it. Love the sound of having a workshop. I am hoping to set up multiple craft areas in my home very shortly.

MuffinTops

Hello savingholmes, lovely to meet you.  I've had a quick look at your diary and am catching up on life where you are.  Having multiple craft areas in your home will be amazing.  

MuffinTops

My plastering is done.  Yay!  I hadn't realised how much of an echo occurs in a newly plastered room though.  It's so weird, in a funny way.

He finished everything on Monday and now I need to choose the skirting boards and door etc for that room so the carpenter can give me a quote.  I also need to chase the ensuite stuff too, but spending all this money, even though it was saved for decorating, gives me a bit of anxiety.  I have to take it slow.  I keep telling myself that after the lounge is finished and the ensuite is installed then I don't HAVE to do any more major work until I'm ready and have saved more, but it's still a struggle.

Again, I've managed to stick to budget with food and other bills.  I also popped out to get a page a day A5 diary for 2022.  I've been looking for them in supermarkets but could only find 2021/2022 and I don't like them.  I'm so pleased I couldn't get them because there's a little shop in town that sells the 2022 ones for £1.79 which are more than good enough.

I've also started my Christmas shopping.  I'm a bit sad that I won't be having any Christmas decorations this year, but I'm not even sure I'll have a chance to do all the painting I need to do.  I was hoping to do some this weekend, but hadn't realised how much slower the plaster dries when it's a whole room and it's winter!  

So this weekend will be spent building the furniture I bought for the office and finally getting that all set and sorted.  I'll be so happy when it's fully functional.

I think that's it from me this week.  I hope everyone is having a happy hump day!

MT

MuffinTops

It was quite a busy and productive weekend.  I managed to put together the cabinets for my office, and now they're set up and have the desk top on them I'm really pleased how it feels in there now.  I still need to put up shelving, but also had to buy a detector thingy to make sure I don't drill into studs or cables.  I'm embarrassed to say I've never drilled anything into place, so I hope I manage to drill the shelves level.  My plan is to start with the thinnest drill bit and then grow the hole size from there!

I'm not sure what triggered it, but my upper back is now causing me problems.  I injured the area around the shoulder blade quite a few years ago and it plays up at times.  I actually think it could be the cold weather as I've noticed I'm wearing my shoulders as ear muffs recently!  I need to remember to keep my shoulders down and back to hopefully fix it as it's causing me a lot of pain at night.  I'm even dreaming of back pain, so it's obviously a constant feeling.

I ordered a pair of wide calf boots from the internet last week which arrived today.  They actually have a thinner calf area than any standard boots, so I've already been onto them to get them sent back. I can pop them into a newsagents near me for a free collection, so I'm pleased about that.  I'm upset they weren't what they said they were though.  I really need a pair of boots.  I'm going to an M&S this weekend, and they usually have decent size "legs" to their boots, so I'll try some on there.

This weekend is about Christmas shopping and choosing furniture, which I'm really looking forward to.  I need to start a Christmas gift shopping list though so I make sure I don't forget anything.  I'd love to have most of my shopping figured out before the middle of December to avoid the stress now that I'm not close to the amount of shops I was before I moved.  I much prefer being away from all those busy areas, but it does mean I need to be more organised.

I'm still undecided on the whole YNAB price increase and whether I should cancel.  I'm looking at other solutions, but not sure I can start again with getting used to how they work.  Going back to a basic spreadsheet was a big NOPE.  I can think of a lot of reasons to stay with YNAB, with the price being the only real reason to cancel.  Alternatively I do have a little business side hustle that's starting to gain some momentum, so I'm wondering if I should migrate to something official like Quickbooks, especially as that states it'll keep track of and separate out my business and personal spends too.  It's also only a little more expensive than YNAB but seems to offer lots more useful and UK specific features.  A pretty big plus is that Quickbooks can connect to my UK bank accounts with the bonus that it will help me work on my self assessment.  I'm looking at their self employed plan.  There's a Black Friday deal on it making it 80p + VAT a month for 4 months, and that coincides with when my YNAB expires.  I think I'll try that out and see how it goes.

I also feel that any other finance tracking company will likely increase their prices once they have enough features, so I'll be back here again looking for alternatives.  As QuickBooks can help me with personal, business and some official financial details it's feeling like a good direction to go in.  I'll sign up and download it either Thursday or Friday when I know I have some time to properly set it up and give it a test.  Their Black Friday offer ends on Monday 29th November, so plenty of time.  I'll write on my diary how I get on with it - sigh!

Forging_Ahead

I also have never drilled a hole, but was thinking of giving it a go! Starting with the smallest drill bit sounds like a good idea... I'm off to look at drills online. Good luck! Let us know how you get on, I'd love to be able to put up my own shelves...

RosaBernicia

Hi MT

I am also boot hunting at present - Gabor have a range of calf widths, and so do Jones the Bootmaker. 

YNAB is driving me nuts with its changes but similarly I may end up staying for another year as I just don't want to put the time into learning and setting up another format.  I tried out one which looks ok but it would take hours to redo everything and gets to the point that thinking about my hourly rate and sanity, I might just give in and pay YNAB for now.  I have no side hustles to take account of any more though, so it's a bit simpler.  I'll be interested to hear how you get on with QuickBooks. 

Hope the drilling adventures went ok, keep us posted!

RB xx

MuffinTops

Hey Forging_Ahead, maybe we can be a little motivation for each other getting to grips with these DIY tasks. I haven't been doing the drilling just yet as a few things cropped up.  I was hoping to get at least one shelf up today but I ran out of time to do it.  Next weekend!

MuffinTops

Hello Rosa,

I did find some boots in M&S that seem to fit well and were comfortable but I really appreciate the 2 shops you've stated for when I need them again.

YNAB has been testing my patience too, but I really do think that the other cheaper versions will start to charge when they get a little more established, and I've invested a lot of time in figuring out YNAB's little ways.  I agree that when you work out how long it will take to set up a new system and then how much money you'd potentially save by doing that, it doesn't seem worth it again.

I have downloaded QuickBooks but it's incredibly basic when it comes to personal finances, and I may be doing it wrong but I had to save an expense as business expense and then change it to personal and save again.  I just think mixing business and personal won't work well for me, so I'm going to keep the QuickBooks, as it's so cheap for 4 months, which I'll use for business finances and I'll keep YNAB for my personal budget and see how I do with keeping everything separate.  I have just set up an excel spreadsheet with finances on there, but that's because I've sold a lot of items through November and I was getting confused as to which orders were new, in production and shipped.

I'll update when I've had some drill adventures.

MuffinTops

I had a trip away at the weekend and bought myself a couple of sofas.  I was hoping I'd get something, and knew the ones I wanted as I've tried them before and they're so comfortable.  The price was way beyond my budget though, but the sales person sorted me a great deal, which was the price I was ok with, and they'll be delivered at the end of February.

The carpenter has also been in touch regarding the skirting boards etc, although I've not started the painting yet so I've asked if we can do it in January as I'm busy all weekends up to Christmas now and didn't want the pressure.  I am planning on priming the walls this weekend, but then I don't know when I'll be free again to start the proper painting.  My back is still playing up too, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do in one go.

I also got myself some boots from M&S which are a good calf fit for me, and a few Christmas gifts for friends too.  So it was a productive day.  Yesterday I popped to someone's house to collect a Children's story book a friend of his has written and he has drawn the illustrations for.  He said they'd got it published, but it doesn't look like a proper book so I'm not sure if I will give them as Chirstmas gifts as originally planned.  They seem to have just been printed and folded over to look like a book so I'm not sure how to gift them now.  I'll definitely need these to be an "extra" gift now.

So as mentioned before, I've decided that I'll stay with YNAB for another year and the QuickBooks to track any business expenses.  I was getting a bit confused with mixing the two in YNAB but I wasn't selling much so it seemed ok.  As QuickBooks is so cheap for 4 months I'll see how I get on with it.  I have a feeling a spreadsheet will do fine though as what I'm doing is so basic that I don't need all the bells and whistles that QuickBooks offers other than helping with the tax return.

Work and home now have long to do lists, plus I have a lot of social things planned too which is stressing me a bit and making me feel like I need to hurry up with the home stuff that's waiting for me to do.  To be able to tick some things off that enormous list will make me feel better.

Pay day this week, which seemed to take ages to get here.  I don't like to set up YNAB until the money's there as I don't like it showing minus figures.  Each regular monthly payment is noted anyway, so it's easy to fill in.

I hope you all had a good weekend and have some good December plans.

MTxx

another_casualty

Forging_Ahead said:

I also have never drilled a hole, but was thinking of giving it a go! Starting with the smallest drill bit sounds like a good idea... I'm off to look at drills online. Good luck! Let us know how you get on, I'd love to be able to put up my own shelves...

The main things needed ; a spirit level , screwdriver , hammer ..and Rawl plugs ! 

I used to call them raw plugs 😸 Once you drill holes , put the correct size rawl plugs into holes . Not lecturing you , but to point out a mistake I made as a teenager.🤦‍♂️
I fitted shelves on wall ( or thought I did ) to put my stereo on . All well and good, until one night while asleep 🛏 everything fell ontop of me 😬.  

You live and learn I guess 😸