Living the Good Life - mortgage free and living in line with our values

EssexHebridean

Belated happy birthday Vix - and yay for a trip to Aldeburgh - one of my absolute favourite places and we LOVE Minsmere! That sounds like a very reasonable dinner too, although I'm completely incapable of going to Aldeburgh without getting fish & chips, so...! 

As you might already know, I'm a non YNAB person. My feeing is that for us, allowing that we keep a perfectly good track of everything without it, it doesn't feel like a good use of our funds to pay for it. We prefer lots of individual savings pots for "all the things" - most of which are fed on an automated basis by standing orders straight from the joint account, and if I want to check the balances well I will be logging in to the banks at some stage most days anyway, so it's easily done. I also don't want to introduce another "financial task" on top of the bits and bobs that already have to be done - in our household it would fall to me to do, and so it's just creating a further job. There's nothing to say that I won't change my mind in the future, but right now, I can't see a value to it for our setup. In terms of the actual budget, I keep track of it using the MSE budget spreadsheet with some tweaks and additions - that works brilliantly well for us, and was an absolute godsend for working through all the finances when we were looking at moving from the flat to the house, too. 

debtfreeoneday

Woah. Shows how long ago I tried YNAB as I  didn’t pay for it.  

themadvix

Morning all,

Thanks EH. The reasonable dinner was a bit nearer home - in Feering? Very sweet little pub and I'm sure the girl serving behind the bar was not 18! That sort of family run, absolutely dead on a Tuesday in January, type place. I don't think you're alone in the compulsion to have F&C in Aldeburgh - it amused us that the map-sign for the town indicates F&C separately to other food and drink outlets! 

Thanks for your thoughts on YNAB. I have actually cancelled the subscription this morning - I've got it until 3rd Feb, so I can change my mind, but my set up is very similar to yours and I think I'd rather stick with that. YNAB has certainly given me some food for thought though and I've implemented a couple of things that will almost certainly change my view on stuff, so it's been a worthwhile experience (and I will continue to play with it this month), but I'm definitely leaning towards the 'it's not for me' perspective.

Had a meeting about the new project with my UK-based client (she's actually now living in Indonesia, but for ease of reference, she'll still be the UK client) and her client. All is much clearer now and I'm making a start on that project this morning - so far, so good. This will take up quite a bit of my time in the next month, so it's good to have it underway and an understanding of what's expected.

Mr MV is in the office again today, so I'm likely to get rather bored later - it's always an adjustment being at home for a long day on my own after he's been here most of the time over Christmas. And without a car, it's trickier to pop out for company. Not that I shouldn't be working, of course. I may pop into town later, but it's so cold, I'm not inclined to as there's nothing desperate to get. We're going to pop out later anyway - the excitement of Halfords and M&S! Riverford delivery has arrived and been put away - just a small F&V box and milk this week and I'm hoping that this will last another two weeks at least, along with the squash we had delivered before Christmas, the swede that came at Christmas (to be turned into the curry GP posted a while back) and the oca, sprouts and some PSB from the allotment. We mainly needed carrots, onions and potatoes - all of which were in the box, along with the delicious blood oranges  

MS things:
* GivBack session last night (discharges the battery to help the grid) - should earn a few pence from that
* Clicks and HW
* 1P surveys
* MM profile updates (for which you get a few points)
* Dinner was chilli and pasta from the freezer
* Bread baked and a loaf into the freezer yesterday
* Dinner tonight will be a tofu rice bowl that will also use up half a pepper, a quarter of a leek and a tiny bit of courgette (assuming it's not entirely furry)

* Have had a voucher for 20% Channel Tunnel trips, so will be booking our travel for Disney in October with Sis later
* Washing on as it's sunny, so we're making good electricity. Think I'll probably pass on hanging it outside though - it's cold and there's no breeze, so despite the sunshine I think it's unlikely to dry

Gratitudes:
* Dad and Step-mum popped round with my birthday present last night. Was lovely to see them (hadn't seen Step-mum since before Christmas as she's been ill) and love my present (cat necklace with an amber body for the cat).
* Sunshine
* Actually 'meeting' my UK client - we've been working together for nearly 15 years now and this was the first time we've video-called! (We've spoken on the phone a couple of times, but that's been it)

Have a lovely day all - I hope the sun is shining with you!

EssexHebridean

I think with things like YNAB there is a tendency to feel that either we "should" be using things like that, or just feeling that we want to as so many others are and are finding it good. I really found I had to just rein myself back and remind myself that it's only a good use of funds if we need it, and it works for us - otherwise, in essence, it's just frittering! 

The sun is indeed shining here which of course means that I now have solar panel AND battery envy!  

greenbee

Sun is shining here too - battery topped up, washing on, dishwasher on. And a quick dog walk in the sunshine earlier. 

beanielou

Sun is shining here but bitterly cold. 🥶 

rtandon27

Bitterly cold here as well, but the sunshine is utterly glorious & I had my feet in a sun-puddle earlier today while on a video-call.

YNAB is a bit like marmite - you either love it or hate it!  It's a great tool if it works for you or a new start is needed, but if you already have a great system and it's working then it's way to leave by the roadside.

themadvix

I think that's it EH, I was curious and I've investigated, but I don't think it's going to work for me.

Love your description of a 'sun puddle' RT - the cats can always find them in our house and I felt awful drawing the curtains at lunch time when ginger cat was in one, but I couldn't see the TV screen for reflections and wanted to watch Sunday's Call the Midwife! We compromised in the end and then he came and sat on me instead!

To make the most of the sunshine, I cooked the swede curry earlier. It might become dinner. I've discovered the tofu I was planning on using expired in October, but it's vacuum packed and been in the fridge, so I think it'll be OK - I'll use my senses and brains to check it - but I might just wait until after our party (Saturday) to use it just in case!

LadyWithAPlan

I am sure you have made the right decision for yourself re the budget apps.

I am loving the winter sunshine, despite 0 in London...

rtandon27

@themadvix - there was a lovely YNAB video on utoob this morning - app aside, it had some lovely budgeting principles which apply no matter how you track your spending!  The point that stood out to me was the mindfulness of checking expenditures frequently to keep on top of the budget.