What did you do to improve your finances today?
This was one of my favourite threads on the old forum, and since there doesn't seem to be one here yet, I thought I'd create one :-)
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I re-adjusted my Category Groups, adding one for "savings" and broke it down into Emergency funds, Tax prep, Vacation fund 2020, Retirement contributions, etc. etc. etc.
I also meal prepped for two hours while I caught up on podcasts.
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Sent an email to my apt complex manager explaining that their 7% renewal offer was unacceptable because inflation is only at 2% right now, no renovations have been done to the community, and average increases in this county / community are 5% or lower. Got more than $100 knocked off the renewal offer.
Also discovered the "triple recovery" rule in VA for auto accidents, so I'll be able to recover 2x the *actual* cost of my medical bills for the last two months (not the insurance negotiated rate), even though insurance already paid them.
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Black Orchid I'm so impressed with you right now, I can't even...! Nicely done!
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sent my FSA reimbursement straight to debt snowball
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Found I'd underspent the funds I'd set aside for a weekend away so funneled the excess into some of my "Target Balance By Date" categories to lessen the amount I need to set aside in future months.
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Received my credit card statement today that showed I'd been charged a late payment fee. I have a direct debit set up, but the credit card company never took payment.
Phoned them up and they claimed it was because I'd changed my option from a minimum payment to a fixed payment (2 months ago!).
They confirmed that doing that online shouldn't have stopped at least the minimum payment being taken so they refunded the £12 (patronisingly saying it was a 'token of goodwill') and updated my credit score.
Made a payment much higher than my minimum payment that keeps me on my goal of paying off the card before the promotional 0% interest rate ends :)
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Did some digging into student loan issues (*still* waiting on the DoE to finalize that $#&^$#& cancer form!) and discovered (why I didn't look into this before, I don't know) that IDR payments of $0 count as payments towards Public Student Loan Forgiveness. So if you work in public service, are on an IDR plan, and your loan servicer determines that you make so little that your payment should be $0, you get to count each of those $0 payments as a payment towards the 120 payments you have to make to have your loan balances forgiven. This means I'm 1/4 of the way done with paying off my massive student loan debt!
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Canceled an annual app subscription for $59.95 and downgraded a CC, saving $60/yr.
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Lavender Trombone yay! Wow, who charges that much for an app? Oh, YNAB does.
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Khaki Storm Sorry for the late reply. It's the Calm app, a meditation app that I actually feel is a good use of the money. So much so that I might re-subscribe after trying out a few other ones. It's pricy, but less each month than the cost of one yoga class.
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Lavender Trombone Wow! I didn't know yoga classes were so expensive. My work offers a free gym benefit at certain gyms and classes are a little extra, like yoga, but no where near that. Maybe I should just to feel like I'm saving money.
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Contributed to my HSA using some of my tax refund (or at least I thought I did - Optum Bank doesn't seem to remember I did that) so that I'll hit my max allowed contribution this year.
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Returned 2 things purchased from Amazon and 1 from Costco. Wants. Not needs.
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Walked out of the clothing store without buying anything after checking the clothing category available had less than $10.
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MXMOM That takes some serious will power.
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- Put an unexpected quarter-end bonus that came attached to my regular paycheck directly into savings without really looking at it, or thinking about the possibilities of how to spend it!
- Made my own yogurt for just the cost of a half gallon of milk (serious yogurt fiend here)
- opened a high-yield online savings account
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Violet Pilot Nice!
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Violet Pilot How did you make your yogurt? Did you use an Instant Pot? Thanks!
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Catlover
I can't speak for Violet Pilot , but I made yogurt last week using our sous vide water bath, about 3/4 gallon of whole milk, a few containers, a bucket, and water/ice for the water bath. Oh, and a dollop of store bought Greek yogurt for each container of yogurt I made. If you keep up with it, you can just set aside a scoop of your yogurt you made and use that as the culture for your next batch.
I followed some of the directions in this website, combined with one of the comments from the article. It has a lot of suggestions on how to make it if you don't have a sous vide. Came out beautifully. While this was my first time making yogurt, it wasn't particularly difficult, it just took a lot of time, most of which was hands off. I think if I were to do it more regularly, I'd use a larger bucket and do the full gallon of milk - the yogurt might last 2 weeks that way.
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Technicolor Cheetah
Thanks! I might have to try that. We absolutely love yogurt around here and eat lots of it.
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Catlover
Next best thing if you can't/won't make your own is buying in bulk; we buy 5lb vats of Indian whole milk plain yogurt at Costco for about $1 a pound. My husband tends to adulterate his with fresh fruit and a bit of brown sugar, the kids like a spoonful of jam or honey. I too am fond of jam and find most pre-sweetened yogurts entirely too sweet anymore.
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Made my own spice rack with a couple pieces of 4x4 and 2x4 that were just gathering dust in the shed. Saved the money of buying a piece of plastic crap and have better organized spices on that shelf so they are more visible. More visibility means that hopefully I won't buy duplicate spices again (looking at you, two bottles of lemon extract). Also saves time because with one glance I can find the ancho pepper, instead of picking up jars of red pepper flakes, paprika, cayenne pepper, aleppo pepper, chipotle powder, chili powder mild, etc before I find the ancho. Now I just need to find a few more chunks of wood so I can do this for the two other shelves of herbs, spices, and dessert decor/sprinkles. It's also just visually appealing having the different tiers of spices bottles.
Yes, we have a lot of spices. We cook a lot (our takeout and dining out for a family of 5 is generally under $100 a month). I also love Penzeys*, to the point that I have an 🌿Herbs & Spices 🌶category in my budget.
*Penzey's is decidedly liberal in their views as a company. They put their money where their mouth in that they would rather lose customers than pretend they are politically Switzerland as a company so to speak. They will not apologize for their stance so if you're staunchly right wing/Republican 'Murican, you'll likely want to take your money elsewhere.
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Technicolor Cheetah We must be pepper twins, because I have all of those peppers (most from Penzeys). My favorite is Aleppo, but smoked paprika is a very close second.
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Tomato Tamale
Their smoked paprika is awesome. If you eat such things, deviled eggs with a sprinkle of smoked paprika is delicious. It also gets a lot of use in rubs for grilled meats. We're not much for hot spicy food, though, just well-spiced food, so I don't use the hot ones much and don't buy a lot of them (BBQ 3000 is like fire, as is the Berbere, got those as free samples). I use a lot of ancho for depth of flavor, though, it's earthier than mild paprika.
Sometimes Penzey's has their gift cards on sale and I bought like 4 the last time. It helps alleviate the, "I'm spending $75 on spices, OMG!" thoughts. But that's why I have a spices budget category, as eating well is one of our priorities. OTOH, I don't taste enough of a difference in things like cumin, corriander, cardamom, and peppercorns, etc, so I just buy those at a fraction of the cost at one of our local international markets (love those places) where they undoubtedly sell through their stock fast enough to keep spices fresh.
What are your feelings on cinnamon? I think I have like 5 different kinds.
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Technicolor Cheetah Visibility definitely helps! We have a built-in cabinet spice rack, for the frequently used herbs & spices. Though, we love Penzey's and the collection overflows to another cabinet . 😉 I hope you'll share a picture of the finished project! Having things all lined up and organized sounds amazing.
Ceylon cinnamon is my personal favorite. Though, their basic blend is great too good too. I was never a huge fan of cinnamon, but the type and quality make a big difference. -
Technicolor Cheetah Wow, should I move beyond my Clubhouse Blend of Chipotle Mango! We don't have Penzey's in Canada, but it sure sounds delicious. I'm very curious how a company can be classified as liberal--not really a big deal here.
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Frugalflamesfan
Check out their facebook page. They take very liberal positions on many political topics. They've donated to Planned Parenthood and organizations that help immigrants. Etc. Etc. They've called Trump a buffoon and a racist among other things. They celebrate Pride Month, the anniversary of Marriage Equality. They support gun control and decry violence and American immigration policy. They are by and large not fans of Republican views. They talk politics and they put their money where their mouth is. It has undoubtedly lost them customers. It has gained them others. Angry people said that they'd be out of business quickly but they've been doing this since Trump was elected, so...
For other 'mericans who are conservative or prefer their spices sans politics, the Spice House also sells very nice spices. I have happily ordered from them before as well.
As for my friends north of the border, fear not, I'm pretty sure you have some companies that will happily sell you spices that are fresher and possibly better than the ones at your local grocery store. This page has some suggestions, but as a neighbor to your south, I have no idea if they're steering you right or wrong.
In other parts of the world, you might have to spend a bit more or hunt harder for some herbs, spices, or other ingredients. I once brought my friend living in the Netherlands ten pounds of Nestle chocolate chips and all kinds of Latino spices when I visited her since she said it was hard for her to find either. 40 years ago, my parents would ask family from California bring them tortillas since they couldn't get them where they were stationed on the east coast. My mom brings us frozen tri-tip and other foods from home that we cannot buy here in her carry-on. I think it confuses security but I imagine they've seen it all!
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Technicolor Cheetah I can taste the difference in various cinnamon, but it's not something I worry about when I use it, so I just buy whatever, usually a blend. I think I got the last batch at Costco.
Funny you mention bringing stuff to the Netherlands. I lived there 20 years ago and imported cans of chipotles and became VERY POPULAR.
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Technicolor Cheetah Thanks for your post! It's interesting to see the spectrum of conservative in US vs Canada. I think Americans would see our Conservatives as closer to your Democrats, which makes our Liberals and New Democrats as extremely socialist! I'm sure I could find some wonderful spice suppliers here in Calgary. We have a robust immigrant population and my Syrian friend seems to find whatever she needs for her delicious food. I just need to be a little more adventurous in my exploration!
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This was my favorite thread in the old forum so I am glad to see it here. It was yesterday but we did not order in Thai food! My hubby was about to call but I figured out that we had all the fixings for tacos. I so quickly defrosted some ground beef in the mircowave and we ate our own food. Was it as good as Pad Thai? The jury is still out on that one, but it saved us at least $30-$35 dollars.
Also, we went to Crunch fitness and canceled our memberships that we have not used in 2 years! $11 per month for each of us = $264 a year back in our account plus the annual membership fee of $55 each. That's a total of $375 a year!!!
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PerceivingPerdita Win, win! Some alternatives: many books of equipment-less fitness to be found, used equipment if you have the space, partner fitness (forgot the real name, but you are resistance for the other, like arm wrestling, but not trying to beat them, just build muscle), parks with equipment, and local colleges.
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Khaki Storm Thanks for the suggestions. I had not thought of partner fitness.
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PerceivingPerdita Lots of ideas on Pinterest for HIIT at home. At my gf's cottage, she came up with 7 exercises, started her free interval timer app, and we worked out. I have since done it at home as well as my dvds using heavy weights. Been working out at home for 4 years after not being able to get to the gym. :)
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PerceivingPerdita It is called partner fitness, at least it is now. http://www.athleta.net/2014/02/07/10-partner-workouts/
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I forgot to post here as well as my journal:
The other weekend I was reviewing my Ally account and my income/bill payment flow and realized I could move some of the funds to a 12 month 2.40% CD. Yay!
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A little win: when I bought contact lenses online about a month ago, they gave me a mail-in rebate form. I forgot about it, but remembered today. A check for $40 should supposedly be on its way to me in about 6 weeks! I had initially been putting it off due to thinking I didn't want to go to the post office to get stamps, but I found a few extras in my desk at work to use.
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Slate Blue Pilot I always forget about mail-in rebates, even though it's forfeiting otherwise easily gained funds. Great job remembering!
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And something that could potentially be a bigger win: One of my good friends - to whom I pitched YNAB several months ago and got the impression he was not interested - approached me a couple of weeks ago to ask about the free trial. Well, it turns out he has started YNAB-ing and is obsessed with it! It makes me so happy to think that I'll know someone - outside of all of you in this forum! - with whom I can discuss YNAB, and hopefully will build in some motivation for both of us.
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Slate Blue Pilot
It's like a double win, for you and him, very nice!
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I just started 2 weeks ago. I have already paid off 2 credit cards and working on a 3rd. Moved enough into that credit card "envelope" that I will only have $70 left to pay on it. I like YNAB because it helps me keep control. I was used to, "oh I have the money, I'll buy. . .. . " whatever I read in a magazine or saw online that I thought I'd like to have, REGARDLESS if I actually needed it. Since I have a fun "envelope" and a Activities "envelope", I'm good to go. I wouldn't have been able to see the light of day, if it were for YNAB. I'm still on the free trial, but I will definitely be getting YNAB when my trial is over! Yay, I'm feeling very blessed!
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Welcome to YNAB, and the forum Catlover ! That's an amazing win. Thanks for sharing with us! 🎉 Let us know if we can do anything to help you along the way.
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Catlover the awesome thing that happens when you have a fun envelope is that you actually have money for fun! And can spend it guilt free.
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I was also able to, finally, cancel my cable. All I needed was the internet (a must-have for my job), yet Comcast kept telling me that I had to have it or I'd be charged more. I got rid of cable, upgraded speed of internet and will be paying $40 less a month for doing so. We never watched the cable. In fact, the cable box has not been hooked up for 2 years. I have Hulu, Netflix and Sling. Didn't need cable.
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Catlover Nice!
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Finally switched to getting the rest of my ongoing medications (I have hypothyroidism, depression, and a heart condition which all require daily medicines) 3 months at a time by home delivery instead of monthly. It basically gives me the third month "free" as far as the copay goes.
And, as a bonus, it will just show up at my home, instead of me having to go pick it up! Why on earth did I take so long to get with the program? Inertia is a powerful thing.
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Received rebate for furnace tune up.
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Applied for another job, which was hard because I genuinely love where I work now...the people, the culture, and the work itself...but it is never going to be financially rewarding enough for me to pursue some of my larger dreams.
It's not just about cutting spending, defending the dollars we earn. Sometimes you need some offense... bringing in more actual money.
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I paid off another credit card. Now I'm 3 credit cards down, with 5 to go. Sigh, but I wouldn't be this far without YNAB. I've only been on YNAB less than a month, I was paying my rent late enough to be late, but not too late that I'd have to pay late charges, I was paying minimum payments on the CC's. I'd get paid and I'd see things I'd really like to have (not need), and I'd say since I had money. . . . . Now, that's not happening. I discovered today that my account balances are over double what I would have had at this time between pay periods. I would have already taken the money (that is automatically put into savings) and put it into my checking because I really had to. I haven't even touched it and I can't see that I will need to. So, that's a really big win to me, lol. I guess I should also say that the company I get paid through has a program that you can withdraw money that would have been on your next check, and it only costs $5. I've had to do that a number of times, but I haven't had to lately. And I can't, at this time, see it happening again any time soon, but it's nice to know it's there just in case.
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Catlover
Three credit cards down is huge, and holding on to your money is also a Very Big Deal. I can't remember where I read it, in the YNAB book or on the forum, but someone said that letting money sit is both a skill and a habit. It's one I never developed until very recently, and I couldn't be happier about it...for me and for you, too!
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I created a new budget category: saving up for the divorce. It'll save me money in the long run!
Also created, somewhat more reluctantly, a clothing category. I dont buy many clothes so feels surplus but also my work shoes dissolved when I took them off this evening so perhaps is needed.
Only downloaded YNAB a week or so ago, still learning!
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Mx Emmin there's a thread you might be interested in: https://support.youneedabudget.com/t/q5af3n
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In the last week:
* switched to a cheaper cell phone plan, goes into effect next month. less data = less mindless phone staring. Win-win!
* Moved the budget category for a pricey subscription box to the very bottom of my category list and made peace with this: I won't fund it until everything else is funded - including long-term obligations that I put money to monthly, like property taxes; and if I get close to the due date and still haven't funded it, I will just cancel it! Oh well!
* realized that our family has decreased our eating out spending by $500 this month by cooking more at home! (Yes, we eat out a lot.) And, because we are *cooking,* not just heating up precooked packaged crap, we have also saved $400 on groceries! It wasn't even that hard - we just needed the motivation that YNAB has given us. Sometimes when I'm about to spend money, I picture all those green categories on my screen and they make me sooo happy that I won't do anything to mess them up.
And one that didn't save us money, but is shoring up my mental health:
* got super stressed out by an old medical bill which we have been chipping away at, but getting collections threats regularly anyway, and realized that when I get paid in 6 days - i can pay it off all at once! Because YNAB has already helped me budget for everything until the paycheck *after* the next one :) Yay!
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Descriptor Noun I'd cluck the like button 100 times if I could. Way to go! You really hit the point, it's all about going from mindless actions to mindful actions.
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Khaki Storm Thanks so much!
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Descriptor Noun I also meant click the button. Oh, autocorrect.
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Khaki Storm haha I read it as "click" - My own internal autocorrect I guess!
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Descriptor Noun I like the idea of picturing the green categories. I'm going to use this :) Thanks!
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Tomato Rain It just worked for me today! I was at the mall with my kid for a specific purpose and a clothes store we love was having a sale.... I was really tempted because I'm getting paid in 4 days, but she doesn't actually *need* any clothes right now - I pictured those categories going yellow as I re-allocated money to clothes she didn't need, and the temptation just faded away.
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Descriptor Noun Also! Plugged credit cards and mortgage into indebt.it and discovered that there was something better we could be doing - our cards will now be paid off about 6 months earlier than expected, and all that extra payment money will go to the mortgage!
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Descriptor Noun Your description reminded me of our Live Push Notifications video. Those color visuals are a little less intense, but I'm happy they worked for you! ;)
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Descriptor Noun Tomato Rain Faness I literally went through my account categories and put a red, orange, yellow or green heart emoji (I wanted it to be circles but apparently my phone doesn't have many conveniently coloured circles) for if I can pilfer from them in case of overspending.
Red are DD, so it includes both my Rent and Amazon Prime... I could live w/o Prime if I had to but I would need to cancel DD first so its not that easy to sneak from it if I've only overspend for one month. If I need to cancel DD then its probably a new budget I need, is my logic.
Orange is "I can take from here, but someone better be dying" so my Energency Fund, my house deposit (all £400 of it)
Yellow is "I can take from here for short periods of time, but its going to cause problems in the future" its things like my YNAB subscription, because that's months away and I can replenish it if I need to, or my groceries, because I can tighten my belt for a little bit.
Green is "sure, go ahead"
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Descriptor Noun
When my last kid was born, we had about half the income we do now, living in one of the highest cost of living areas in the states. And we were able to still save for a down payment on a house in great part to eating at home and cooking from scratch most of our meals. As an extra "incentive" to continuing that behavior now that we're making so much more money, we have found that restaurants tend to be very stressful for our oldest and as all of our kids have ADHD, we're helping to improve the dining experience for everyone else by not being there ; ) We have much better uses for all that money! Our dining out costs tend to be under $100 a month, often half that.
It's actually one of the ways we also save money while vacationing. We like to do Air BnBs/VRBO or even stay in a hotel with a kitchenette. We bring/buy groceries and make our food. Saves so much time and money! I also have better things to do with my time than going insane trying to manage my monkeys who are tired, bored, and hungry for 2 hours a day.
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Technicolor Cheetah Yeah... it's interesting, we have eaten out so much that my child is pretty habituated to it. She has known how to politely order her food or hail a waiter for more water since she was 4. ("I'll have the kids' cheese pizza please, with the veggie sticks on the side - no dressing though. And I only need half a glass of water so I don't spill any, and I have my own straw. Thanks!") Yet a couple of weeks ago, when I suggested eating out - because we hadn't all week! - she sighed and said, "Can't we just go home and eat there?" And she's right - it's so much more relaxing.
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I've changed my internet/tv subscription package today and saved £10 a month, plus listed a load of bits and bobs on Facebook marketplace. Even if I only get rid of a few things it's a winner :)
And, I finally paid two parking fines that have been lingering because I was worried I didn't have the cash- I've only been using YNAB for just over a week but because I'd allocated money this month and made it a priority to clear them once my monthly salary was received on Friday, I dug out the paperwork and just did it.
Whilst finding the paperwork for the parking tickets I also realised that our passports expire in April, so I added a new category to budget for the replacements. A little bit more control added!
Happy YNABing everyone :)
