
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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Bought part of a birthday gift for my partner using a gift card. Kept spending on another gift for a friend in check (while still getting her something that I know she will love) and re-gifted something (new) I already had to another friend for her birthday. I want to be generous but looking at the pattern of my spending over the past few months I can see that my 'gifts' category is one that is regularly over budget. Sometimes I have failed to anticipate the expense but sometimes I have simply been disorganised and over-spent because I have bought something generic and expensive last minute. So have not only kept the spending under control but have also managed a bit of a mind shift towards intentional spending - so that's a win :-)
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I'm mega new (I'm still on the free trial) but I already feel like I have a better sense of where my money is and how to feel prepared. I've already had some weird one-off expenses like a domain name renewal, renter's insurance, and a rec center yearly renewal but now I feel positive that I can pay for them in cash instead of having to do the credit card float. Everything already feels like less of a scramble and I'm only about two weeks in! I had to do a double take when I did my budget for the coming week and realized I ALREADY had cash for my internet bill.
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I returned a purse that I had bought to replace the one that I have that is seriously falling apart (but I love it!). The new one was perfectly fine and I thought that I liked it, but it sat in the store bag for almost 3 months bc I kept coming up with excuses why I didn't want to switch my things over right then. Since it had been so long, I wasn't sure if I could even return it but I decided to try and they took it back with no problem! :)
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Assessed my subscriptions (self care, education), which I feel like I underuse. Kept one, as I love the cause and want to use it more; cancelled one that wasn't a good fit for me and was set up to auto renew in January; one month left on another subscription, which will renew at a full-price rate rather than the promotional one I signed up with so I really need to consider whether it is worth it and have been looking into free alternatives. Calling this awareness of where my money is going a win.
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I just opted to buy two instead of six of something. Something I need/use but can't buy locally anymore. Site was having a 50% off sale but as I looked in my shopping cart, I realized this is a weakness of mine - buying things like this in bulk (and then justifying it as potential gifts...). So I dialed it back to two (one small, one large). Nothing wrong with buying in bulk from time to time, but I realized I want to do so with intention not just at the whim of some website that sucks me in with a deal. Small win.
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Finally received a long-awaited work reimbursement. I had taken note of where I had 'borrowed' from my savings to cover the amounts in YNAB and was able to plough the money back where it came from (even though the purchases had taken place over a few months). Result: money diverted back into my savings rather than regarded (as there is always a danger to do with big sums that just arrive in your account) as a bonus. Healthy savings categories, happy me :-)
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I joined an Affiliate Shopping program that rewards with cash back. I'm not a big shopper so am confident I won't spend just for the sake of earning cash back. Doing my regular shopping this month through the program has earned $60 this month. It's a passive minor income source as opposed to a perpetual discount/s.
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I made a step to improve my attitude today. My husband is a work-a-holic and hasn't made time to vacation with the family for the past two years. Our twins are in Grade 12 this year and I really want to go on an Epic Adventure with them next summer. I was reading this week's blog about another YNAB'ers Epic Adventure with his kids to Portugal and I realized that I don't need to wait around for hubby to get his act together, I can save up and enjoy a trip with the kids. I switched the "Renovation Account" to "Epic Adventure" and I'll start sending money over every paycheque! This makes me so happy!
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Today I knew I needed to check my budget and cover/adjust/roll with the punches for overspending. Instead of hiding my head and avoiding in shame, refusing to check my bank account and pretending like nothing was happening, I logged on to YNAB. I imported all my transactions, categorized, and reconciled my account balance. Then, instead of panicking when I saw the red categories, I took a breath. "I can figure this out," I told myself. I remembered on of the training videos: what does my money need to do before my next paycheck? There, I saw that my monthly category for my car payment, which had $230 in it, did not need to be paid this month. Because of YNAB, I was one month ahead and my next payment wasn't due until 12/28. I was able to move that money around and set aside money for the following month without worry.
This is my first Christmas with YNAB. I set aside money and saved for it for the past 6 months, but when the time actually came to buy presents I went over what I planned for. Doesn't have to be a shame spiral when you have a place to start and a method for finding solutions. I still feel that icky, "things didn't go as planned" feeling, but in my mind I keep repeating to myself this is a learning experience and to roll with the punches.
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Today I inventoried my clothing. Increasingly, I've been feeling like I "don't have anything to wear," which is CLEARLY not the case when my closet happens to hold over 70 individual garments. I'm not a huge shopper, and shop almost exclusively at thrift stores except when it comes to my outdoor gear (financial weak spot!) But I'm pretty impulsive with my thrift store shopping. Plus, I purge my closet a couple times a year, so I probably end up sending back to the thrift stores about a third of the stuff I bought the previous year! It's not a ton of money, but it adds up.
My inventory identified a few areas where I have a glut of items I don't really wear that often. I'm cleaning these items out, but unlike past purges I'm taking note of the things I get rid of, so I don't just buy slightly different versions of them next time I'm at the thrift store.
I'm also trying to identify what I really like about the clothes I wear very frequently and have had forever, and identify key items that are missing, so I can focus on trying to find good deals on things I actually "need" and will enjoy wearing for years.
So, basically I now have a "buy" and "do not buy" list. I'm hoping that this will cut down on frivolous purchases, however cheap they might be, and keep my wardrobe more focused and enjoyable to wear.
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I went to the auction with dad and didn't buy anything.
This evening I reviewed my supply of vitamins and such and adjusted my Amazon Subscribe and Save settings appropriately - changed the frequency on an item and adjusted the next delivery date on a couple more to account for my backlog of those items.
I also submitted my extra student loan payment tonight since my paycheck hit the bank.
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Despite FOMO and a sense that I *should* be in town buying bargains I resisted 98% of Black Friday adverts that hit me everywhere I went and only replaced a pair of slippers which I was going to have to buy over the next few weeks anyway. Tough day-it really normalizes that easeful spending from the desk with the pressure of the limited availability of the offer. But I survived!