Salmon Elk 

Go for it!  You can do this.

Aquamarine Storm I know this isn't technically how YNAB is supposed to work, but I also hate those reds/oranges. Are you using credit cards right now? My workaround (and again, I know this isn't for everyone) is to subtract from my Amount Budgeted for the credit card (so under Amount Budgeted for the card it'll say like -$300, or whatever). That money will go back into To Be Budgeted, and I can use that money to fill in all my other categories. The only yellow category you end up looking at is for the credit card, so you can have greens/grays everywhere else, but can still keep track of how far behind you are. You can still add in credit card payments (when you budget/pay $50, your Amount Budgeted will just go to -$250, etc). Just an idea!

SiruhTheSantas hey, I was doing this all the last month's, basically lending myself money from the cc for simple being able to live. Now the categories are all red and orange because I'm at limits everywhere. But it's ok, I'll get paid in 10 days, hurray. After that, I can start using Ynab like it's supposed to and can start budgeting for paying it off.

Also, cc in Germany are working a bit different. Most banks will force you to pay it off each month. You then don't pay interest for your cc, but for the account instead (when it gets in overdraft). Of course you could then take the same amount from the cc again, pay your account and not pay interest. But since there are limits at both account and cc, you can do this only a limited amount of money.

When money comes in again, the amount of what you owe will be automatically deducted from your account overdraft, so you actually can't budget everything that you get. I'll see how Ynab handles this but I suppose tbb will be just everything that is coming in. 

But like I said, it's just looking like it needs a massive new start anyways haha. 

Mx Emmin It's never too late to join :)

Good luck on your personal Debt Smackdown!

SiruhTheSantas thanks its doesnt look like much compared to other numbers on the sheet but I suspect I earn less to... also that's the least amount I want to pay back, on average I pay back more

Mx Emmin Some people prefer to just list all their debt knowing it's unrealistic that it'll all get paid off, but wanting to see the big picture. Some prefer to be more conservative and only list what they plan on paying off this year because they want to focus on their successes. It's all about what would best motivates you. And you can change your goal at any time if something changes - i.e. you get a raise or have a major expense that would affect your debt payments. It's a personal challenge within a group, not a competition  :) 

SiruhTheSantas  I know it's not a competition I just meant I sometimes feel a little embarrassed next to people in worse situations than me... 

Mx Emmin We can only wish we were smart enough to start when our debt was your size. Don't feel embarrassed - your goals are still important/valid, and this group is very supportive. We will all do the happy dance when you 'graduate' even if we aren't there yet - you can be a beacon of possibility for us.

Mx Emmin no embarrassment here in this group. Just everyone on their own path, working to help each other. I kind of picture it like a marathon where there are people in great shape that can run fast and they fly past me, and then there are stragglers that are struggling just to keep going. And just like in marathons, a lot of those people speeding along will stop and encourage and help a straggler.

Mx Emmin 

I'd suggest you keep/make a tech replacement category once you've purchased/paid off your new laptop.  New tech - generally a 'when,' not an 'if.'

Also, never too late!  Welcome aboard!  You have a plan and so far it looks like you're doing really well!

 Technicolor Cheetah oh that's definitely the plan, dont worry  :) I've actually only been using YNAB since September so it never occured to me to have categories for that before... I'd also love to get a category going for a replacement phone so next time I can get contract-only, but there might not be room for that just yet

Mx Emmin 

I replaced all my technology in the last year -- TV, laptop, and smart phone -- and it was absolutely delightful to buy what I wanted (with my saved up funds in my electronics category) without taking on payments or having to sign up for contracts.  Colour me *smug*.

Mx Emmin 

I have a category for general replacement tech and one for kid phone.  $20 a month will be enough to purchase an older new phone when we need one when Technicub the second hits middle school.   Also, the first 6 months of the budget are a bit of a panic as you're feeling YNAB broke all the time because you are realizing all the bills that you have to pay in 1 month, in three months, in 5 months.  However, once you've paid your bi-annual bill that you only had 2 months time to save up for, you can now set aside 1/6 of the bill over the next 6 months instead of 1/2 the bill.  So the monthly goals, if you set funding goals, will likely start to go down as you get a better feeling of all your bills and the bill cycles in 6.  Then you'll be in a much better position of funding true expenses.   I'm 9 months in.  I've only had to add a few categories in the last 3 months for things I forgot to budget for.  When I was 2 months in, I was adding 1-3 new categories on a weekly basis.  

Technicolor Cheetah I'm hoping that's going to start kicking in soon, perhaps around January time, plus a bit of debt snowballing, but right now it feels like there's always more to add to the budget haha 

Mx Emmin I've been using YNAB for about 4 years, the first 2 years were on the classic version... and I can FINALLY say that I'm mostly done refining categories! It takes a long time (something I don't think that is discussed enough), but the REALLY amazing thing is when you can go in and look at your reports and know EXACTLY how much you spend on average for any given category. I just hit that mark a few months ago, and it is DELIGHTFUL to have an exact number to put in each category every time a pay check rolls around, and I'm doing so much better now that I have that ability. So hang in there, and keep being flexible and adapting, and really soon you'll realize that the amount of things you are changing is almost nil. Every now and then I look at my budget and I'm almost bored because there's nothing to change!

farfromtheusual Good to hear! I agree with the feeling of being broke! My car service was just $130 more than I budgeted for and I was going to take from my upcoming vacation or xmas, but then looked ahead to Nov and realized I started to pad some of the bills to work towards getting a month ahead. I even felt guilty stockpiling groceries for my pantry & freezer on sale last night since my grocery budget was $0 until payday, but then moved some $ around and realized that my category spending for the month was way under what I would've previously spent. The not spending money eating out sure does help. I'm on the sprint right now. Cut right back but haven't sucked the fun out. Like Jesse says, it's a marathon. :)

Purple Foal Yesss! That's such a good feeling when you can move money around and cover something you thought wasn't going to work! The longer you do this the easier that becomes, though, because you'll have more time for knowing the averages.

Grey Tux All the best for the job for hubby!

WairereRose Thanks!  I'm hoping he finds something he really enjoys.  :)

Violet Drill I can totally relate! That is where my problems come from too. I found that doing a spending freeze occasionally was helpful. It helps me get out of the mindset of just spending money whenever I feel like it. Good for you for not losing your motivation!

Salmon Elk I like the idea of a spending freeze as a reset, just to get my head back on track. Totally going to do that, thank you for the idea!

Violet Drill I set myself rules about using my CC, that I put up on the wall in front of my computer so they stared at me all day long. Rules like - if I can't pay off my CC in full each month it gets chopped up (horror!) and I'm not allowed to order a new one but have to wait till the expiry date that was on it (that would mean paying interest on the balance too *sob sob* - an unbearable prospect for me.

I use a revolving balance, not quite a PIF CC which I'd still like to get back to, but that's where that came from. 

When we wanted to buy a house, the bank would only lend if I paid off and closed my CC. I prefer it for the security it offers and managed to talk them into letting me keep it but reducing the balance to just the minimum available ($500) which is far easier to 'revolve' in a month than $3000...

As I reduced the outstanding by each next 'block' of $500 I would reduce the limit, and the other thing I did to help was to have the bank 'freeze' the auto increase option on the limits so that I would actually have to apply to have it put up again.

Finally, I changed the name of my CC account in YNAB to "TRIAL Visa" - if I fail at keeping it under control, then I lose my rights to a CC forever. Either I can use it responsibly, or not at all. And the only way to make it not at all is to cut it up. Not wanting to lose my security (debit cards do make me nervous, there's far less right of recall if they go missing) has been a huge motivating factor when those old "I have no idea how bad it is, so it can't really get any worse" (like a Schrodinger's cat kind of thing for the CC, LOL) feelings come up.

Violet Drill The fact that you made it all the way through until September before this happened is a BIG win in my book. So make sure you note how long it took you before you slid into the old habits, and celebrate that, because it IS worth celebrating. Those are baby steps that seem insignificant, but actually have a much bigger impact than many people realize because they add up quickly.
Hang in there, you'll work through it and get yourself back on track again in no time. You've caught yourself before you've slid very far, so that's a good thing!

Matchrocket congrats!

Matchrocket 🎉🎉 Congratulations! 🎉🎉

The Goat Queen but the 0% is a good thing!!! Congrats on that part!

Bearours I started a sinking fund last January and put a small amount in each month.  I haven't started my shopping yet, but between the sinking fund and five paychecks this month (we get paid weekly on Thursday), I think there will be a lot less stress.  And, hopefully, no debt.

Bearours since I started uni I've made a habit of putting away £10 PM in my Christmas fund - I'm single, no kids, so it's pretty much just parents and siblings and they're all poor too so £20 per person doesnt look too bad for gifts. It doesnt get every Christmas expense but it gets a lot of them. In fact this year, a few months ago I was able to increase it to £15 PM so will be doing a bit better this year! Hopefully w time I'll be able to increase that to a point where I'm covering all of Christmas throughout the year.

TC Jackie We did the same as Bearours and this is also what YNAB recommends (see True Expenses info for more on that). Another thing that helps us is we have an awesome cash back credit card. We stopped using credit cards when we first really addressed our financial situation and went to envelopes (which I loved for things like clothing and Christmas) but then we got this card which we pay off every month (actually I started making a payment for each cc transaction but that got too much so now I periodically throw money at it based on YNAB budget amount which tracks all the credit card spending for me). Anyway, we pay everything possible on this card the largest expense being groceries. Last year we had $800 cash back and this year we are at about $1100. They credit that to our card in November. In YNAB I record that credit to Christmas and that usually leaves us way more than we need. A side note, I budget all the food, booze,  etc for Christmas to Christmas category so that the regular category amounts don't get skewed and I can also track the TRUE cost of Christmas (it adds up).

Hi Purple Foal !

Welcome aboard! It's never too late to join the challenge for the year! :)

We suggest you keep enough in savings that, should something happen, you don't have to go back into debt to deal with it. 

If you can make the lump sum payment for 2019, while still keeping a good amount of your savings tucked away, that's great! Some people can get into trouble with dealing with their debt too quickly. The debt is gone, but so is all your cash.

It sounds like you may already have a plan in place, but I wanted to leave a link to our Help Doc on how to make a debt plan just in case it helps! 

Purple Foal Are the savings in on budget accounts in YNAB?

Faness Thank you!

MXMOM No they're not. I have my Emergency Fund "In case we strike" since that is very likely. I do have mutual funds that I could access but haven't put them in my budget. I want to not dip into them (were an inheritance) and I want to address my spending issues & get out of my mess by changing my behaviour. So far so good. :)

Pay Me To Draw Good for you! Definitely enjoy your vacation & Xmas but look for frugal ways to lower each budget. Avoiding spending money eating/drinking out on your trip and focusing on sentimental / thoughtful gifts should help. You have time to plan for Xmas by making gifts.

I'm going to make my family traditional Irish Xmas cakes like my grandfather used to. Heavily laced in Jameson & need to be made a good month ahead. I have the time & started buying the ingredients on sale ready for when I make them. They will be very well received but won't cost that much. Better than the consumerism of Xmas. Also going to make Mason Jar Soups & give a few to my brother/wife who do a cleanse every January. Photobooks too - gotta get organized on that one!! :)

Purple Foal mmmm.  sounds yummy.

Orchid Display That's amazing!! Win!!

Slate Blue Pilot That's amazing and a huge undertaking! Keep going! Maybe break it down into 20k chunks so the days you feel overwhelmed, it will help you.

Would be good if there was a reverse goal feature - like instead of saving up for $1000 and watching the circle move towards 100%, you put in your debt, and watch the paid off amount increase. :)

Purple Foal  Thank you for the encouragement! I often have to stop to remind myself that even though paying this off seems so far away, I am moving in the right direction. The exercise of reporting back here every month is helping.

You're right about smaller goals. Should make a point to take a few minutes to reflect at each $10,000 mark!

Slate Blue Pilot I was thinking of your situation. It is a huge number and you have been really attacking it. I listened to YNAB Podcast #342 today and it talked about big debts like yours. 

Maybe make a visual countdown chart by $1,000 increments. Colour boxes every time you pay off $1000. At $10,000 marks, give yourself a treat, whatever it may be, for $50-$100 as a reward. Really mark your success with a treat to keep yourself motivated. Imagine buying a special bottle of wine for each benchmark - make a tag of what benchmark it was. At the end, you'd have an incredible wine cellar or one huge party!!

In Toronto, where I'm from, there is the world-renowned Sick Kids hospital. They give the kids "Beads of Courage" that they string on necklaces for every needle, procedure, surgery they endure. These kids are true heroes. Many kids have necklaces that are double their height. It really marks each step of their long difficult journeys. From a financial point-of-view, similar to yours. Do something to celebrate each step of your journey! You've got this! :)

Purple Foal This is such a lovely way to build in positive reinforcement into a tough situation! And I will look for that podcast today, because I don't think I've heard them all.

Whiskey Mama Exactly!! Shop your closet, move things around that you already have, and make choices. Your choice is to be debt-free. That's a much more motivating choice! Keep going! :)

Purple Foal I have read YNAB the book 3 times and am on the 5th time listening to it while I drive. Jesse says in it, that sometimes that you need to slow down to speed up. I would say #2, get that month ahead and then go to #1. One thing I have taken away from 2-1/2 years with YNAB is there is no wrong way to kill the debt, as long as you are not accumulating new debt. It boils down to your comfort level and where you are in the journey.

Ruff16965 (05bd62cee897) You have to hear things several times before they sink in or sometimes often to have that aha moment. Luckily October has 3 paycheques, then I have a few things coming up that should help. Being on top of true expenses (xmas) and with budgets (xmas, much smaller this year) should put me in a great way to pay a lump sum by yearend and not have a massive January shopping hangover. :)

Purple Foal  I'm taking a middle ground approach with this. Saving the maximum each year to my tax-deferred retirement savings account (401k), but have cut down on non-tax-advantaged savings (for example, contributing to a post-tax investment account) in order to pay down debt faster. This same question (prioritize debt or savings?!)  bothered me as well, but a couple of people gave me the good advice of, it doesn't need to be one or the other, black or white; a hybrid is fine. When I read examples of compound interest really adding up over time, that scares me off from stopping my retirement savings while I'm paying off debt. 

In your case, I would say to definitely keep doing the RRSPS contribution and paying yourself first. When it comes to what to do next, I'd say to try to have a few months' of living expenses in a buffer + emergency fund or income replacement category. Then with any additional money, put it towards extra debt payments.

Slate Blue Pilot Good advice thanks. Yes want to contribute to my RRSP, to get a larger tax return in April/May & then save that money over the next 3 years to buy my car when the lease is up. In 3 years, I will have crushed my LOC debt & finished my car lease, so that $700 + the money I will learn to save from crushing/murdering/attacking debt, can be then used to really beef up my RRSP and investments. I want to eventually have a balance of tax-free investments & my RRSP by retirement.

Sometimes I can see the long-range priorities, but it's the current $50/$100 that stumps me.

So to sum it up, as of now (Oct), $50/biweekly to RRSP, $50/month to TFSA investment (but might hold off), build up my buffers, then find $7500 by Dec 31st  for the 2019 lumpsum limit. Seem reasonable? Does $50/biweekly seem too little? :)

Purple Foal That seems reasonable to me. And $50 biweekly is not too little! Will add up to $1,300 - not even counting any growth in the market - after a year. 

Madkat-Z Awesome!! Keep going! You've got this! :)

Aquamarine Storm 
You know your grandparents better than any of us. Do you perceive them as folks who make smart/responsible decisions? Do they have more income than expenses that you know of? Are they still making payments on their home, vehicle, or some other huge expense? And lastly, do you really think they would of offered you such a gift if they couldn't afford to part with it?

We all need a little boost sometimes; I truly believe in karma, both good & bad. Obviously, you have helped someone along the way despite your own personal struggles, and now you are being given the opportunity to get a head start with your own future/goals.

When it comes to opportunity & karma, you're supposed to accept -- for the benefit of both parties. You're supposed to leave the door open so good things can come through. If you shut the door to keep the bad out, you're also shutting out the good. Leave that door open for your grandparents and for yourself; they wanted to do this because it makes their heart melt to know they've made an impact or contributed to your future. Let them feel those warm & fuzzies, and let yourself accept this gift. One day, you'll be able to pay it forward to them, your kids, or someone else who really needs it -- because by then you'll have no debts & a decent amount of savings... all thanks to this one gift from your grandparents.  :)

BlueJhay said it very well.

Being able to receive is as important as being able to give. And receiving in any way that it shows up is a good thing. Do what you feel is best, but just make note to pay it forward, or do something nice for them when you can (hint: TIME is something grandparents value most because they see how little of it they have left. That is often more valuable to them and money).

BlueJhay thanks so much! I do feel better now, because yes they do it because they want to and are happy. I haven't been thinks thinking about that somehow...so thanks again!

farfromtheusual yes, time is definitely true. I'm spending Christmas always with them. Sadly I'm not living near them, but Christmas is always with them

Aquamarine Storm that's great! They would probably appreciate some extra calls, or Skyping together if they can handle that. My cousins actually got my 92 year old grandfather an Alexa with the video screen, so we can video chat with him whenever we'd like, and he LOVES it. It's hilarious because he sits all the way across the room from it which means he's really tiny in my view, but he loves to talk to those of us that are far away, which is several of us now. Maybe something like that would make them happy, too.

farfromtheusual the Alexa is great! They won't handle that (or more my grandma, she can't even touch a computer without having fear of breaking it). plus I myself do not like video calls, so we're just talking quite frequently the "normal" way. 

But that your grandpa is Handling the Alexa is wow!

Aquamarine Storm Oh, my cousins set it up for him, all he does is answer it! 😂

Orchid Display   Any progress is still PROGRESS, it doesn't matter if it took baby steps or giant leaps to get there -- you still got there! Congrats!

Orchid Display WOOHOO!!! Congratulations on hitting this milestone! Celebrating with you, keep smiling as you continue scaling (and resizing) that debt mountain.

Orchid Display Congratulations!!! This is a great achievement! You deserve to feel very proud of yourself. All of us are actively doing as much as we can to pay down debt, all victories should be celebrated. Small or big.

Paid off a credit card?? AWESOME

Less than 12 months left to go before you've paid off a loan? High Five

Stuck to your category balances for lunches that week? Boogie Dance

Let's celebrate them all, so we can all keep going in our quest for financial freedom!

Orchid Display WAHOO!!!! Way to go!!!!!!!

Orchid Display keeping smiling, you deserve to - great job, congrats!! 

Orchid Display congrats!

Orchid Display 

Maxim of the day: Every journey, long or short, starts with one step.

So maybe in the grand scheme of things or debts, it's small.  But you did it.  You.  You made a plan, you're following your plan, you see your plan working.  That is awesome!  So many of us are paralyzed to move lest we mess it up (worse) but you decided, "Not me!" and you're getting it done.  Well done.  The first step is very very important because without it we've made big plans and dreams but have accomplished nothing.  

BlueJhay Kudos to you!! Your story sounds similar to mine, though I didn't have the bankruptcy, my ex did, so it's been a long slow road to rebuilding things. If you're putting a bid in on a house then you've already come a long way! Congrats!!

BlueJhay Have you checked out myfico? They have a good section on bouncing back from credit problems. One of the sections is bankruptcy. I just hit my 1 year anniversary from filing and now trying to concentrate on hubbies cards. 

TooClumsy doing good! Making solid progress almost done!

farfromtheusual you're getting there! Domt give up just keep on trucking  :)

Mx Emmin Thanks!! Slowly but surely!!

Mx Emmin That's great progress, these visual reminders of being in the + vs in overdraft has such a boost on morale. I remember the days of not checking my student account, going to the till with a 'fingers-crossed' mentality and avoiding phone calls from the bank. When you're in what you feel is a dire situation, it's really hard to imagine anything beyond where you are now. So this is really good work, moving cities is costly so you've done well to get yourself out of the debt incurred from the relocation. 

Family drama causes everything to be off kilter-don't worry, just let yourself ride it out :)

Mx Emmin said:

I had +£180.13 in my current account. Those £ had jobs and purpose, they weren't just... spare. But my account had a positive balance, and I am starting to earn interest rather than fees.

Congratulations.  That is such an awesome milestone.  I remember the first month I didn't have to dip back into overdraft territory after years of wallowing in negatives before getting paid every month. The balance hovered just below $20 Canadian, but.it.stayed.in.positive.territory and I didn't incur the usual overdraft interest that month. Without that OD interest payment, the next month's final balance ended at around $50, and the month after that it was over $100.  I felt absolutely victorious that first month with less than $20 in my account.  Go you!