farfromtheusual That is Amazing! The momentum in this thread has been astounding! 🎉

Faness It truly has!

farfromtheusual Wowser! that is awesome.

WairereRose I know!!! I can't believe the progress everyone has been making!

farfromtheusual go us!

farfromtheusual I'm loving having people who are in the same boat as me and I can reflect with honestly. There is no shame here, just encouragement. It isn't my dirty little secret anymore. 

Orchid Device yes!! I think that is the biggest help of all!

Slate Gray Cobra Nicely done! A lot of those interest-free offers come with a number of fees if not paid off in time - you avoided any extra costs and got rid of a debt! Congrats! :)

Slate Gray Cobra That's how you play the game!!!

Orchid Stallion 2020 is Definitely going to be an excellent year - I can see it clearly! ;)

All puns aside, we're happy to have you joining us! Looking forward to your updates!

Orchid Stallion 

Jan and Feb I made min payments on all of my loans,

Jan - 1139.09

Feb - 1108.21

Mar - debt snow ball 34.40 so far, planning on more. :)

Gold Song I love the months that breeze by easier than expected - nicely done! I hope your arm feels better soon! :)

PepperPackAmbassador What did you learn in the Debt Bootcamp? :)

PepperPackAmbassador I'm not sure if this is relevant for the things you're saving for, but I've recently learned about the concept of 'Wish Farming' which has been invaluable for me to focus my savings and feel like I'm getting somewhere!  I've watched the Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PSJlyBTVIo&t=480s and only in googling this to post learned there's also an article which I am now about to read!  https://www.youneedabudget.com/wish-lists/

PepperPackAmbassador You're joining us just in time! March is Get Off the Credit Card Float month. We plan on sharing a number of tips and tricks on how best to tackle the float so you can swim along float-free in the future! :)

Orange Sun Wow! That's such a cool concept and not something I would have thought of myself. Totally going to be implementing that now. 

Purple Foal I learned about not trying to go crazy and pay off all my debt in one sitting. As I believe that was keeping me doubtful and unsure and hard to work on because I kept having set backs. So now, knowing its okay to put money towards debt, and towards my buffer, and towards my savings is okay. Its okay to take a breath and just figure out the pace that works best for me. 

Orange Sun Hi! I actually have a wish farm! However, I'm trying to fully get a month ahead and make sure my yearly expenses are funded and those misc. as well as my monthly expenses. So thats mainly what I'm saving for. 

Faness YAY! Thats great to here! Glad I've made it to this forum :)

PepperPackAmbassador That is also what my wish farm looks like ... but I'm excited to start!  It's such a great idea for when I actually get out from behind the 8 Ball.

PepperPackAmbassador If you have used YNAB for a while, then you probably have enough history to be able to check your averages on your categories. I didn't think of doing this until I'd been using the program for about a year and a half. It dramatically changed the way that I budgeted my categories since I started using the reports to periodically check averages and then fund the categories based on my averages instead. We haven't struggled to make a power bill payment since, and in winter it's always high. I don't know if you've done this or not, but since I didn't know to do it for a long time I figured I'd say something if it might save someone else a little stress and help smooth out the budget a bit more.

farfromtheusual Hey hey! Yes I love the average budget section! I haven't looked at in a while though, so thank you for the reminder! That may help with my budgeting going forward :) I definitely just need to be more mindful and pull up the app before a purchase and evaluate first, instead of afterwards too. 

PepperPackAmbassador haha, yeah, that's important, too! Averages helped me so much, though, man, that made a huge difference. And while it was logical, it hadn't ever been mentioned to me before, so I share it often just as a reminder in case someone hadn't though to look at the reports in that way before.

PepperPackAmbassador We got off the float by changing from budgeting by month to budgeting by paycheques. Which is really what YNAB says to do - only budget money you have.

MXMOM Thanks for that advice! I currently have been budgeting by paychecks, and do so, its mainly just, me needing to leave the credit cards at home, so that I dont use them and connect with my debit card more than anything. 

PepperPackAmbassador Freeze them in  a block of ice in the freezer! 🤣

Jennifer It's never too late to join - we're happy you're here and welcome to the forum! :)

A Fresh Start is a great way to reprioritize and shift direct in your budget. That debt will be gone before you know it!

Purple Foal 

Purple Foal said:
It's annoying when you look at your expenses in the report to see that the bank fees cost more than Spotify or Netflix, both of which I enjoy way more!

 Nice save! I have a number of friends who are paying bank fees to avoid the hassle of switching, but it's so much money being lost. I even joked that I'd keep their money safe for half the fees.😆

Faness Funny!! It's just about not being complacent with money. Put in the effort to save in the long run. :)

lil Ronnie We're birthday twins! You can definitely crack down on this debt! You got this. 

Green Song Yay!  Birthday twins 😁

Purple Mama Having kids help with meal prep is a win on so many levels - yay for saving money, teaching the next generation how to cook and eating healthier! Making so much progress in February is just icing on an already really nice cake - nice going! 🧁

@Purple Mama  Way to go on your February progress!  I've started using Giant Eagle grocery pickup and it's definitely helping me keep our grocery expenses under budget.  I actually enjoy grocery shopping and cooking, but over the years as we weren't quite as poor as we used to be, I stopped paying attention to how much things cost.  Seeing that running tally as I fill my cart online helps me understand and be able to react to how much I'm spending!  

Purple Mama I also started using Walmart grocery pickup.  It's a great way to stay in budget.  If you use the ibotta app, you get a few dollars back every time you schedule a pickup.  🙂

Cyan Koala So very true! And it helps me to be more organized about our meal plan. I shop from that now with the little extras thrown in, but no one can be tempted to grab ice cream and throw it into the cart. It's a win-win for the budget and the waistline!  

Little Red Your health has to come first, so tackling those issues is still a win! We all have months that don't go as planned (we like to say there's no such thing as a "normal" month), but you've rolled with the punches and already have a plan to make this month better!

Here's to a healthier March! :)

Whiskey Mama I'm happy to hear he's well traveled on the road to recovery!! :)

Peripherie Well said, and it's wild to see that over $500,000 of that was in February alone! Cheers to this community for sharing their debts, their stories, and especially the moments where we get to see what it means to roll with the punches when we need to, but still managing to push forward. I'm glad to be a part of this journey with everyone and here's to reaching $2 million!

Peripherie True... but imagine how much interest that MILLION would have cost us collectively if we hadn't paid it off!

farfromtheusual 😨 I'm sure the interest alone could pay off the rest of my debt and give me a large chunk of spending change (maybe "buy vacation houses" type of change). 😆 

Faness SERIOUSLY. That's a LOT of money!!!!

Michelle D. not trying to worry about too many things is totally fine right now. I have a car loan, but I didn't bother including it in this year's smack down because I knew I probably wouldn't get to it. But after December that will be my focus for next year's smackdown instead!

farfromtheusual Thanks! I started using YNAB a year ago and I had a hard time getting used to it.  Mostly because I hadn't changed my mindset and everything seemed too hard to manage. I've restarted a number of times, but I think I finally got a handle on it.  This year I finally feel like I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Michelle D. Awesome!! Just decide that from here forward you're not going to do a restart. The longevity in the budget itself gives you access to so much more information that will help make budgeting easier in the future - being able to look at reports and check average spending across several months is a game changer! That's what helped to push my budgeting to the next level and enable me to better fund my categories and stop WAMing all the time.

Slate Blue Network 56% only 3 months into the year - Nicely done! :)

Are you going on a job hunt after May or do you already have another opportunity lined up? Either way, good luck with the transition! 

Faness it only looks good because I took the car loan debt out. 😂  I've got 30 weeks severance so I'm going to take a bit of a break once I'm done. I'm close to retirement age so I may do semi-retirement and work part time vs. full time. Lots to figure out and while I'm in the midst of the stress it's tough to think sometimes! 🙂 Thank you for asking!

Slate Blue Network Hey now, progress is still progress! :)

It's great that you have that cushion so you don't have to rush into the next thing. Wishing you as much peace as possible with making that decision. Any form of retirement sounds lovely. 

Slate Blue Network Good Luck with whatever you decide to do!! 30 weeks severance is pretty nice! 

Slate Blue Network yesterday afternoon I got a call that I’ll remain on the project until December. 😎 No more job loss in May! 🎉 Got a raise and nice bonus too. Bonus was expected, raise wasn’t.  I’m stunned. I’m going to continue to leave the car loan off debt smack down and further fund my emergency fund until I’m at a comfortable level while continuing to pound the charge cards and furnace payoff. 

SapphireSweetie 2 weeks for every year of employment. I had lost the job due to redundancy after a merger. 

Slate Blue Network That is amazing!!! I’m ecstatic for you! Plus you have a great plan in place! Wishing you all the best!

Slate Blue Network Great news!

Slate Blue Network WAHOOO!!! That's way good news!!!!! Congrats!!!!

GroceryAddict WOW! Those are some awesome things to be proud of!!

Schiaparelli Hat I'm happy your father is alright! Older-aged adventures make me nervous for all the reasons you just described. My mother has a special place in my heart, so I gave her a special place in my budget, as well (her own category). 😅

I hope he's feeling better and taking well to his new home!

Faness Giving your mother her own budget category is a really good idea as parents get older. Thanks for the tip!

Faness Dad has  had a special place in my budget. Since his meds cost so much each month he hits the Medicare donut hole by March at the latest. I have been sending money to my sister that is his primary caregiver every month, the category was called 👴🏻 Drug 🍩 hole. Currently, all these transfer to long term care expenses are being charged against that category, no need to create something new at this time.  I wish you well with your Mom.

Schiaparelli Hat It sounds like you were already somewhat prepared, which is great! I love the category name, but reaching that point just a few months into the year is terrible - and that's coming from someone who usually loves donut holes (the glazed kind). 

Kudos to you and your sister for being there for your dad. I know it isn't the easiest thing to manage, but it sounds like you're doing an amazing job!

Faness Yaaasss!!! I feel like one less loan to count is well worth it and gives an extra good feeling in addition to the total amount dropping, too (win-win, seems to me). Here's to more in March! (On this end, keeping at least the same, maybe more if I can swing but depends on the tax bill I have to pay once all my self-employed earnings/SEP IRA deposits clear, oy vey.)

Spider Plant It's definitely been a good goal so far - for both the sake of planning and motivation. 😄

Wishing you all of the deductible expenses! I hope that tax bill comes in much lower than you're expecting! 

Faness Thank you! Once student loan interest, SEP deduction, and the usual business deductions all come through (business expenses are deducted from business income, thankfully; which means less taxes on that money, but also less money in the SEP and less money to take home, too)... I'll be able to finally file and pay. It'll be a relief to have it done, and it seems I've been able to reduce the bill by about $500, which is about 25% less than what I originally had calculated, which is less than I'd hoped for, but still a nice difference all the same. I've made adjustments to withholding for one W-2 job (while also increasing my 401(k) withholdings from that same job) in order to hopefully prevent this happening again next year. Fingers crossed!

Faness That's excellent! You'll knock them all out at this rate! :)

Turquoise T-Rex I went down the student loan path for a while with my head in the sand - telling myself they weren't real debt (haha). It sounds like your mental shift has taken full hold - yay for finding those extra funds! :)

I'm glad the potential house problem turned out not to be a problem! Is it something you can start preparing for now or the type of issue you have to wait to address? I'll hope it holds off for a while to come! 

Faness It was some water accumulation near the house that we were concerned might be a leak but is instead just a drainage issue. We'll have to fix it of course, and it will cost a little bit to do that (theoretically covered already with the amount I've managed to save in our home improvement category), but not nearly as much as it would to fix a leak, so I'm grateful for that.

auntdar Yay bullet journalling! Starting a bullet journal improved my life hugely, it made it so much easier to stay organised. I hadn't thought of using it to record debt payoff though! I'd just been using the reports in the YNAB app. Might make a new spread for this, thanks for the idea :D

auntdar Looks great!! :)

auntdar Visuals are awesome!!

lil Ronnie Is this available on both iOS and android? Looks super useful!

Quantum Jump The Allowance for YNAB app is for iOS. You can find more details from the app developer here!

Quantum Jump what Nicole said 😊

Nicole Quantum Jump Just a heads up that Nicole linked a different app. Here's the correct link for Allowance for YNAB.

Spider Plant Nicole Thanks! Unfortunately I have an Android phone, so this isn't available for me, but it looks super useful! I'll see if I can contact the developer and enquire as to the possibility of an android version.