Quantum Jump 

Chugging along with determination.  It's so exciting when you can see the end of a debt.  Go you!

Quantum Jump Hot dog! Killing it! 

Quantum Jump Fantastic job! You're building that momentum. 

Orchid Device 

Congratulations on killing off the overdraft monster.  Massive, MASSIVE, accomplishment!

Orchid Device awesome about the overdraft. We lived in that negative bank account world for years. Now we almost giggle with glee when we see our (positive) balance. 
 

I hear you on the travel. We just canceled our trip that was planned for the past year. And being in China would make it even more complicated. I have heard that no or few flights are available back to China. 

MXMOM There are flights, but it is limited. Currently the conference is not cancelling, but who can say what will happen tomorrow let alone in four months. 

HappyDance Thanks! It was especially important given the fact that overdraft rates in the UK are going up a lot from April - even arranged overdrafts. Now just to clear my larger card balance. I also have a small card balance with crazy low interest rates. I want to clear both, but am obviously prioritising. 

Orchid Device my husband had a conference in Indianapolis which goes from March 27 to Apr 6. On Tuesday it was 50/0 whether or not it would proceed. Thursday they announced they are postponing the whole thing. Apparently the city did get its first case the day before so it wasn't without reason. 

But my husband booked accommodations with an AirBnB style company (not AirBnB - they have made an announcement that they are softening their no cancellation policy for both guests and hosts). This company is not refunding him and this type of accommodation is not covered under the insurance cancellations either. So hopefully his company will step up and pay for it or we are out $800.    

MXMOM Wow, that is a hard situation. I've reserved hotel accommodation for the conference, but nothing to pay until 30 days before. At least by that point I will have a good idea of what is happening. If I stay in China during the summer, it isn't the end of the world. I hope that your husband's company fork out the $800. I'd hope that they have corporate insurance for that sort of thing. 

Orchid Device Oh man, that feels SO good to get off the overdraft!! Way to go!

Slate Blue Pilot way to slay it! 

Powder Blue Lightning I hope you're feeling better! We all have month's that don't go quite as planned, but it sounds like you're setting up for a major bounce back in April! :)

Welcome to the Debt Smackdown, Duckie ! 🎉

Yellow Pufferfish Even if it's 0%, that debt still carries weight. You'll feel much lighter when it's gone!

Nicole I do!!! I paid it off last week. Feels GREAT to see it to zero and not have to spend any more time thinking about this consumer debt. Now I can focus on student loans (14 months, 39 months), car (13 months), and house (16 more years!). However, with all of this uncertainty, I'm not making any extra payments right now and instead trying to save up just a little bit. 

Yellow Pufferfish I believe if you have Federal student loans, the interest payments will be put on hold in the very near future due to coronavirus (at least from what I've read).  I have a Parent Plus Loan which is also Federal, so this is good news to me.  

I agree with padding that emergency fund/saving at the moment...so much uncertainty.  I'm doing the same!

Sweet Tangerine That's great news! Keep attacking it if you can to lower your principal! :)

Purple Foal  yes I do still plan to do that! 

We're here for you, Turquoise Trumpet . I'm sorry 2019 was a tough year, but glad you've returned to the challenge. It can be a great motivator!

Sea Green Mare Your resolve to make change is admirable!

I was also an impulse spender for many years (especially thousands of dollars thrown at Amazon Prime. I usually ended up discarding or forgetting about the item a few weeks to months later).

Just wanted to share two things that helped me:

- I put a stop to same-day online purchases (that is, if I thought about buying something on Monday, I would -not- allow myself to buy it on Monday). Often times, if I still feel I need it a month later, I'll seriously consider purchasing.

- I read Goodbye, Things  by Fumio Sasaki. His own life is on the more extreme end of the spectrum, but I found his writing to be very relatable. He offered me an interesting emotional framework for viewing my relationship with life vs. my relationship with things.

Good luck!

Purple Panther thank you for the recommendations and encouragement! These are great ideas.

Sea Green Mare You've come to the right place for those! Starting a journal can be another helpful tool, if that's something you'd be interested in—to chronicle your debt free journey.

internettie Look! Your card is inspiring others. 🙂

Nicole glad that I can help in any way! 

auntdar I know the struggle! We can do this! 

auntdar Just a thought: if you have multiple email addresses, you may be able to take advantage of free trials with streaming services if you sign up with a new username...! Just make sure to binge watch your fave show and set a reminder to cancel the day before the trial ends.

auntdar And it always strikes when I am feeling down, or bored, or a little sad. Great job reversing those impulse streaming services. Hugs!

auntdar Just a thought, spend less time watching videos & shows, and spend more time reading about personal finance. It becomes addictive, in a good way! Then you will learn new things to motivate you and you won't miss your subscriptions as much since you'll be reallocating your time elsewhere. Check out my journal for a reading list. Also blogs worth reading: Frugalwoods, SavvyNewCanadians (good ideas even if you are in the US), Jessica Moorhouse, Mr Money Moustache. :)

auntdar Kudos to you for recognizing and shifting focus again!! It IS a slippery slope, and like I tell my BF all the time it's the nickles and dimes that get you. It's not big things, it's all the small stuff that adds up insanely fast and leaves you with nothing wondering what happened.

auntdar It is a slippery slope! Good on you for noticing, and making an informed decision. My SO and I make compromises on a few "it's only" subscriptions, but decided to cut back in other areas to make up for it. 

lil Ronnie Yaaaasssss!!! That's a great feeling! 

lil Ronnie Woot!! 🎉🎉🎉 Nicely done! :)

lil Ronnie Excellent!! Frame that one! Maybe have a few empty frames hung next to this one for the next debt payoff statements! :)

lil Ronnie wahooo!!!!!

Peripherie You're making great progress - congrats on paying off that card! :)

ihearttroponin You had money set aside for that True Expense,  preventing additional debt—which is perfect! 🎉

Sweet Tangerine way to go!

Sweet Tangerine Fantastic progress! We appreciate all that you do during this difficult time.

Pink Mermaid That is so tough. I'm sure you will not be the only one striving to pay bills. Keep your chin up! Luckily you've discovered YNAB & have made a battle plan. The debt will get paid, maybe later, but the urgency now is to not take on new debt. Keep going, you've got this! :)

Pink Mermaid Sometimes the plan needs to change (Rule Three: Roll With the Punches)! I'm glad you're giving yourself some grace and flexibility with the goal during this stressful period. 

Pink Mermaid there are going to be many people suffering from the fallout of this illness. Kudos to you for readjusting you perspective. I hope that everything bounces back quickly once this has passed.

Pink Mermaid Sending you strength and resourcefulness in these hard times. Hoping you can weather it without cc debt 🤞

Turquoise Wildebeest Second paycheck check-in... I paid another $580 towards the CC, plus $200 on the car. So the total I paid this month was $2852.

Turquoise Wildebeest Slaying it!

ISuckatMaths Do you use the mobile app at all? It's a huge difference from the YNAB 4 app and may help you check your budget more often. We have a number of YNABers who only use the mobile app (outside of reconciling and running reports). 

If you can pinpoint what brought joy to YNAB 4 that you're missing in the online version, I'd love to hear your feedback! :)

Faness I am one of those who purely uses the mobile app. In fact, it was my main draw to signing up to YNAB and I love it!

I've always got my phone on me and log purchases right as I'm leaving the store. I must admit, I occasionally miss one or two, but reconciling every couple of days keeps me on top of things.

The fact you can't reconcile on mobile (yet) is actually a good thing for me, as I tend to bring up my online bank on my mobile whilst having YNAB open on the computer so I can view the statement and budget side-by-side.

Reports would be nice to see on mobile, but I do wonder if I'd actually use it.

ISuckatMaths there is a learning curve with the new version, but stick with it, I think you'll find it helpful once you use it long enough to get a little longevity with it.

Hi Faness , sorry for the delay. I had looked for how I could DM you, but couldn't find a way. So I will respond here, I expect my issues are the same as people who haven't switched over, or who don't like the new version - so with my feedback, I don't expect any changes to how YNAB has chosen to operate.

The joy I have with YNAB4 is that I could plan my next month or few months, and see them. There is a sweet emotional joy in seeing that in Sept 2020 I will have cleared my debt, or that it allows me to adjust my plans because I'm not going to make it - and all this is done visually. I understand that Goals are meant to address that, but in the end the result is not the same as it doesn't have the same tactile/visual experience.

I think the way the community has addressed the issues with the YNAB extension has made the experience better using nYNAB, but they are still very limited.  Small thing that bothers me is that I prefer I don't want scheduled transactions to be at the top, split expenses really needs a toggle button. Visually it is distracting. I find myself irritated that every time I go onto the screen or log in I need to reset my preferred visual settings. These are little things, but when the old version had more customisation that allowed things to be the way one prefers it it does make life happier. So in the end I find YNAB4 to be easy and joyful. Every time I log in to nYNAB, I find myself a bit irritated because the schedule is at top, the dates are in the wrong order, every split transaction is open. And as such, that joy is a bit eroded, so it has led to me logging on less.

Regarding the app, I have it. I don't particularly like going on the app, but that is nothing against the app, it's more because I found my joy in coming home and sitting in front of the computer and inputting my info. It keeps everything very tactile and I get to see what's happening. I'm a big believer of the old method of imputing, as it forces one to be very aware of their money.

So that's how I used to work, these were my moments of zen going through YNAB and seeing how my money moved and grew. 

hi farfromtheusual ,  yah I agree all new programmes require a learning curve and I by no means don't expect it to be easy just because I used the old programme.
I signed on the videos, did the course etc. and it has been my third time on this programme. I don't have anything against it. It's just not as joyful for me. I'm sure if I decide to stay with the programme I'll find ways to reconcile it, the biggest issue is that I don't want to not know what's going on with my money. That is my biggest concern, and it does worry me that I now go on the app once a month, when before I used to go at min once a week with updates and once a month for next month's set up. So it's a big change, and not one that I think is good for my money management... in the end we'll see 🙂

ISuckatMaths Thank you for taking the time to respond! Direct messaging isn't available for support (except for Veronica ).

I may sound a bit like Marie Kondo, but we definitely want YNAB to spark joy - or at least make budgeting more enjoyable and less daunting. :)

It sounds like the visuals you outlined (multi-month view, option to move scheduled transactions, toggle for split transactions), and the extra steps required to keep them how you prefer, are preventing those moments of zen. 

We appreciate you sharing your feedback here! At the moment, we don't have any changes planned in these areas on our short term roadmap, but that doesn't mean they can't change down the line!

Gold Case I'm glad to hear that 2019 was a great year. Hopefully, that will have put you in a slightly better place to get through this current struggle. I think a lot of people are in similar positions work-wise. I don't think the 'roll with the punches' rule was designed for such an extreme situation but hopefully that insight and having YNAB to help you make the best decisions that align with your priorities (even as you may have to take on debt) will help you weather things better than without it.

Not sure where you live but many countries are planning some kind of financial aid now or down the line. I hope you will be able to tap into that if worse comes to worse.

Gold Case Hey, I was just reading about this on Friday's Hustle newsletter. I've attached an excerpt of the article, maybe it can help. I have similar issues and I'm leaning towards VR, online, and creating the event at their offices (which is considered a safe space for the company).  

The numbers are staggering’

Natasha Miller’s company has already lost $100k in known business. 

That might not sound like a lot for an outfit that brought in $4m+ of revenue last year, but Miller knows it’s going to get worse. Her company, San Francisco’s Entire Productions, specializes in corporate events for companies like Uber.

She told The Hustle that her business had 178 events in the pipeline that would go to contract in the next few months.

“If I owned a company,” she said, “I would not be signing contracts for events until I know they can happen.”

Miller now expects her business to do about half of what it brought in last year.

“The numbers are staggering,” she said, and they’ll force business leaders to make hard choices. One thing she’s considering: contracts that are more open-ended, which come with more risk.

----

What to watch:

Online conferencing is set to boom. As doctors turn to telemedicine and schools turn to tele-education, the value of good online conferencing tools is clearer than ever.

Virtual reality is about to surge. Businesses that normally require in-person visits -- museums, conferences, concerts, sports games -- are losing revenue, which will likely inspire investment in virtual alternatives. Some museums in both America and China have already begun using live streaming platforms like Taobao Live to take “visitors” on virtual tours.

Gold Case *hugs* I hope that things improve quickly, so many people are suffering from the fallout from this illness.

Gold Case that is unfortunate. I hope you are able to find ways to navigate this. Perhaps see if there are ways you can pivot your skills to help with some of the new reality. 

this epidemic highlights the need for emergency funds and planning for the unexpected. This situation is going to devastate so many people financially. I used to be self employed and now work for the government. I know my health would be suffering from stress if I had to navigate this as a self employed business.  The fallout will be ongoing long after the pandemic is under control  

farfromtheusual That's great!! And smart to take advantage of the 0% interest to not overpay it now. During this unusual times, just buffer up your True Expenses. :)

Purple Foal Yes! Now more than ever that is a wise thing to do!

Green Cleric Just keeping the cards zeroed is a big deal. <3 I get it.

With all this illness stuff happening now, maybe it will work out easier to do your trip later. And who knows, you might end up with some amazing bonuses because of that.

farfromtheusual Yeah, all the craziness from the virus, it might all be decided for me anyways. 

Everything non-essential is shutting down in my area. I was just really hoping that it would all be blown over by mid-April and we could still do what we started to plan. It really isn't a time to be thinking about a vacation though. I just love my birthday and all this makes it rough to do anything at all now.

I probably just need to call it a lost hope and focus on moving instead. I'm sure you're right that it'd end up better to wait, there's bound to be incentives to do stuff once everything is back to normal.

I'm being silly with really wanting to keep with the game plan even though everything (vibes of the world and vibes of my finances) say it's not a great idea, haha. Selfish side doesn't want life to be this disrupted.

Green Cleric all of that is totally normal to feel. When our world gets disrupted we all want to cling to some sort of normal, and sometimes that ends up being something that isn't logical or practical. We are very emotionally based beings, even if we try to ignore that fact most of the time :)
I would say do what you can with your funds, set aside some, with the idea that maybe you can do something, or maybe it will wait until later. Honestly, I love doing things 'belated' for my birthday, that just makes the celebration last longer!

farfromtheusual A longer celebration I can definitely get onboard with! I like that sentiment, I'll just have to change a little of how I look at things. But yeah, everything is crazy right now, really hope life is back to normal quickly and the spread of this stops. 

Green Cleric it's more fun that way!!
I agree, hopefully people do the right thing and help reduce the spread and we can get back to some semblance of normal soon!

farfromtheusual fingers crossed! I'm going stir-crazy working from home and getting everything delivered, but I know I'm not alone and hopefully that makes it all stop faster. 

Green Cleric I wish I was required to work from home... but not yet. Enjoy the variety, it won't last forever for sure.

Green Cleric I feel you on the birthday. Birthday's are my favorite holidays and I love spending them with the people who make me happy. Looks like this year it will just be me and my cat this Saturday. The struggles of long distance and now this virus. Will just have to do something extra special once some semblance of normal is back

Emma  Happy early birthday! (They're my favorite holidays too!!) It is so tough to have everything happening right now, my area just announced shelter in place so it really doesn't feel like I'll get to do much - I can't wait for normal again. Something amazing when it's all over will be what I'm looking forward to. 

I hope you get to do something really fantastic!

Emma Catherine happy early birthday!! My mother's is today (St. Patrick's day), and my horse's is tomorrow!