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Shadowhand00 posted:definitely givve those webinars a try prior to using the software. I found the YNAB software to be a terrible, terrible exercise in manually entering everything. However, I did get some ideas for saving for the future (things like gifts/birthdays/christmas, vacations, etc.) and my wife and I built our budget around that. A simple Excel spreadsheet has been our method until recently, when we merged our accounts. Now I use "Compass" through my credit union, and it's made things extremely simple.
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May 30, 2013 20:45
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I found YNAB to be a total time-waster. I don't want to track every single expenditure and credit. My credit union already has tools to do this for me, and my own spreadsheet is a good way to know where we should be every month.
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Jul 15, 2013 18:27
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This might be what you're looking for. My wife and I used it to track our "fun money"so we didn't have to use physical cash all the time. https://www.clearcheckbook.com/
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Jul 18, 2013 20:02
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DirtyTalk posted:So, this summer really demolished me in terms of finances. I have a spending problem, Im 23, earn a pretty decent salary, and have a girlfriend that is currently broke that I pay for everything for. Pillowpants does the budgeting service. yourfinancetracker@gmail.com is his e-mail address. http://www.yourfinancetracker.com/ is his website.
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Aug 29, 2013 14:05
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tuyop posted:How should I budget for my next car? This current one that I just paid off last month is almost four years old (with 153 000 kilometers I misunderstood the question. Edit: Just take about 30% off the cost of the new car and use that figure. It should be pretty close to that when a car is 2-3 years old.
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Feb 2, 2014 17:15
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). I think I can expect another 2-4 years out of it at least.
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Can the YNAB chat go to the YNAB thread, please? I purposefully avoid that thread so I don't have to hear dozens of posts about it.
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Feb 11, 2014 16:54
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Cranbe posted:I dunno, man, it's a thread about creating a budget. Seems appropriate that we talk about a tool we use for our budgets. As opposed to the thread specifically created for using that tool? YNAB talk bores me to tears, so I was ecstatic when a separate thread was created.
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Feb 11, 2014 19:02
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Hand of the King posted:This is a budget based on just 2 pay checks a month ($1,600 each) and not counting the additional 2 checks we get or our tax returns each year. We are happy with our expenses and do not wish to adjust them. I'm about to post some stuff that might ruffle your feathers, but here goes. You make plenty of money, but you have a shitload of credit card debt - nearly 6 months of your take-home pay. That's money you already spent, so you need to think about cutting back your expenses until you're out of the hole. You really need to do some soul searching here. You say you are happy with your expenses, but you have no line items for medical, clothing, maintenance, and I'm sure a bunch of other miscellaneous things that seem like "one-time events" but in reality are always happening. You could probably cut back on your cell phones, personal hygiene, and food categories. If you have absolutely nothing go wrong (which is impossible) and need nothing outside of your budget (also impossible), keep 100% to your budget (unlikely), and throw every extra penny at your debt (  ) you are looking at around 22 months to clear out your credit card debt. That's the best case scenario, which you know is not going to happen.You are wasting $4,500 a year on interest payments for your credit cards alone. That's pretty much your car payment with insurance being wasted just to have things now instead of saving money for them. You're not that bad off if you keep earning, but what would happen if one of you lost your job? Or needed to take a couple months off for a surgery/injury/pregnancy? Sit your spouse down and take a long, hard look at the numbers. Don't assign blame; you are in this together. Figure out what you really need to survive and start pounding away at your debt. If you want to knock out just your credit card debt in 12 months, you're looking at about $3,000/month. That's how much more you spent than you actually have. Nocheez fucked around with this message at 21:30 on Apr 7, 2014 |
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Apr 7, 2014 21:27
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I prefer 6-months of bills (rent/utilities/insurance) and add in any other costs to maintain a minimal lifestyle. If I were to lose my job, I would cut way back on eating out, gasoline, and "fun money" but would still need some cash to continue to live.
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Apr 25, 2014 21:03
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My bank has awesome budgeting/tracking software called "Compass" that is free with my account. I've been trying to see if they offer it anywhere else, but haven't had any luck. I'll post some screenshots later when I'm not at work.
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Jul 3, 2014 21:15
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When my wife gets home I'm going to give her a big hug and kiss since she only gets a cut every 6-8 months and likes her beautiful natural color the way it is.
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Jul 10, 2014 21:56
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HonorableTB posted:1. My car situation is actually a lot better than it used to be. My old car had severe engine problems (was struggling to make it up moderately big hills), the tires were completely shot, was coming up on 185,000 miles, and a whole host of other problems. The repairs were more expensive than the car. So I did a dumb thing and traded it in, got $3000, put a $1500 lien on the new(er) car (2013 Corolla) and the Toyota dealership slapped me with a $13,000 loan at 24% INTEREST. I called USAA, they took over the loan for me, and negotiated a 4.5% interest loan but Toyota wouldn't let go of it unless they paid the entire amount + expected interest at once so that's how I ended up with a $19,000 car loan. I was stupid and got bent over on account of it. Wait, so instead of paying the full amount with interest over the life of the loan, you decided to roll it over to another place and add even more interest on top of it? Also, there are more options between brand new Corolla and almost dead beater. The Corolla will need regular maintenance, albeit it should be more reliable than your old hoopty. Just remember that you are spending more than half of one year of your net income on a car. If you're living in a downtown area, you should be biking or walking as much as possible to save on gas and maintenance. Your situation SUCKS right now. You've made some really bad decisions, and you're going to have to buckle down and get creative to start climbing out. Do you have any prospects for a better paying job in the works? That would help tremendously, but if you adjust your spending upward with the increase in income you'll be right where you are, but with more expensive debt payments.
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Jul 22, 2014 18:28
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I love what my Credit Union provides on their website. It's called Compass, and it makes categorizing everything really easy. They keep adding new modules/functions, and can pull in outside accounts if you want to track your retirement accounts, credit card debt, etc. It even has a mobile app (that is somewhat lacking, but it works in a pinch). I'll try to post some screenshots later when I'm on my home PC.
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Aug 5, 2014 15:55
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That's a dilly of a pickle to be in. You combine for ~$25k take home anually and you have much more than that in debt or judgments against you. Is bankruptcy an available option? It might be the best way to clear this mess and get a fresh start, but you have to be ready and willing to live within your means after declaring.
Nocheez fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Oct 27, 2014 |
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Oct 27, 2014 13:58
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neogeo0823 posted:Yes, and yes. We've had an over-the-phone consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer as of late last week, who recommended a joint filing for chapter 7. We're waiting on an info packet to be sent to us, and in the meantime, we've turned to here for help learning to keep this poo poo sorted after it's all is said and done. I edited my original post, but it looks like that is the right way to go. For now, keep paying your bills for rent, car, utilities, insurance, etc. as you have been. You need to take a good, hard look at what you need to survive going forward. Can you cut out cable and go to a cheaper internet package? The answer to this question should be an easy "YES!" if you really are committed to getting control of your finances. My wife and I are in the 80 percentile for household income and we haven't had cable TV for a decade and really don't miss it. Netflix at $9/month is a very cheap alternative if you must have more than over-the-air TV. Next, we need to look at your car situation. That payment is reasonable, and I hope it's a short term loan for a cheap vehicle. What kind of vehicle is it, and what's the loan look like (term and APR)? Owning a boring and cheap car may seem like a downer, but when you detach your self-worth from the kind of car you drive you will be happier and improve your financial situation. I drive a 16 year old Miata and my wife drives an 8 year old Matrix (AKA Corolla wagon) for when we have to move more stuff or people. Both cars are easy on gas, and cheap to run and maintain. Neither are going to win a popularity contest. Other than that, you look to have your bills under control outside of the debt. Why did you go into debt in the first place? Are you spending beyond your means? Do you fall for the 0% APR scheme where you promise to pay something off in full, but then stop making payments because you're falling behind somewhere else? You don't need to go into specifics, but if you haven't fixed this you will end up in this situation again. Let's also talk about income. What prospects do you have for making more money? Can you sell things that you aren't using much now to make some quick cash? Can you do work on the side? Do you have any training or experience that you can utilize to get a better paying job? What about your wife? Can she find better, more consistent work? I started in a call center and picked up as many hours as I could stand. I was working 70 hours a week on average, and all day Sunday for that sweet, sweet double-time pay. The upside of working all the time was that I didn't have any free time to spend money at bars or on toys. Finally, do you check your budget regularly to make sure you are staying on track? Do you deny yourself extra purchases for things that aren't in the budget for the month? Do you save discretionary money until you can afford something a little more expensive? Make sure you are being honest with your money situation, and try to find cheaper ways of being happy. Hiking trails, free concerts, and cheap art projects are some ways that I find that I can have just as much fun without spending a lot of money. Thrift shops are a great source of cheap clothing and home items. Be creative! Good luck. You're starting on a tough but completely worthwhile journey. Welcome to adulthood  Remember, the people worth keeping in your life don't care what car you drive, what labels you wear on your clothes, or how big your home is.
Nocheez fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Oct 27, 2014 |
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Oct 27, 2014 14:21
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I find it hard to believe that the only internet option available to you is $100/month. With you so close to the ragged edge, nothing should be off the table. Are you friendly with neighbors that will let you mooch internet via Wi-Fi for a while? Every penny you can scrape together at this point will help you snowball your savings.
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Oct 27, 2014 14:57
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I found the name of the product that my bank uses, and it's this: https://www.mx.com/products/moneydesktop I swear by it, but it looks like it's only for banks/credit unions to deploy for their members. I don't think they realize what a goldmine they are sitting on with personal users. It's far easier to use than YNAB, and has lots of graphs and data built into it.
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Jan 18, 2017 18:20
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