We find our Nutshell really important in managing our money
We had done all our sums in advance, saved up a deposit for our first place, managed to get a good mortgage deal, thought we had it all sorted - but there are all the extras you forget about like the removal vans and things you need to buy on day one just to get by. Plus celebrating moving in with a bottle or two..
So we realised quickly we needed to set up some sort of budgeting spreadsheet so we wouldn't start overspending. We tried doing our own in a PC programme but it got complicated and when the PC crashed it lost everything we'd done.
A friend told us about Your Money in a Nutshell and it just clicked - we could get all our contact details in one place so we'd have them handy and we found we could set reminders to email ourselves when things need renewing or if we need to start shopping around for better deals on comparison websites. And the budgeting pages are great, we can go in and add things if we know we've got a anything big coming up like a wedding or Christmas or big bills to pay. When our fixed rate mortgage comes to an end we can put that in and it'll change the figures to reflect it - it's brilliant.
At some point we need to start budgeting for a nice holiday to get away from the weather. Some decorating to do first though - and maybe some furniture would be nice!
It's easy to think you'll live forever when you're young.
But now we have a growing family, we realise it's vital to put our affairs in order; if one of us is taken ill, the other will know where everything is and what to do.
But my grandchildren have been interviewing me on their phones and on video, and now they've recorded my memories in a Nutshell - I can't wait to see it.
Lots of things are hard to talk about - at any age.
But now we've recorded our last wishes we can get on with enjoying retirement together, knowing that those left behind will have greater peace of mind.
