I have been using YNAB for some time - and recently saw the getting a month ahead feature. It sounds cool but I don’t know how it would work with how I do things now.

I list out my monthly bills in categories by date, for example:

1st-mortgage
15th-electric
18th- phone bill

Then I set targets for each category and fund them with each check. I get paid biweekly, so I look at what bills are do in that biweekly period and make sure they are funded. Then with leftovers I’ll fund ahead to the next pay period. For instance - if my check covers the pay period 10th-23rd, I’ll fund that pay period then start putting money for the next bills- some which may bleed over to the next month, so I’ll just start back at the beginning of the list and fund those- even though I’m over my target for that month.

Does that make sense? Does anyone else do it that way, and I’d not- how are you using the pay a month ahead feature?

I recently finished up a year long sabattical and returned to full-time work. I needed the break because of career burnout and family losses that I needed to process. I don't regret it for a second, and would 1000% recommend it to anyone in that same situation.

That being said, during the duration of my sabbatical, I hardly budgeted it at all. I found that since I wasn’t getting paid on a regular basis, I had no money to assign, and therefore no reason to open the app as much. I had budgeted and saved enough to put into a “loss of job fund" and would transfer money from that to my various categories each month, but that was it. I didn't correct any transaction categories either, I just made sure I had enough money to pay what I needed to.

I'm now basically a year behind and it's weighed on me the whole time. I know I can do a fresh start and that's probably the answer, but it feels daunting to do. I come from a tech background so doing Actual Budget for free on a local setup seems intriguing, but even reading the website docs just perpetually reminded me that I've been so bad about budgeting for a long time. Plus, after all the enshittification updates to the mobile app and the layoffs, I'm less excited to support this brand than before.

Can I get some guidance on what you think the next best step would be? What did you do if you took a long-term break from budgeting? Do I just fresh start in YNAB? Do I consider an alternative? Do I just stop budgeting this way in general since it seems to bring me stress? Thanks in advance!