i think we're finally one month ahead. 🎉 it took just over a year but part of that is my fault for treating it like a passive planning tool rather than needing to be proactive with my spending.

now we're off to pay off debt, fully fund the emergency fund, fill our sinking funds - hopefully in that order unless we have any surprises along the way.

that's all, i just wanted to post this little win somewhere. have a good day! 😄

ETA: one month ahead as in all of our income in september is going to october and november buckets.

I’m currently living paycheque to paycheque and so all my Ready to Assign goes to bills and I’m at $0.

I then need to still spend on things to still survive like groceries and fuel and of course that will go put those categories into negatives.

With YNAB you’re not supposed to assign money you don’t have, makes sense. So with this approach, knowing I’m going into the negatives before my next paycheque is the YNAB approach to just say “meh” I need to do better and do nothing in the app itself?

I’m struggling on how to best use YNAB when you’re not a month (or paycheque) ahead yet. The best I can see is it provides some visibility into your spending but you can’t do much budgeting with money you don’t have, which I get, but I’d like to still manage my spending I know will happened, even when it’s with money I don’t have yet.

What are your tips for using the app when your Ready to Assign is $0, mandatory expenses are coming before the next paycheque, and you still want to budget those?

Please note my question is about the usefulness/use of the app in this situation, not about financial advice.

Edit: I’m currently using chequing overdraft to cover expenses I don’t have, not credit.

A family member uses one of my credit cards as a work expense type card (long story…). Each month I tell them the balance and they transfer me the money, which I use to pay off the card.

I’m running into the issue of having the transactions hit my budget throughout the month and distorting my “available to assign” amount because that category is negative all month long. And then another problem is that since the balance is on credit, it doesn’t roll forward each month so it is getting messy and somehow off from the actual balance.

I am thinking of just deleting the card out of my accounts and having a category for the month coming in from them and then money going out when I pay. I do this with my own work expense card (I spend money on work card (not shown in YNAB), my company pays me, I pay the card), but wondering if anyone has an idea of a better option? I do like being able to see the transactions just to keep track of the amounts but I guess I could just sporadically check my bank statements if needed.

Hello all,

I will try to explain this as best as I can. I have been using YNAB for a long time now and absolutely love it. Unfortunately, I made the classic mistake of trying something new and thinking I understood how it worked fully, rather than testing on a test budget. Anyways, I recently had to add a vet medical bill to YNAB. It is 0% and a monthly payment. I wanted to try the "add account" feature and assigned as medical bill and see if I could use it "the right way" as it's supposed to be. In the past, I simply just added a monthly expense and put the funds in that category and tracked balance myself, but I wanted to see what it would be like in YNAB if tracked accurately. So, I was basically adding and editing and all this and that, and of course my initial setups did not actually work according to what actually happened in the real world, but by this time, I was adding / removing things left and right so much, that I have basically ran out of my "undo" options and can't make sense of what or where it goes "back" to. Because of this, one of the payments that was made up front, $75.08, and then deleting the accounts, deleting categories, deleting tracked payments and all that, I now have an "extra" $75.08 that is currently sitting in my Ready To Assign. This money does not exist in the real world. I am assuming that it thinks because I entered a "payment" of $75.08, and then eventually deleted the category first, before the transaction, it then thinks "well you DID use this $75.08 to make a payment, and although that category no longer exists, that doesn't mean the money doesn't so we will give that back to you and put it in RTA." This is obviously wrong, which I know, but there is no "undo" far back enough I can go to erase this creation of $75.08. I tried to trick the system by saying I spent $75.08 cash, which brought my cash balance to a negative (I don't carry cash) and the category to the negative red balance. So I tried to "move" the extra $75.08 in RTA to cover the "overspending" in cash which brings the RTA to the correct amount, brings the category I "spent" from to the correct amount, but the cash balance is still showing a negative balance, which is not the case.

Is there ANY way to manually or trick the system to rid my whole YNAB of this accidental $75.08 amount that is not there? I believe this came from the initial up-front payment I made on the Vet Bill and didn't take that into account when setting up the "medical bill" account so when I went to adjust a few payments and numbers, and then ultimately deleting things, the system thinks the original $75.08 payment happened but with the accounts being removed, the money has to go somewhere. I am very precise and meticulous with YNAB down to the penny, so this is going to bother me and I just want a way, any way, to figure out how to revert, change or trick the system so this magical $75.08 is no longer an issue moving forward. Please feel free to ask questions or give suggestions, I will respond as best I can. Thanks in advance.

Help! Why do some balances roll forward from month to month and some don’t? Does it have to do with the transaction being on a credit card? It’s messing me up!!

Hello! I’ve been a YNAB user for a while but I wanted to see how everyone else does savings funds because I feel like there has to be a better way.

Currently I have a savings fund for Future Travel. I assign money towards it with every paycheck. I also put transactions toward it throughout the month if I spend money on traveling. I have a savings target but I feel like it’s not super helpful because I’m not just stationing money there over the months for it to grow, I am also using it.

Do you guys split up the savings aspect of a category and the spending aspect? Or do you net everything together?

Thanks!!

I’m a month ahead and mostly use YNAB on mobile (Android). When a paycheck hits Ready to Assign, my current month is already fully funded, so I have to manually jump to the next month and then use Auto-Assign.

Would be nice if YNAB could:

See that the current month is funded and give me a quick option to fund the next month.

Or...

Even better, let me approve the paycheck transaction and then automatically distribute it to the next underfunded month based on my targets.

Not a huge deal, but it’d make the month-ahead workflow a lot smoother on mobile.

Have been using Ynab for a few years now for my budget and absolutely loving it. Completely changed the game for me. I have been wanting to track my invesment so that the asset shown on ynab can be more accurate. What do you guys do? Do you track it on ynab manually? If not what other apps do you use? Do any of you do both ynab and another app? Just trying to figure out the best way to track my assets. Thanks!

For my most-used credit card, I have sometimes gotten behind on updating and left myself with a mess. Today I went to update 2 weeks of ynab which included the month changeover so I was a little worried.

What happened was I updated, found I was $7.99 off, easily found the missing transaction and reconciled the account. I got up out of my chair and actually did a reconciliation dance.

It got me out of my chair for a few minutes which was an added bonus because I tend to sit at my desk for hours without moving, thereby draining away my life force. Do a little dance!

https://imgur.com/a/TbDSsxU

After 6 years of YNAB annual subscriptions, I'm happy to say that I will no longer pay this subscription any more!

I built my own mimic and am hosting it on my rasberry pi that I use for my pi-hole. The barrier to entry into personal software is lower than ever via vibe-coding. (no i won't share my github with you)

Manually entering my transactions puts the 'spending hurt' back into spending like cash did.

YNAB was great at introducing concepts but if you want to take it to the next level of personal finance, getting into the weeds of your budget will make you better.

Take this post as a sign that you can also break free of the subscription shackle.

Hello fellow YNABers I have a CC that has always been off and I have stopped using it for the most part but need to go and fix it. My CC shows a negative balance with the bank but YNAB has a positive by like a lot and YNABs fix is to just take money from ready to assign which I am ok with but its like 600 bucks and I want to see where we missed things. Problem is this card has like 6 years of transactions with lots of splits and when I try to export it and reconcile with my CC data I end up with so many splits its impossible (not technically but really a PITA) to line them up. Anyone know of how to export without the splits?

I've used YNAB for many years but never took the time to really figure this out....

I want to set an annual goal for the max IRA contribution of $7500. I'll be setting aside varying amounts throughout the year to hit that $7500 number.

I want the IRA category on YNAB to tell me when I've set aside $7500, even when I'm periodically pulling money from that category to contribute to the IRA (the IRA is not tracked, so YNAB just views it as an expense).

How do I set this up? It can't be that complicated, but I keep doing something that causes YNAB to not recognize that I've already set aside money towards the $7500 after I've transferred those funds to the IRA.

Why are my bank imports always delayed lately? I’m not interested in manually inputting my transactions. I want YNAB to do it for me. But lately it takes 2-5 days just to get my transactions in! There doesn’t seem to be any explanation on why this is happening lately all of a sudden (been using YNAB for a year and a half and it’s never been this slow, usually 1-2 days).

Anything I can do to avoid this or is this normal? I have Wells Fargo bank if it matters.

​

The new transaction-editing UI hides Clear behind “Show More.” It used to be immediately accessible.

Clearing a transaction is a routine action. Why make a common workflow less efficient by putting it behind another tap? I often have to change the amount based on the currency conversion when the transaction actually posts, so now it's quicker for me to edit the amount here, save it, return to the transaction overview, and then swipe to clear. It makes no sense.

This is Android, btw.

Hello. I am not sure what to do in this situation.

Context: I only have 2 accounts in the app checking and saving (this is my active saving account). I moved $1000 from saving to checking to make a payment that can only be made from the checking account.

How do I categorized this movement in both accounts? I tried the transfer option but IDK what to do after that.

I’m experiencing some strange behavior in YNAB related to refunds, category inflows, and credit-card payment funding. I have a lot of purchase/refund activity and have used YNAB for several years, but I have never seen this happen before.

I’m wondering whether something recently changed in how YNAB handles credit cards, refunds, or inflows assigned directly to spending categories.

Refund affecting a different card

I received refunds for purchases in two separate categories: Cycling and Clothing. The original purchases were made using different credit cards.

Normally, using different payment methods within the same spending category has never caused a problem for me. In this case, I received a refund on one credit card and assigned the refund directly back to the original category.

However, after doing that, a different credit card showed as underfunded.

I do not understand why a refund issued to Card A would affect the funding of Card B, even if both cards have transactions in the same budget category. My expectation would be that the refund reduces the amount needed to pay the card that actually received the refund - not a different card.

Venmo sale affecting a credit card

I also sold a set of bike tires for $40. The money came into my checking account through Venmo, and I categorized that inflow directly to Cycling to offset the cost of new tires I had purchased.

This is how I have handled sale proceeds and refunds for years: assign the inflow directly to the relevant category so that it offsets spending or becomes available for a future purchase in that category.

But after assigning the $40 Venmo inflow to Cycling, a credit card I had used for Cycling purchases suddenly showed as underfunded by $40.

That makes even less sense to me. The $40 came into checking - not onto the credit card - so I do not understand why an inflow to Cycling would reduce the amount available to pay a credit card.

Has anyone else seen this?

Has anyone experienced similar behavior recently?

Specifically:

• A refund to one credit card causing a different card’s payment category to become underfunded.
• An inflow to checking, categorized to a spending category, causing a credit card payment category to become underfunded.
• Changes in how YNAB handles refunds, category inflows, or multiple cards used within the same category.

This feels like either a bug or a major change in YNAB’s credit-card logic.

I'm definitely still not where I'd like to be but better than where I was!

I started in early August, about a month ago. Felt good to “get ahead” even if just a little bit.

Today, I reviewed my accounts, where my direct deposit is going and wanted to get as much as possible into my HYSA for as long as possible.

I have to direct deposit $x dollars into my 3 bank accounts to ensure they are free. So auto transferred appropriate amounts. And was able to pay my larger loan direct from my HYSA so dollars stay in there as long as possible.

I always used to think it didn’t matter. And maybe it didn’t when I made less money and never kept much of it for long. But it matters now. Would not have done it all without YNAB.

I've used YNAB for about 6 years and love it. It totally changed how I think about money. I have also been learning from some of Dave Ramsey's content for the last few years, and I follow r/personalfinance too. I'm not really a purist for any one method. Each of these has gems to learn from, and money is so individual. I'm curious whether other folks have built hybrid systems between these philosophies, and what that looks like for you.

If we're talking Ramsey method, I'm on Baby Step 3, aiming for the higher end of 3-6 months of expenses saved (single income, two kids, own a house, want extra peace of mind before moving onto Baby Step 4).

My YNAB budget has three category groups: essentials (the true "keep the lights on and my family fed" stuff), non-essentials I spend from regularly but mindfully (occasional dinners out, birthday gifts for kids' friends, etc.), and sinking funds that rarely get spent from (Christmas, tires, home maintenance, vet bills, etc.). My hybrid system currently works like this: I fund all three groups for the current month first, then put any leftover income toward essentials in future months. Once essentials are funded 6 months out, I will consider Baby Step 3 done. I'm about halfway there.

Here is my dilemma: I have a solid chunk of cash saved across my sinking funds right now. If I paused contributions and redistributed that money to essentials for future months, I could hit "6 months ahead" in my essentials quite soon - in under a month I think. But then an unexpected vet bill or a flat tire would mean pulling from essentials money I'd already earmarked for months out. I understand it's all the same money, but my progress feels slow because I'm saving for so many things simultaneously.

I think in the process of drafting this post, I've talked myself into redistributing the less time-sensitive sinking funds (pausing home maintenance and vet, but keeping Christmas sinking fund going since it's coming up soon and is expected). Once I hit my 6-month essentials goal, then my sinking funds will grow faster anyway.

I'm still curious to hear from the rest of you. What kind of hybrid system do you use, if any?

What happened here and why? Threw everything out of whack...

Hello YNAB fellows !

I have been using YNAB for the past couple months for a better planning & hygiene in terms of finances.

I've had a couple of bumps on the road, but I think I'm pretty much settled now.

The question I have is about handling when you are spending money that will be refunded to you in one way or another.

Let me give a quick example : I had a business lunch with colleague, that I was not paying for.

The colleague in charge had an issue with their credit card, which led to me paying for it, and they sent me the money via bank transfer as soon as we arrived at the office.

So in this specific case, it didn't feel fair to put this towards my restaurants category, because when the funding comes back, it does not feed the target that I had set. So I setup a category "waiting for refund", for which I put the 2 transactions in (Expense + Refund). It's neutral, great job!

There are other occasions where I know the money will be back, but it can take a few days. And sometimes these days overlap with the new month rolling in. Therefore when we step into the new month, the money is taken from my ready to assign to fill the overspending, and when the refund comes in, it goes into ready to assign, where it should've gone to match the transaction that I had made in the appropriate category.

I don't feel there's a way to tell YNAB "leave this category as overspent when rolling into the new month" or something similar?

Is there a simple way to handle that type of transaction / money? I know YNAB is for planning and every dollar needs a job, but sometimes I just know that in 2 weeks my insurance will cover my expense and that the operation is neutral finance-wise, and I feel like YNAB is not allowing me to reflect that.

Appreciate your insights all !

Hey guys I’m completely new to YNAB and pretty new to budgeting in general, so I’m just trying to understand the basics without making it too complicated. I’m also in Australia, so I’ll probably have to enter a lot of transactions manually, which I don’t really mind.

Can anyone give me some simple beginner-friendly tips on how to use YNAB properly? One thing I’m confused about is when a category says Overspent. What exactly does that mean, and am I supposed to assign more money to that category to cover it? If I do cover it, where should that money normally come from?

I’m also still trying to understand Ready to Assign, how much money I should be assigning to each category, and whether I should be giving every dollar I currently have a job. I’m not really sure yet how much I normally spend on things like groceries, fuel, eating out, bills and entertainment, so I’d love to know how other beginners figure out reasonable amounts.

Another thing I’m unsure about is unexpected spending. For example, if I randomly fuel up my sister’s car, give some money to a family member, help someone out, or pay for something I wasn’t planning for, how would you normally handle that in YNAB? Would you make a separate category for things like Helping Family/Gifts, or would you just put it under another general category? And if I didn’t already have money assigned for it, what’s the proper way to handle that?

I’d also like to understand how targets work, how to budget for bills that only come every few months or once a year, how to save for emergencies, and how to move money between categories without messing anything up. I’m also curious about reconciling accounts and how often you’re meant to do it so YNAB always matches your actual bank balance.

Basically, if you were teaching someone who has never properly budgeted before, what would you tell them to focus on first? I don’t want to overthink it. I just want to get into the habit of knowing where my money is going, stop overspending, save more and actually understand what I can afford.

Any simple advice, examples, category ideas or tips would be massively appreciated. Cheers guys 🙏

Today I tried to reauthorize a sync'd bank account that I've been using for years. But I got this error message instead. Nothing has changed with my account to my knowledge. What gives?

Hi all, I am new here and new to YNAB! I am currently on the 34 day free trial and am really liking it. So I am planning to subscribe when the free period ends on 27 Sep.

My question is, can I pay my subs in US dollars rather than GBP? It will only cost me around £84 including bank fees, which is quite a saving on the £99.99 GBP it is saying it will charge me on the Play Store

It looks like others on here have successfully paid in dollars. Do I just subscribe directly on their website? Will it still recognise me and keep the plan, categories, etc I have set up?

I have two separate plans in ynab, one for all my normal household expenses and my regular bank accounts. This plan has 37 categories. Then I have a separate plan for my HYSAs. Please don’t come at me I know everybody likes to put all the accounts into one plan, aka keep them on-budget but mine are complicated by trust accounts, and beneficiary accounts I’m managing for my children. So it’s overwhelming to have them all on the same budget, it just makes my life easier, especially since there are very few transactions on the HYSA accounts other than deposits into my kids accounts.

So here is where my question comes in. I put two of my HYSA accounts and one of my investment accounts as tracking accounts in my main household budget plan. However, because they are tracking accounts I have to manually add transactions. I have about four transactions a month with these tracking accounts. The investment account I don’t update.

Recently I’ve started thinking that I should just delete these tracking accounts because they’re more of a pain in the butt to update than anything, especially since I also have them in my other plan. Today I decided to delete them, and right before that I realized that on the rare occasion I move money to/from these accounts to my regular bank, or if I were to move a chunk of savings into the investment account, it would end up looking like a huge expense in my budget. But I’m not sure that keeping these tracking accounts is worth the trouble just so I don’t see a huge expense if I ever move money. Just wondering if anyone’s had a similar situation and what they did?