5 Ways to Level Up Your YNAB Budget

[@terri6584]

Hannah, I totally enjoy your videos. You are a real Asset to YNAB. You not only instruct about the app but do it in such a very fun, enjoyable way putting a smile on my face & getting me motivated as a 70 yr. old to try something new. Thank you. By the way learned about YNAP by reading recommendation for it in a book written by a Mom & Dad of 14 children called “A Catholic Guide to Spending Less & Living More” by Sam & Rob Fatzinger. If they can do it bet all of us can, too! All of you are amazing: Hannah, YNAB & the Fatzingers.So glad I found you all!

[@YNABofficial]

Theresa-how fun and amazing and encouraging is your message?! Totally humbled and grateful for users like you on our team. We're glad you found us too! -Hannah 🌻

[@antimatter007]

Memos are great! Now when my wife asks me when the last time I bought jeans, easy to find it and say 6 years ago!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh my WORD!! That's the best thing I've heard all week 😂😂😂 -Hannah 🌻

[@SlyOcelot]

I've used notes, but not to link receipts & warranties. My budgeting mind has just been blown.

[@mariaht764]

I love the Notes section! I use it to keep track of rent increases each year and what my half of the rent is since its a wonky number. Also in my ever fluctuating Wish list Category, I keep track of what I want/was able to buy myself from saving up in my Wish List category.

[@YNABofficial]

Brilliant! Love that! Creativity makes budgets SOAR. -Hannah 🌻

[@channah64]

When Hannah talked about the Christmas cards, I FELT THAT in my VERY SOUL

[@dianneason]

Ooo! So many great tips! Linking receipts and warranties? Yes, please! Searching for that $12.32 I KNOW I entered... somewhere? Use All Accounts! Adding Reminders? I never would've thought of that! You, Hannah, are a GENIUS! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ❤

[@mrrobinson10]

Didn't know I could copy links into notes. Thanks!

[@Skysenshi]

Wow. I didn't realize that I'm budgeting like an expert. Probably because I loaned from the bank of Mom and Dad and I have a Google Sheet linked to it in the notes (so I can track how much I've already paid back). I also use the notes for reminding myself if there's an incoming refund. Am always on the "All Accounts" area because I want to always check for incoming monthly/yearly transactions.

[@RedefiningSuccessSDC]

Hannah, what an epic and delightful human you are bringing joy, humour and savvy to money and budgeting. Who knew budgeting would make me smile. Why? Because YOU make me smile. Thanks for teaching us your wisdom! Also, thank you to all the behind-the-scenes people who bring out your awesomeness.

[@YNABofficial]

SO KIND. I will treasure your sweet words! Thank you!! 🌻 Hannah

[@VashtaNerada8]

Always stay for the bloopers! ;)

[@corysnider6851]

agreed!

[@lifewithliz4864]

Love the idea of creating reminders with $0 transactions. Brilliant!

[@badgirlgoodhair]

adding christmas cards now

[@millerdane]

Yes I loved this also

[@supreme5580]

Seems cool. I have reminders all day, because my working memory is dead Can I do it in the app?

[@nikkisartvideos6412]

Me: What could good ol Hanna tell me about YNAB that I don’t already know 🧐 Hannah: *First tip out of her mouth* Me: Whaaaaaa???? 👁👄👁

[@tanyas2996]

Same. I thought I would learn nothing!! Shame on me.

[@tanyablankenship1475]

IKR! Same here!!!!!

[@fiddycaliber947]

That mug is like.. massssssivvvee! Love ending the week with a HIFH

[@JF_France]

Excellent video. I have used the links in the notes for a long time. The links should be clickable, that would be great.

[@reneetostengard7212]

I am truly grateful for the excuse to spend more time in my budget😂

[@millerdane]

Good one

[@heidisth912]

Mind blown. Thank you for this video. I’m new to YNAB and this was a big help.

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, woo hoo!! You're gonna be advanced budgeting because you've even started!! Way to go 😎 -Hannah 🌻

[@theyoungmillennialbudget]

I never utilize the notes section personally, but all of those tips seem like they'd make life so much easier!

[@filb]

Many of the stuff I incorporated over the years is thanks to you Hannah (or whoever inspired you to have all these ideas). Thanks :)

[@YNABofficial]

Yes!! I would guess you actually got a lot of your ideas from the community! I wouldn't have so many tips or tricks if not for everyone sharing their little secret tips they use in their budgets. Community is everything!! -Hannah 🌻

[@leerv.]

If I beat the boss I want my loots! Where's my YNAB coffee mug with the +5 to Willpower!? Hannah, I think you've convinced me to use Notes more often. I don't know why I never thought of it, it seems so darn simple. Thank you! :)

[@samueltremblay275]

Great video. It's astounding how much we can do with a simple note field with great ideas. I love the schedule transaction when I know a transaction will enter into my account in the future and I don't want to miss it.

[@conureron3792]

Love the notes tip!

[@jesseolson7373]

Oh wow! I had no idea the Notes feature even existed! I have been wishing that YNAB would implement such a thing, and I'm now thrilled to realize it already exists! Storing links to receipts/warranties/etc is a really good tip also. All in all I just love this video - thanks!!

[@TaraL-oj6kj]

Amazing as always! I'm going to need to watch this several times and take action as I go 😁. My budget thanks you! Hugs to Julip miss hearing about her ❤️

[@YNABofficial]

Hey, there's an idea! Let's get Julep back on the scene! She did make an appearance in a recent YNAB TikTok of mine. Check it out! www.tiktok.com/@youneedabudget/video/6958109385931394310?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 -Hannah 🌻

[@dalleenpente]

Man! Too much info there. I have to rewind few time. And again. And again. What a powerful software! Good job again Hannah. 💪🏻

[@dpstitches]

Explode in budgeting glory? Heck, yeah!!! I'm in.

[@YNABofficial]

Awesome, meet me there, I'm the one in a million pieces in the corner. 🌋 -Hannah 🌻

[@chim-choo-ree]

Congratulations, Dan! We knew you could do it! 🎓 🥳

[@YNABofficial]

Technically, he hasn't graduated *yet*. Also technically I don't know who Dan is. But the name has a catchy ring to it and makes for a great example. Technically. -Hannah 🌻

[@candacewalker5008]

Using $0 transactions for account related reminders is GENIUS! I did not think there was anything else I could learn. I was wrong!

[@FeliciaWilliams1908]

Mind blown on the note section tips. Such good info. Thanks.

[@djway4428]

These are super helpful! I was following along in my app while watching this video. One thing I wanted to point out is that on the android version of the app, there is no enter button when I'm writing a note so I can't create multiple lines of text. I'm sure it's just a small oversight but would be great to have fixed!

[@YNABofficial]

Julia! You're right. You can't add a return on either iOS or Android-in apps the "Return" key often gets replaced by the "Done" key. But you *can* add returns on the web app (www.ynab.com). If you are 100% a mobile app user and don't often use the web app, you can also type up any copy you want in a separate notes app or text message, and copy and paste the body of text into your YNAB notes. Not the most convenient work around, but a work around nonetheless 🙃 -Hannah 🌻

[@erinwisneski9950]

@@YNABofficial I can't add a return on the web app either?

[@SelyHaudy]

@@erinwisneski9950 maybe press Shift + Enter?

[@DonnaHolmes]

Holy cow, I am adding that warranty information to my Google Drive and Notes ASAP.

[@EbolaStew]

Great tip but I cringe when people recommend Google Drive or Google anything. I hate that evil spyware company. Any alternative is better starting with OneDrive or whatever Apple offers. Just had to register my daily minute of Google hate. You can go back to what you were doing.

[@caseyf6]

I am really starting to look forward to HIFH - such quirky, fun videos. And GREAT info. ALSO: terrific idea about the reminders!!

[@YNABofficial]

Casey-YES!! Thank you, that is such fun feedback!! I look forward to getting to hear from all of you guys, so we're even :) -Hannah 🌻

[@tcol]

Very creative! Thank you!

[@JustJoia]

I’m not even finished the video & this is great!

[@elizabethman7313]

I take a photo of the receipt/warranty and paste the link to my photo in the notes!

[@raymonddowney9726]

OMG - Post the link to a google drive warranty receipt...............Hannah, you have once again blown my mind ...........your videos rock. 😀

[@YNABofficial]

Ha! Thanks Raymond!! Notes are secretly one of the handiest features of YNAB. I'm convinced. -Hannah 🌻

[@nora-.-g]

Super helpful, thanks.

[@CHZMN1]

Budgeting with a $0 outflow to schedule stuff??? Mind blown.

[@lauradepietro9620]

Right??

[@JosephWValinor]

I'm an intermediate budgerter!

[@bajadevi7027]

AWESOME!!

[@melissastcyr8850]

I love the notes section, although I hope at some point the feature becomes a little bit more editable (for example, you can't hit enter to start a new line...hmmm). Ok, just learned "shift + enter" will give you a new line....on the web. But what about the app? :)

[@leeyad6019]

I can paste links?! My mind is blown....I've never used the Category Notes section but I will now, this was so helpful!

[@YNABofficial]

Leeya, yes! They're handy for SO much more than I ever realized! -Hannah 🌻

[@MetalSamantha]

I need help understanding the notes part. I don't get it. Maybe it will click one day.

[@wiseman4160]

For me I consider internet and home phone fixed expenses because for me the bill is same each month. Cable bill I could see being variable expense, but some call it fixed expense. Utilities like water electricity consider fixed expense, thought I heard you say it's variable expense. When someone rents a movie I could for sure see that put in my budget as variable expense. Your thoughts?

[@jonathangawrych5195]

One thing I saw was that all the categories had icons! I didn't think that was a feature, and could not find it. I realized that it was just prepended unicode emojis to the category title. I thought that was awesome and will probably spend the next hour picking out emojis for the categories lol.

[@YNABofficial]

Yeah! Just pop em right into the category names with your phone or computers emoji keyboard! I used to be anti-emoji but I think I've changed my mind. So fun and adds a little color and personality to the budget! Definitely recommend. -Hannah 😎

[@erinwisneski9950]

How do I enter a new line in a note? I've tried hitting enter, ctrl enter, alt enter, shift enter. Want to track enter my electric bills for the last year

[@dta1329]

1st budget nerd!

[@kamilmodest]

To be a more advance user, it would be great to have a tags. Not a hashtag in memos, but as a separate column with autosuggestion. Then I would be able to mark each my vacation trip with these hard to type naming of the cities. Because it could be annoying to type full name of the city each time you adding transaction from your vacation

[@YNABofficial]

Good news-flags are now renameable! Edit the names of all six flags to be whatever you need them to be. Then they're easy to pull up in a pinch by searching the flag color in the search bar! 🌻 Hannah

[@PierceMD]

Wait... I can't go up a level, I haven't paid my credit card yet.

[@ms.budgetmom8472]

Great video, can I transfer money from My personal budget to my business budget, two different banks?

[@YNABofficial]

Hey Budget Mom! Good question. There currently isn’t a way to transfer money between two separate budgets in YNAB. To move money from your personal account to your business account, first make that transfer happen outside of your budget in your actual bank accounts. Then create an outflow transaction in your personal budget and an inflow transaction for the same amount in your business budget. Voila! Money moved and budgets updated to reflect that. 😊 -Hannah 🌻

[@capintsize]

It would be soooo great if Notes wasn't alllll the way at the bottom. I would love to see it higher where I can actually see it without scrolling all the way down. It would be much more helpful if you could see it more easily. And yes, I sent this suggestion to YNAB. All the quick budget stuff isn't necessary all the time. Maybe we could shrink it, or move it down below.

[@YNABofficial]

Carrie, thank you for submitting that feedback! We ALWAYS want to here what y'all would like to see! I'll take it back to the team as well. Great thoughts! -Hannah 🌻

[@janrifkinson5227]

FYI: I don't think is working

[@jeanschumpelt4874]

O...m...g. Hannah! Literally, kept saying...WHAT?

[@BlackPearlMinistries]

Wait.....there is a notes section.😳

[@gabiboschetti2590]

this video made me feel that I am heading to advanced budgeting level ... I hope don't be fool by my feelings again 😅

[@callistogarnet]

Is it possible to do a carriage return in the notes section on the mobile app? I’ve mostly limited my use because it ends up being just a block of text rather than a nice list

[@Det6]

There is - I believe Alt Enter (?) Changed so much for when I figured it out

[@JWelch0802]

How do you do Alt enter on the mobile app? I didn't think that was possible.

[@jfbmusic]

Hello @@JWelch0802 - a not-so-elegant solution to this line break limitation on mobile (iOS in my case, don’t know about Android) is to write your note in another text app with the line breaks, and paste it in the notes field in YNAB. (I know…maybe a fix is in the works?)

[@YNABofficial]

It's an unfortunate truth. You can't add a return on either iOS or Android-in apps the "Return" key often gets replaced by the "Done" button. But you *can* add returns on the web app (www.ynab.com). If you are 100% a mobile app user and don't often use the web app, you can also type up any copy you want in a separate notes app or text message like J.F. said, and copy and paste the body of text into your YNAB notes. Not the most convenient work around, but a work around nonetheless 🙃 -Hannah 🌻

[@jfbmusic]

@@YNABofficial Hello Hannah and everyone. I am finding that Option (Alt)-return, even on the web, is treated like a return/enter key...and the focus shifts away from the Notes field. I'm on macOS, so if a fellow Windows or Linus user could try it and let us know if the behavior is different on their browser, that would be super. (I tried on Safari and Brave, same thing on both.) @Hannah, perhaps you can pass this suggestion to your developers? Having a multi-line field for "Notes" on all platforms (and the web) so we can bask in line return glory.

[@kristalamoreaux8730]

How do you get new lines in the notes section? When I hit "return" it pops me out of the notes box. I'm not able to enter birthdays in the Notes section and have a new line for each birthday. Very frustrating.

[@YNABofficial]

Hey Krista! If you're using the mobile app, phone keyboards often replace the "return" button with a "done" button. To add in line breaks in mobile, you can do one of two things: (1) Type up your desired notes in a separate "notes" app or a text message, and copy and paste from that app to your YNAB notes section. (This is for sure the less convenient option) (2) If you're using the web app, hold down shift when you press enter and it will create a line return! (This is the easier option, though it does require a computer) Hope this helps!! -Hannah 🌻

[@marciekman6160]

I love the idea of using the notes like that. But the Notes field is just not user friendly in that it doesn't work like any other "word processing"-type field. What i mean is, if I'm typing something in a word processing program and I hit Enter, the cursor goes down to the next line so I can type something else. The Notes field doesn't work that way. It's really hard to make a list of things. You can't just hit enter and go down to the next line so I'm not sure how you guys made the lists that you show in this video! When I type and hit Enter, it just takes me out of the field and I can't even click on the line below the line I already typed. I would love to be able to use the Notes field more efficiently but it just doesn't work very well.

[@YNABofficial]

Here's a tip! Use Shift+Enter for a new line. I'm hoping we can make that more intuitive at some point. ~BenB

[@BPed]

Where can I get that mug?

[@YNABofficial]

We occasionally have surprise pop-up swag sales! Not sure when the next one will be, but if you follow our social media and subscribe to our email list you'll be sure not to miss it! 🌻 Hannah

[@julieb6680]

As always Hannah...FBI totally blew my mind!!! Thank you, thank you!!!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, WOO HOOOO!! My underlying goal at all times is to blow someone's mind. Mission accomplished. 😎 -Hannah 🌻

[@lexymcavinchey7147]

Oh my god. All Accounts.....I don't always read either.

[@thomasschmutz3300]

Would be great if the link then could be opened directly out of the YNAB app, or is there already a way to do this that I missed yet?

[@YNABofficial]

Still gotta copy the link from your notes category and paste it into a web browser! We're only halfway to high-tech 😉 This just ensures that you always know where that link lives! -Hannah 🌻

[@lifewithliz4864]

I use the Notes, but how are you able to create distinct lines without hitting return? If I return to type a second line, the note completes itself.

[@JanVaesBE]

hold down SHIFT button

[@marymiller1979]

@@JanVaesBE THANK YOU FOR THIS! I couldn't figure it out!

[@lifewithliz4864]

@@JanVaesBE Thank you! I had no idea. Needed this.

[@CorvoStivali]

@@JanVaesBE All these years wasted using semicolons. Thank you! I love you almost as much as I love Hannah. ❤

[@leanashulda9545]

Hi Hannah - when I enter notes, it does not allow a "Return" to enter on the next line. I have hit CTRL-Enter and can't seem to get it to put in one note per line to display the rolling 12 month expenses for a category. Help :-)

[@YNABofficial]

Hey Leana-two things you can do! I hold down Return+Shift when I want to make a line break in a text box. This works on my Mac, and I would assume it works on Windows and PCs as well. Another option is to go into another text document (like Microsoft Word or even your phone's Notes app or a blank text message) and type up all the info you want to have! Then just highlight it all, copy it, and paste it into your notes category. Now when you want to edit the notes you can just click around or arrow up/down/sideways to get where you want to go! For categories like bills where I know I want to record the total for every month, I go ahead and add: "January '21: February '21: March '21: April '21:" ... etc, so that when that month (say, April) finally comes I can just click right after April and record whatever info I need. I hope this helps! Make sure to give Return+Shift a shot first, though! Let me know if it still doesn't work. -Hannah 🌻

[@leanashulda9545]

@@YNABofficial Thank you so much...simple move to the Shift key instead of CTRL :-)

[@leanashulda9545]

@@YNABofficial And...thanks for your thoughtful and thorough response. Truly appreciate it and your tips are wonderful.

[@SterianAlinaNicoleta]

Now you are talking programming?

[@kathrynmacaluso5071]

$0 scheduled transactions! Maybe now I'll remember to call to cancel that membership! lol

[@YNABofficial]

Amen! It's saved my booty *multiple* times. 10/10 would recommend! -Hannah 🌻

[@Musicman2012Now]

Hannah rocks! (As usual!) But, she didn't pat Mr. Banks the pig. (Pig abuse.)

[@YNABofficial]

Ashamed of myself. Utterly ashamed. *pat pat pat* -Hannah 🌻

[@kimberlyw6940]

I want to be a YNAB FBI agent! 😀

[@YNABofficial]

An F-YNAB-I agent. 😎 Does that make sense? No. It doesn't. But let's roll with it anyway. -Hannah 🌻

[@nitathom]

Until we explode from budgeting glory 😂

[@YNABofficial]

🧨🌋💣🤯 -Hannah 🌻

[@badgirlgoodhair]

ugh here i was relying on my own memory for birthdays 😅

[@YNABofficial]

Brains: a thing of the past. 🤪 -Hannah 🌻

[@letstalkabouthomeschooling443]

We LOVE FBI!!!

[@supreme5580]

Wait why don't I know that scheduling is a feature exactly? YNAB is so mysterious the suspense is so staged quit it YNAB!

[@adhiti07]

Is it just me or it seems that she’s a little drunk

[@YNABofficial]

It's just you. Trust me, I was there 😉 -Hannah 🌻