Ben Actually Changes His Budget

[@funnytime1111]

Just clicked and I think it’s hilarious that Ben changing his budget is so news breaking it’s the title 😂

[@YNABofficial]

No clickbait necessary. ~BenB

[@lovesgoodstories2551]

Ben changing his budget is so huge that I will watch the KZbin video AND listen to the podcast version

[@YNABofficial]

🤣 ~Ernie

[@nsane4twain212]

Way to go Ben!!! I can’t believe it finally happened. When you were talking about your target amounts equaling your income and having to adjust, isn’t that another form of the matchy matchy game? I think you making these changes is going to give you more freedom 😃

[@YNABofficial]

Mmmm, very well said. It is different form the matchy-matchy game, I think. But it has some of the same effects with too much focus on tedium. Oooh, I'm going to have to think about this some more! ~BenB

[@smbaya1]

I would love to see an episode where you ask ynabers to submit info about their reports breakdown. I am so curious how my spending breakdown compares to other people. Because I just wonder how people make their finances work.

[@chrisnewbold2348]

Hey guys, new parent here. Budget Nerds Podcast is a great tool for helping your newborn fall asleep. He woke up at 4am and after an hour of unsuccessful sleepy time I put this on just to listen while rocking him and he fell right asleep. Thank you Ben and Ernie😂😂😂

[@YNABofficial]

Truly happy to help in any way we can 🤣 ~Ernie

[@christinelindstrom3793]

I have been reining in insurance rates this year. 1) cancelled AAA because we pay for roadside assistance through the car policy already; 2) asked broker to remarket our home out to various companies because we got a new boiler and removed knob and tube electric, both improvements that decrease hazard on the home; I drove the policy we have for our rental property down by $500 (against $850 total increase over two years) by increasing deductible and getting credit for adding ADA ramps and compliant ADA bathrooms.

[@RyChOr2005]

Pet insurance is tricky unless you get it right in the beginning due to providers basically rejecting all pre-existing conditions. I've heard many stories of providers not covering all or big portions of emergencies because the issues can be somehow linked back to a pre-existing condition. Buuuuut, pet insurance can be great for budgets in case there is a big emergency that they do cover.

[@mikesushynski8175]

Ben and Ernie, thanks for mentioning the average assigned and spent in the budget view. These details are helpful to know and I will start following your practice of using it to make changes to future assigned $. Congrats Ben on the milestone and life changes! Y.W.: our eldest is now practicing the concept of delaying spending and embracing rule 2/true expenses to save for year 5 of university while in year 3!

[@Dave-FIREd]

Great episode! You got me thinking about insurance... From 2022-2024 (I also pay everything annually), my Auto went up 23.84%, and Homeowners went up 17.66%. Our RV insurance actually went DOWN a bit, which is shocking. I'm getting all our insurance re-quoted. Now that I'm retired, I have tons of time to spend on cutting expenses. 🤣🤣 Last week, I checked our Internet service and discovered the price has increased 66% in the past 4 years, with no service changes or improvements. I called and threatened to switch providers...They lowered my bill by $25/month AND sent me a new modem and increased our speed. It pays to make the phone call!

[@VivianHoGrey13]

Quot of the video: Right today is wrong tomorrow. Ironically it applies outside of budgeting as well 😅

[@YNABofficial]

Well said! The more you learn about your spending, the more you learn about yourself! ~BenB

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

@@YNABofficial another truth bomb!

[@Natazavrik]

YES! Please do an episode on insurance! ❤

[@Maestronn1]

Welcome to $200/month personal spending club. We did this years ago but I also got rid of a bunch of shared categories like clothing, dining out, entertainment, etc. Now my personal spending is depleted every month and my wife has +$3000 in hers.😏

[@YNABofficial]

Haha, there are two kinds of people and they marry each other. 🤣 ~BenB

[@jennpatterson8802]

I have a Great Dane too! She’s almost 10 and pet insurance has saved us from making any hard decisions and allowed us to get her all the care she needs whenever she needs it. I’ll tell you the few times she’s had surgeries it was 3-4k each time. So pet insurance def was worth it. Premiums do increase with age which is a pain but it’s overall been worth it! Just wanted to share our experience.

[@susantom4400]

I do the same as Ernie - targets exceed the income. Also I don’t have targets for things that are recurring regular expenses. I use recurring transactions for those. We get paid every other week. So periodically we have a 3 paycheque month which we use to “catch up” on the unfounded categories. For example Christmas has a target but in January to June we may underfund that and catch it up in August with the 3rd paycheque.

[@erikahagan8767]

We give our son a weekly allowance equivalent to his grade year. 5th grade, $5 a week - etc. As he got older, we realized his allowance was so much higher than our fun money! So now, we match his allowance in our own fun money categories, and we get an annual boost with the new grade year too, lol. No way my kid gets more fun money than me!

[@YNABofficial]

Ahh, yeah-it should be illegal for kids to get more fun money than parents (unless they earn it themselves) 🤣 ~Ernie

[@michellebash]

What?! I don't believe he actually did it! 🤯

[@YNABofficial]

I'm still in disbelief. ~Ernie

[@elizabethgadsby9641]

It wouldn't save you money, but a smart outlet would allow you to control the lights still Ben 🙂

[@YNABofficial]

Did you just start me down the path of another expensive, nerdy hobby? 🤣 ~BenB

[@elizabethgadsby9641]

​@@YNABofficial I mean...maybe 😁 I just thawed my deep freezer yesterday to clean up the ice build-up and thanks to a smart outlet it was super easy to turn the freezer off and back on 😉

[@darkphoenix6807]

Pet insurance is great if you have breed with a lot of problems or if you going to want to sustain life if something like cancer hits. My sister’s dog got cancer and she had him go through treatments that cost $20,000. With the pet insurance she only ended up paying $2,000 of it out-of-pocket.

[@CapturedMemoriesPhotoSolutions]

Loved meeting you today at the YNAB Fan fest 🎉. We're watching in our hotel room and having microwave popcorn 🍿.

[@YNABofficial]

It was so good to meet you two as well! ~Ernie

[@mightymur]

PET INSURANCE is amazing. My dog needed 3 knee replacements and is continually on a lot of meds for skin problems I will always have pet insurance.

[@mightymur]

3 surgeries on 2 knees, I mean. But allergy shots alone are like $100 every six weeks. Bad knees, bad skin. Expensive doggy.

[@sachiyo65]

Ok I just came to the KZbin for the first time to see Ben’s expense categories, and mind blown, I had two mixed up in my head 😅.

[@YNABofficial]

lol it happens all the time! ~Ernie

[@jennabeck533]

I liked the discussion on matching targets to your actual income. Is there a way to easily see this? Or do you just have to go by each category?

[@YNABofficial]

Go to a future month that you haven't funded and look at the Underfunded total over on the right side of the web app. More deets here support.youneedabudget.com/en_us/creating-a-budget-template-a-guide-ByZJZx_R9 ~Ernie

[@susantom4400]

I just checked and our home insurance increased by 20% this year. Yikes.

[@mrachel3]

Insurance would be interesting but there are A LOT of terms of art with insurance.

[@JK13A]

It sounds like Ben might have not had a budget that looked like Ernie's but in practice it was like his. It sounds like he was always having to find money if all these categories were so different than the average spent.

[@erinkerbs6789]

Get pet insurance. It is cheaper when they are younger and there is less risk of not being covered for a preexisting condition. My 13 year old cat had knee pain and it was over $800 just to figure that out. Now his insurance is $100 per month and that knee is never covered. I wouldn't spend $10k for a cat but that's how much coverage we have with a $1k deductible. Our other cat died after a 2 week illness that cost $5k plus. We were not prepared to make decisions based on cost. Insurance is worth it for peace of mind.

[@Cclaudia228]

With all the birthday parties etc it’s probably smart to have the umbrella insurance! You never know

[@YNABofficial]

😬😬😬 ~BenB

[@darkphoenix6807]

“Average spending question”: if I look at the average spending today, September 19, is it going to include what I have spent in September? Because then it’s not really an accurate average spending calculation because September has only a little bit spent in it because the month is not over yet. Or does it include the past 12 months starting from the previous month? (Does that make sense?)

[@susantom4400]

From YNAB Assigning Your Money:A Guide Auto-assign section. The not-so-hidden gem of Auto-Assign. Spending averages are super-honest ↗️. We’ll show you an average of up to the last 12 months (excluding the current month), starting from the first month in which you assigned or spent money during that 12-month period.

[@YNABofficial]

Average Spending excludes the current month and only looks at the previous 12! ~Ernie

[@YNABofficial]

What was said above! 🤣 Sorry, didn't realize the question was already answered! ~Ernie

[@valeriemartini6315]

Wow. 99❤🎉 I’m actually not budgeting anymore. Should I with no debts?

[@lavs23]

We still do because we still have things we are saving for and priorities we are constantly juggling.

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

As I count down to retirement as a 60-year-old, I highly recommend it! With no debts, you are in a fantastic position to prepare well for your retirement, as well as any of your more near term goals. Some people avoid budgeting because they feel it is restrictive, but when it is done right, it creates more freedom and choices in your life. Best of luck whatever you choose.

[@melanieshipley3133]

Yes! We haven't had debt for years but it makes us intentional with our money and be aware of what we are spending. It certainly isn't as urgent as when you are trying to get out of debt.

[@lynnmallory2096]

I didn't find YNAB untill I was retired. It made it possible for me to deal with irregular income and expenses that I didn't have as an employee.

[@valeriemartini6315]

Wow. 99❤🎉

[@lw1405]

$100.00 feels like $10.00.....its just not the same. It used to feel like a good amount. Not anymore! I like this episode! True expenses are so important. And being real with those. Good job Ben!

[@YNABofficial]

Thank you, kindly! It feels good! ~BenB

[@Gepstra]

Wow! With Actual Budget?