Create My YNAB Spending Plan with Me!

[@nosirrahm]

I’m hurt that you feel we’re not that close. I’ve been thru single lady, engagement, marriage, and baby. 😢 Even though I didn’t need this, I needed this. 🥴

[@YNABofficial]

🤣 Who am I kidding, WE'RE CLOSE. Maybe not personal bank account close, but then again, I'm only personal bank account close with my husband 😂 🌻 Hannah

[@pramwilson]

I lost track right around your marriage. Congratulations on your son. Clearly, I need to check back in with YNAB so that I can stay motivated and stay updated with your milestone.😂

[@peapod2072]

I'm on my 4th month of YNAB and it's changed my life. No guilt when spending because I've set aside the money to actually spend it! Sinking funds for every gift and annual bill/subscription. I feel so in control of my money. I used to be afraid to check my bank balance. Now I check it for fun! My 11-year-old daughter is talking about budgeting now, so I'm hoping some of my new habits get passed down to her. 😁

[@grandspartan1176]

Congratulations!!! It sounds like things are going great for you! Welcome to the community. ❤

[@YNABofficial]

AMAZING. That guiltless spending feeling is really something entirely new, isn't it?! *Confident* spending! And to watch your net worth grow and grow at the same time while still spending on the things you love?! It's seriously wild to me. Doesn't compute most of the time 😂 So glad you shared your YNAB win with us, and have a blast sharing the world of purposeful planning with your daughter! 🌻 Hannah

[@GlyptoGgoGo]

I've been using YNAB for 18 months and I learned SO MUCH from this video! I have to look at my budget a bit deeper.

[@YNABofficial]

YAY! How awesome!! Thanks so much for tuning in, glad it helped! 🌻 Hannah

[@dlbrowning9221]

My favorite emoji use is that next to each bill, I put a 💰 if it’s paid out of our checking account, and a 💳 if it’s paid on a credit card. When things were tight, that helped me make sure that any category paid in ‘cash’ was funded first so nothing would bounce. Thanks to YNAB, we don’t need that function any more, but I keep it as a reminder of how far we’ve come.

[@clucibello9421]

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

[@YNABofficial]

Ooooh, I love emojis with a good functionalist! Brilliant! 🌻 Hannah

[@RandomFandomDragon]

That's a great idea! Thank you for sharing! I'm still in debt payoff mode, but YNAB is def moving me closer to not needing these tips! =D

[@todecalvu]

Thank you so much for this video! I've used YNAB for about 1 year now and need to tidy up my categories, how I assign money and using the tools which makes sense to me now. I'm starting a new budget August onwards and taking good pointers from this video. Thank you! Grocery as its own category with 4 weeks is a good idea & will try this method.

[@YNABofficial]

YAY! I haven't had a truly fresh start since the fall of 2021 and am wondering if it's time we do a good old YNAB overhaul in our household too. Hope the "summer cleaning" goes well! 🌻 Hannah

[@crackintosh]

I liked the disc golf "special group" hand motion. 🤣

[@YNABofficial]

🙃 If it ain't the truth, though... 🌻 Hannah

[@DebbyHerold]

Even though I've been using YNAB for a year now and thought I "knew it all", I still picked up some pointers. I went into our budget and added birthdays and holidays (which we were lump summing with other categories). It makes more sense to get this granular. Thanks Hannah. I look forward to more videos from you.

[@YNABofficial]

YAY! Seriously, the plan is just constantly evolving. The way it should be! Glad to help!! 🌻 Hannah

[@pfifltrigg]

It's funny what categories you have that I'd consider extra, like personal care, health, diapersz etc. but your "home improvement" category includes furniture where I have a separate furniture category. Youve definitely inspired me to consider adding more granular and specific categories instead of categorizing random things as "entertainment." I love the "hospitality" category because I hate when that type of expense impacts our grocery budget.

[@Aminatje]

Great video, I'm contemplating the weekly groceries categories mentioned and commented. On another note, maybe I'm the only one with a different working brain, but I miss the old targets. They were crystal clear to me. I'm all confused about them now (even if it's the same in the background).

[@TiaDurrant]

Agreed on the targets

[@lindseyrybicki2438]

This was fun to see set up and see your thought process out loud. Also, thank you for putting a space after the emoji 😅

[@YNABofficial]

My girl 🤣 🌻 Hannah

[@patrikwilliams9639]

Yay Hannah!!!

[@rachelgrunthaner4759]

Loved this! You rock Hannah!

[@YNABofficial]

🤘🎸😎 🌻 Hannah

[@ComputersAreRealCool]

Only just started using YNAB but really loving it so far. The thing I don't like/understand about YNAB is why the auto-assign "underfunded" button will use more than is available in "ready to assign" like you mentioned at 32:56 when you select a group of categories? Why would it automatically put you in the negative "ready to spend" instead of assigning in order of priority until you use up your "ready to spend" budget? I would expect this feature to fully fund the selected items in order of priority until your "ready to assign" is as close to zero as possible, but never putting you into the negatives? (This is how it behaves if you have no categories selected, but if you selected a category group it could put you in the negatives)

[@willwhite1732]

Another great video from Hannah - so useful! Quick question on the groceries. Why have separate categories for groceries per week rather than a weekly target in a single category? Is there any advantage to that?

[@YNABofficial]

I'm thinking I might do a larger video on this, because there's quite a few questions on it! Honestly, for me it's more visual than anything. Being able to see "week 1: overspent by $23" stands out a lot more to me than than the weekly progress bar running $23 into the second week, but still overall telling me I'm in the "green" for groceries. Just preference in an area I find REALLY easy to overspend in! 🌻 Hannah

[@monicaandfamily4763]

Such great information. I am learning! Just a thought to pass on about your comment on mortgage/ interest percentages paid each month. I had a friend that paid off her mortgage many years early by just putting an extra amount each month that goes totally on the principal. I think it was 1/12th on each months payment- to make up a whole extra payment each year. You might want to look into this specifically- to get the details on this. 😊

[@YNABofficial]

I have heard that making one extra mortgage payment a year cuts 8 years off of a classic 30-year mortgage! We're attempting to do that! We used to make just one extra payment a year, but now we're trying to put a little extra toward the principle each month instead-around 1/12th each time for this exact reason! 🌻 Hannah

[@JasonBauman]

Thanks for this video. I've been meaning to rethink my budget for awhile and this was the impetus I needed. One thing I'd love to see is an updated "budget for baby" video. I know Jesse did one years ago, but having updated numbers would be nice. We're having our first in December, which is another reason I'm rethinking the budget

[@YNABofficial]

Howdy Jason! Just making sure you saw this budgeting for baby video that came out last year! If you were hoping for more, lemme know what it might be missing and maybe we can find a way to cover it! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZCqfIuMg9NpY68si=0TtqLzFi0KJE4827 🌻 Hannah

[@JasonBauman]

Thank you! I didn't remember this, but you recommending it jogged my memory. Gonna rewatch now. I guess how accurate was your planning? I am practicing my tucks to roll with the punches

[@YNABofficial]

I would say it would DEFINITELY be wise to have a generic "baby stuff" category that can help fund all the things you didn't realize you'd need. We ended up buying so many extras that we didn't get off of our registry or didn't know we'd need/want at all, and it was so helpful to have sort of a "catchall" category for extra baby expenses as we figured stuff out. Also, one of my favorite parts about YNAB: when you memo each transaction, I can go back to those early months and see EVERYTHING that I categorized to my baby stuff category. So I can ACTUALLY tell you what we bought after the fact: - nursing friendly tanks/clothes - a baby book (to record milestones and memories!) - birth certificates (we bought 3 at $20 each, just because you never know! had no idea you even had to BUY these!) - sleep sacks and mittens (we didn't love swaddling him, but wanted him to be warm at night/during naps without blankets, as they're not recommended) - a breastfeeding cover and other similar supplies I didn't know I'd need - more pacifiers (they seem to vanish into thin air) - a snot sucker / nail clippers - drool bibs to prevent a thousand outfit changes - loads of sleepers (he lives in these, we hardly ever put him in "real clothes". We liked having ~8-10 in each size-there's always enough clean at a time that you're not constantly doing laundry) - probiotic to help ME heal sooner after being given anti-biotics post-birth - homeopathic baby tinctures and balms There were LOTS of clothes sprinkled in there, along with a lot of supplies for mom. The truth is, you can never really know what YOUR baby is gonna love or need until you have them, so having some sort of allowance to let that random spending happen will free you of a lot of financial stress! 🌻 Hannah

[@JasonBauman]

Thanks this is perfect! And yeah right now we have a "baby supplies" category for stuff and "maternity" for income replacement. But this stuff is super helpful. Love the idea of keeping a generic category and using memos. Will have to remember that. Thankfully clothes for them shouldn't be bad (lots of hand-me-downs that we're told will be thrown at our door as soon as we know the gender) but if y'all make a onesie that says "I'm the reason for rule 3" I will have to add it to that supplies category

[@YNABofficial]

And, would ya know it, just made another baby purchase yesterday: sun shades for the car. We had him in his capsule carseat for a long time that comes with a built in pull-over shade, but recently switched him to a big boy carseat and now he gets the sun in his eyes. $20 per car 🥴 But peace of mind for his comfort and eyeballs! Also, you should shoot me your mailing address to [e-mail]! We have something that might help you prep just a tiny bit more! 🌻 Hannah

[@axfoe1494]

You might like Gobble instead of Hello Fresh...it costs slightly more but has similar recipes BUT they take a lot quicker to prepare.....I have done meal kits for about 8 years

[@YNABofficial]

Oooooh! Honestly, we'd learn more toward organic than faster. I love cooking dinner and the cooking time doesn't bother me! But I would love cleaner, less processed ingredients. I'll have to look into other options! 🌻 Hannah

[@MickV08]

Love my category group CAPS😊

[@YNABofficial]

❗Same!! 🌻 Hannah

[@heidilovesrt]

Would love a video on a months worth of groceries for your family. Ie the 1st-7th... Do you buy groceries on the 3rd, assuming it will last until the 7th? Do you always buy groceries on the 1st day of the new week? Are you flexible with your grocery days (me and my husband shop our groceries every Thurs). I'm changing our June budget to start implementing a new weeks grocery budget, but a 4 week month is a lot cheaper than a 5 week month, yet your budget only has 4 subcategories for groceries....🤯🤯🤯🤯

[@chrisbranham1608]

I split out our groceries every week also as Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5. We shop every Saturday. Each month, I assign $100 to Weeks 1-4 and $35 to Week 5. It appears that every 3 months, we have a month with 5 Saturdays, so when that happens, we're ready. This is working great for us.

[@YNABofficial]

I threw it on my list of video ideas! Seems a few of you would like to see the groceries technique a little closer up! And @chrisbranham1608, that is actually brilliant and makes so much more sense than what I was doing. Permission to share your tip if I do a larger video on this topic?! 🌻 Hannah

[@chrisbranham1608]

​@YNABofficial Nice! I'd be honored if you mentioned my grocery category method in an upcoming video!

[@YNABofficial]

Score! Will do!! 🌻 Hannah

[@heidilovesrt]

@YNABofficial Thank you Hannah, would really love a video on this. I'm implementing your grocery breakdown next month, but I'm torn as to whether to break it down into weeks (ie Week 1, 2, 3, ect) or to break it down into days (ie Week 1-7th, 8-14th ect). Sometimes, seeing how someone else does it really helps. In any case, thank you for even considering it and for all your great content. Ps....Not to sound like a fan girl, but OMG I got a response from Hannah 💥💃🎊🎉😁

[@Lockbabe]

Hi Hannah! Just started watching videos even thoough I,ve doing YNAB for 7mths. So I mistakenly wrote over my Azmazon Category with Household goods in the effort to get more granular per your example. Now 6mths of Amazon expensws are gone!! Is there a way to fix this please???

[@richardperson6310]

Thanks for a great video!

[@williamwarren9448]

I agree - you need a fun money category - its money that saves the relationship - glenda (married 47 years) ....Hana thank you for this - my hubs and I need to both see this - he tends to put 700 dollars in a category and then wonders where all the money goes - kind of like the dog food dilemma -

[@YNABofficial]

We both LOVE what our spending plan does for us, but something about having that money autonomy with our fun money really does make a huge difference. 🌻 Hannah

[@erikwillits9761]

Great video. Like always!!! 👍 I'm a long-time user, still rookie skills! Do you have a suggestion on how to handle moving money around from checking to saving and having that reflect in YNAB? Example: we have a high-yield saving account where we want to put the money we won't need in the immediate future. Things like emergency fund, vacations, etc. So we fund our emergency fund every month then that money gets moved to our savings account. I don't know if that makes any sense. Just trying to figure out the best way to do that and not have a separate spreadsheet or something to try and keep things in order. 🤷‍♂

[@YNABofficial]

Hey Erik! Do you use a "transfer" transaction? If not, that will help bring a lot of clarity to the situation! Whenever you transfer money at the bank (say you transfer $1,000 from checking to savings), we want to reflect this money movement in YNAB with a transfer transaction. Start a new transaction in YNAB in your checking account, click the "payee" box, and you'll notice a section right at the top of the dropdown menu titled "Payments and Transfers": look for something along the lines of "To/From: Savings" or whatever your savings account is called, and select it. Then enter the amount you're transferring as an outflow, since $1,000 will be leaving your checking account. When you save this transaction, YNAB will automatically generate a $1,000 *inflow* transaction to your savings account with the payee "Transfer to/from: Checking". This perfectly captures the $1,000 money movement OUT of your checking and receives the $1,000 money movement INTO your savings! Your account totals should now automatically reflect this money movement too. I hope this helps! Let me know if I misunderstood and if there's another way I could help! 🌻 Hannah

[@ErikWillitsSS]

@@YNABofficial That's great! Thanks!!! I also found a couple video you did on using tracking accounts that were helpful! So I think I've got it! Thanks!!!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, great!! Those videos are a little old at this point, so lemme know if you had any questions on things that have changed/look different 😂 🌻 Hannah

[@lahtidahful]

Curious what cleaner makeup you like Hannah, if you're comfortable sharing!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, absolutely! This is like my love language! Lately I've been exploring Crunchi, and have actually really been enjoying it! I have a lot of skin damage/scarring from a medication I went on a decade ago (😑), and it's the first foundation I've actually liked on my skin in a while. Been using their primer, foundation, concealer, liquid blush, and eyebrow pencil and have really liked them all (even using the concealer as a bb cream on lighter make-up days!). Before , it's just been a hodge podge: Kosas foundation and blush, W3ll People eye shadow, Burts Bees eyeliner (not great 😅), Beautycounter highlighter and brow gel. I still haven't found a clean mascara swap that actually works for my short, straight, point-straight-down-unless-I-use-a-curler-and-waterproof-mascara lashes. I've heard Ilia is good, but I've just figured if EVERYTHING else is much cleaner, then having one product that's still a little more conventional can't be all bad. The I Heart Extreme Crazy Volume waterproof mascara from Essence has a slightly cleaner, shorter ingredient list, so I've been using that until I can find something better. But my ride-or-die has always been Maybelline's waterproof Lash Sensational! Great for lashes like mine-it'll be a hard one to beat! I also use Henry Rose perfume (Smyth 🤤) and Kapa Nui is my favorite non-toxic nail polish! 🌻Hannah

[@lahtidahful]

@@YNABofficial This is AMAZING. Thank you!

[@av8r22]

Heya Hannah how do existing users go through this new onboarding process?

[@YNABofficial]

Howdy! Great question! It's set up to only run for brand new accounts logging into YNAB for the very first time. But I asked my co-worker Kat if there's a way a current user could still take advantage of the onboarding process and she said this: If you want to go through the new-user onboarding, you can invite yourself to join your YNAB Together group. You’ll need to log out of your YNAB account to join the group. Then you can create a new “experimental” YNAB account using a different email address and that will take you through onboarding from the beginning. If you end up really liking that new budget, you’ll be able to see and use it while logged into the Group Manager YNAB account. You can even switch ownership of that new budget from your experimental account to the Group Manager account and then delete the experimental YNAB account if you like. It's a little in the weeds, but ultimate helps you go through the process AND allows for you to transfer the budget to your main account in the end! Hope this helps! 🌻 Hannah

[@courtneyclick5991]

I love the weekly grocery category idea! I always struggle with budgeting that out for the month

[@RandomFandomDragon]

Also, what tax filing software did you get for $22? That's a great price.

[@YNABofficial]

Reposting my answer to another commenter! FreeTaxUSA! Of course, it's hilarious and ironic that I still paid to use FreeTaxUSA, but a ton of my co-workers recommended it to me. I was using another super popular tax software (sheerly because my mom used it and passed down that suggestion to me) that was costing us $110-$140 each time we filed taxes! What the heck?! This one actually worked FASTER, was just as easy as the other one, and a fourth of the price. Sold! 🌻 Hannah

[@michaelhutchinson1789]

Disc golf isn’t a special group, it’s a “special” group… speaking as a disc golfer.

[@YNABofficial]

😂 Oh, I knowwww. As I sit here in my house with 40 discs hanging on the wall next to my computer... next to the shoe rack with probably 200 more on it 🤣 🌻 Hannah

[@ErnieV76]

Don’t forget to budget YNAB! 😅

[@YNABofficial]

Ahh, one of the perks of being a YNAB employee 😎 🌻 Hannah

[@ErnieV76]

@@YNABofficial Figured. 😂👍🏼

[@mjrc123]

This should be a default line item in every budget!

[@newcreation19]

I didn’t expect to learn anything, just can’t miss a Hannah video! 😁 I learned that I should probably make a “hospitality” fund, I like the idea of that! Great video!

[@clucibello9421]

Me too. If nothing else she'll make me laugh--but yet--I still learn something new.

[@YNABofficial]

I also didn't expect anyone to learn anything, so GLAD TO HEAR IT 😅🤣 🌻 Hannah

[@FishYoBassOff]

The refill target option confuses me. Consider you have a category with a monthly target of $200 for April and you assign that amount to the category for April. However, you only spend $5 during April for that category. Then you should have $195 available for May in that category. Would the target then request you to assign $5 to the category for April to refill your available back to $200?

[@arjay1016]

Yep. It doesn't add up over time like the other target type. And the target is requesting you add 5 in May so may is topped up. So you pour a little bit out of a glass, you only refill up to the top of that glass the next month. You don't add a new glass. (I hope my metaphor works.)

[@YNABofficial]

Never fear! There's a video coming out explaining them better next week! But to quickly answer your question, in the scenario of a $200 target and only spending $5 in the month of April... ... with the "refill up to" behavior, the May target would only request you to assign $5 to the month of May to bring your category total back up to $200. I'd use this for things like gas, groceries, maybe pet supplies... categories where I want a "use it lose it" kind of "reset" at the end of the month. ... and with the "set aside another" behavior, the May target would request you to assign ANOTHER $200 to the category for the month of May, bringing your new category total up to $395. I'd use this either for bills that require the exact same amount every month so no extra money builds up in the category, OR for savings categories that I want to build up overtime, like car repair, home emergencies, travel. We also like to use this option for our fun money! Hope this helps!! You nailed it all on your own, though! So did @arjay1016! 🌻 Hannah

[@arjay1016]

I woke up recently to the fact that I'm only tracking in ynab, not budgeting. I'm working on changing my mindset to check my eating out budget before I stop and to stay inside the budget.

[@YNABofficial]

YES! I will be honest-it is a challenging habit to develop if you're not used to it, but it makes all the difference once you do. EVEN if your eating out is fully spent, you can consciously decide BEFORE getting that meal out where else the money is gonna come from. The plan can always change, but we have so much more control when we change the plans BEFORE making a choice than having to shift the plan around AFTER the choice. Plus, less guilt and more spending confidence! Always a win! 🌻 Hannah

[@EmilySchaefer-i5g]

Yes, same!!!! I'm back here on KZbin watching YNAB videos to remind myself how helpful it is to plan ahead.

[@conureron3792]

Love the quiz to start your use with YNAB….that is a great idea to help customize your budget.

[@davidhart4789]

I have 1 income that is auto deposited between 10 days and 1 week before the end of the month. For some reason I like to just leave it in Ready To Assign until the first day of the month when my other incomes are deposited. I then assign all of it for as far as it will go. I don’t know why but I just can’t seen to let myself assign on any day but the 1st of the new month.

[@RandomFandomDragon]

I get that. I get paid twice a month, and one is on the last day of the month (or a few days earlier, depending on weekends). I always left the last one in the "ready to assign" as well until the first. In the last few months I've started feeling more confident about just assigning the funds to the next month, which turned out to be a huge blessing when my husband lost his job. Because I had pre-funded a lot of categories, we actually made it through until he got is new job with very little pain.

[@hayleyshort712]

Love the groceries split over weeks, I’ve been doing this for a while and its great to see you think this a good idea too; it saves the hassle of there being 5 weeks in a particular month, just being mindful of week 2 and week 4 when it goes a bit over 7 days. (Just a note.. I think you meant 15th-21st for week 3 in Groceries not 9th-21st)

[@RandomFandomDragon]

I think I'm going to try this. I think it will help give us a better idea on our spending, and probably give a little more flexibility as well.

[@NoGreatLoss24]

You should really name another family member "Cheese" so y'all can be Mac-Han-Cheese.

[@YNABofficial]

oh. my. gosh. This has never occurred to me. Granted, I would never name a human "Cheese," but now you have me dabbling in the thought... this might be worth it 🧐 🌻 Hannah

[@duckfarmer8630]

We have a whole category for vehicle tabs....trailer, vehicles, snowmobiles- it's ALOT

[@jroysdon]

@10:15 - wow, that's a great way to do groceries or anything we need to spread out to something like once a week. It's a very clear way to see it, vs. the color bar at the bottom which ... isn't as clear as it could be to some people who shares my budget.

[@YNABofficial]

I know how that "some people" vibe goes 😂 I just like seeing the concrete numbers each week, both overspending and money available. Helps a lot! 🌻 Hannah

[@thawrg]

Great video, as always! Its always nice to see how everyone sets up their categories! I really like the idea of separating out groceries, heigene and household items, hospitality, etc. But how do y'all handle buying all these things together at, say, a walmart or target? Separate bills for each category? Manually break up the bill and split the transactions in ynab? The lazy in me wants to know.

[@TheDapperRabbit]

Ooooh! What is this tax software you used that’s less than $30?!??!?

[@yahdimon]

I want to know this too!!

[@YNABofficial]

FreeTaxUSA! Of course, it's hilarious and ironic that I still paid to use FreeTaxUSA, but a ton of my co-workers recommended it to me. I was using another super popular tax software (sheerly because my mom used it and passed down that suggestion to me) that was costing us $110-$140 each time we filed taxes! What the heck?! This one actually worked FASTER, was just as easy as the other one, and a fourth of the price. Sold! 🌻 Hannah

[@markhines192]

Hannah this is probably one of your most informative and useful videos. But I was wondering if you could do a video on how you check it when you're out shopping and then how you record the transactions as you are shopping so that the category amounts stay accurate

[@YNABofficial]

Oh wow, I'm so glad to hear that!! And hmm, I'll think about that-how I use YNAB out in the wild. Not a bad idea! 🌻 Hannah

[@zeal2132]

I second this idea! 😊

[@donnaferris2844]

Yes, this would be helpful! I am not warm & fuzzy with my phone for YNAB'ing and want to be.

[@TornadoBarrage]

I made my categories using the 50/30/20 budget rule with the amount i set aside

[@julieb6680]

I am with on all CAPS...

[@xheyheyitsjeyx]

What is the tax filing software?! Please and thank you 🤩

[@YNABofficial]

FreeTaxUSA! Bye bye, TurboTax! 👋🏻 🌻 Hannah

[@mumwithfunds]

Fantastic Video!! How do we get the emoji dropdown on a windows pc, anyone know?

[@YNABofficial]

I'll link an article that shows you how to do it for Mac, PC, iOS, or Android! For me on my PC, I hold down [OPTION + . ], but based on your keyboard it also might be [WINDOWS KEY + . ] support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-use-emoji-in-your-budget-SJTNIyQAc 🌻 Hannah

[@RandomFandomDragon]

Glad I watched this! There have clearly been some updates I missed. ALso, watching the category creation... I might have to start my budget over for June, lol. I'm always tinkering with the set up, trying out new things. Currently I have long-term items, like annual subscriptions and deductibles in their own category, but I kind of like what you have going on, basing it on what the funds are used for - subscriptions, pets (I call that category Minions 🐶😼), etc. 💜💜

[@KAFNOR]

LOL! I have different passwords and none are memorized by heart, so I too depend on my phone. Anyway, always a pleasure to see you work your YNAB magic, Hannah!

[@darkphoenix6807]

So let’s say you create a category group for a future Hawaii trip. Then you put multiple categories underneath it for all the different things you have to save for. Once you take the trip, what do you do with that category group? Do you hide it or do you delete it and move all of those transactions into a different category? I’m just wondering your preference.

[@YNABofficial]

You can't hide category *groups*, so this is what I would do: I'm a no-nonsense girl. If the Hawaii trip is done and over, I will just DELETE these categories and rehome their transactions to my generic Travel category, especially if I know I'm never gonna take this trip or have this specific expense anymore. I would then delete the Hawaii category group. BUT, one thing I WOULD do to make sure I can find all this data again one day if I want it is add a unique hashtag to the memo, like #Hawaii2024. That way, if we're planning another big family trip in a few years, I can search up #Hawaii2024 and it will pull up ALL my transactions from that trip. I can then gather all the information I want from that, like how much we spent on tickets and hotels and food, clear the search, and move on! Don't ask me why I do it this way, this is just my mind prefers for some weird reason. HOWEVER, you could also hide these categories if you want to preserve their categories. These transactions and their categories should still show up in your Reflect tab, even if hidden. If you go to All Accounts, you can still search up a transaction categorized to a hidden category. You can even "unhide" all the categories in your Hawaii category group for an more on-hands look at them, or if you find yourself planning another Hawaii trip. Hiding categories will just keep them out of the view of your spending plan by moving them to a collapsed "Hidden" category group at the bottom of your budget, while still preserving all the information in your spending breakdown. As I typed all this out, it made me realize I should probably just hide things rather than delete. 😂 Maybe you've inspired a change in my practice! Play around with it yourself and let me know what you end up deciding to do! 🌻 Hannah

[@YNABofficial]

Brooooo... not someone teaching me my own job 😂😅 Color me embarrassed. I HAD NO IDEA! Or maybe I did but never need to use this feature much so I forgot. This is great news!! Thanks for checking on that!! 🌻 Hannah

[@sethdavis512]

"Guess what my dawgs?" That got me laughing

[@DWrek18]

This was awesome and helped a ton! It helps a lot to see it done once! Thank you!

[@janeknight3597]

Is Spending Plan an official new name??😂

[@ASan512]

After a year using this, I've got so much money in my checking account that I'm starting to feel like I need to put a large chunk of that in a high-yield savings, but I'm struggling to use YNAB to know how much to move over. Do I just keep 1 month of expenses in Checking and throw the other 2 funded months into Savings? Or do I keep 2 months in Checking and throw 1 month into Savings? This gets even more confusing when I consider any additional income I'll have in a given month.

[@YNABofficial]

This is a great question, and one we're starting to explore ourselves! We've always kept our money in our checking and savings accounts, but now that it's built up a bit more it seems like it'd be smart to keep some of that "far off" money we won't be spending for a while in a HYSA. I would just say to go with your gut! I'd likely keep more than a month's worth in my checking, just in case of emergency or if I had any big purchases coming up down the line. Having 3 months worth of money seems a bit excessive (hopefully I'd never need that much at once), but safe. Maybe after that point, we'd start moving an extra over to a HYSA. But I could easily see use moving anything over two months as well... just depends on what you're comfortable with and how much "buffer" you want at all times in your checking. Good question with good thoughts! 🌻 Hannah

[@nosirrahm]

I put it all into HYSA. I use the new paychecks to fund the expenses coming out of the acct rather than constantly moving money back and forth. I typically try to keep less than $500 in the acct unless there are bills being paid within 7-10 days. It’s linked to my savings acct just in case I forget something and don’t want a payment to be denied. YNAB has been a total game changer for me these past 2 years. My sinking funds account has grown way into the 5 digits and I’m a month ahead. I use the interest to help fund future travel/income replacement funds.

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

@nosirrahm I do the same. my checking buffer is a bit higher because my high yield savings account HYSA doesn’t have overdraft protection, but I want as much money as possible working for me. Even in the HYSA it doesn’t take long to get access to the funds. I haven’t been able to imagine an emergency that would necessitate having more than $1 - $2K in checking. Now I am working up my nerve to move a healthy portion of my HYSA to a brokerage account. By healthy, I mean anything over and above my emergency fund, plus a bit more for near term sinking funds. Wish me luck!

[@stephaniegaddis1716]

I keep most of our money in a HYSA. We have a checking account with the same bank, so transferring between accounts is instant (more or less). I DESPISE moving money OUT of the HYSA, so I've gamified it. The rules of the game are simple - move as much into the HYSA as possible leaving only enough to cover what has to be paid this month plus a $500 buffer, if I have to move any back to checking to cover spending then I "lose.". Sadly, I lost this month. My downfall was an unexpected $3,000 house repair. sigh. Ya win some, ya lose some. 😁

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

@stephanie - that would still be a win in my book. You had $3000 available to cover an unexpected household repair. Winning! That being said… I like your game and I like your rules!

[@kives36]

Do you ever reconcile your budget categories with your various checking and savings accounts? I have a separate category group for my Savings account (bc there are only a few categories) and custom View for the categories tied to my Checking account (bc there are a few stragglers that aren't in Checking or Savings, like cash and a small second savings account I have to keep open but rarely use). I think without being able to compare the budget categories to the account, I'd risk accidentally spending out of Checking, when the money was actually in my Savings account. How are others handling this?

[@YNABofficial]

I used to do this with my savings account categories, but found it hard to keep up with. Now I just keep it simple and always make sure I have enough in my checking based on my general spending-everything else goes in my savings account! If I know I have a bigger purchase coming up, I'll transfer some money beforehand (my bank transfer initiated through my bank app are instantaneous, so even in a pinch I could quickly transfer money from account to account before swiping my card!). Generally, if I ever notice my checking dipping below $2k, I'll move some money over. But, keep whatever method works for you! Some people like to match categories to accounts for peace of mind-I prefer to just keep an eye on account balances instead! 🌻 Hannah

[@kives36]

@@YNABofficial Makes sense to me! That sounds like a clean way to keep track of things. I try to keep as much as possible in a HYSA, so the extra reconciliation feels like it’s worth it. You make a good point about the instant transfers tho! *tucks idea into back pocket for later consideration* Thank you for your engaging videos! And thank you specifically for this kind of set-up content, so I don’t have to make it myself when bringing people into the wonderful world of YNAB ;)

[@YNABofficial]

YAY! Of course! It's my very lucky job and it brings me joy! Glad it's helpful to others, too 🥰 🌻 Hannah

[@donnaferris2844]

Great video, thank you. Question: your shower head got fully funded in... June I think it was, but you have the money now, in April I think. If you buy the shower head now, will you go to May and June and move the amounts back to ready to assign, then re-assign the funds to April's budget? Or is there a better way to adjust it? Thanks!!

[@YNABofficial]

Hi there! The showerhead is one of our subscriptions, so I set aside a third of the subscription payment every month to be ready to buy it by that third month. However, if I wanted to skip ahead and buy it back in April, if I had already funded the showerhead for May and June, I would absolutely move that future money back into the month of April so I could buy it now. If I hadn't yet funded that category in future months, I would move money from some other category until I had enough to purchase the showerhead now. 🌻 Hannah

[@Pitusha]

I started Ynab just 5 months ago, when I also started my first job. But I'm in love with YNAB already for a few years, but since I wasn't earning any income or paying any bill, I didn't have much a use for it. When I earned my first salary, I just immediately signed up for YNAB! But since I had no idea on how I was going to spend my salary, I just used it as a spending tracker on purpose, no targets on my categories, except for Subscriptions, Investment, and some Bills categories. I was planning to do like this for a year, until I had enough data on my spending. But this July I just realized I have enough data, and I just add targets to all my other spending categories, besides making a "Steam Sales", a "Holidays gifts" and a "Birthday Gifts" groups of categories. Now I finally have the feeling that my "YNAB journey" has begun, and I can't wait to built my first month ahead! I'm already feeling rich, even if my salary hasn't changed 🤭

[@YNABofficial]

YAAAAAYYYY!! How amazing is that?! Using YNAB as an expense tracker in the beginning totally makes sense-gather your data and then apply what you've learned! I'm so glad it's finally "kicking in" and you're getting to experience the MAGIC. Love that rich feeling you get (have you experience the "YNAB Broke" feeling yet?!), and it truly is wild how much your savings just quietly builds in the background. YNAB is a game changer, life changer, everything!! Thanks for sharing!! If you feel so inclined, you should totally share your story as a new salary earner and submit your YNAB story! I know SO many people have been/are about to be in your same shoes, and to hear how YNAB helped you manage that first salary could be hugely helpful to them too!! I'll drop the link below in case you're interested 🥰 youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories 🌻 Hannah

[@GTw8lifter]

Thank you so much, Hannah! With all the recommendations out there of what to budget in what category, it was really nice to just for once be spoon-fed a specific example and (probably more importantly) WHY for each category. For example, why you have specific for disc golf and ehy you break up groceries by week is genius, and it'll give my wife and I an excellent starting point.

[@YNABofficial]

WOO HOO! That is such great feedback, I'm so glad it was helpful! I'll have to release a new one of these every year as life changes-I'm sure the budget will evolve PLENTY over the course of a year and warrant a whole new video! 🌻 Hannah

[@brittanybouchez3490]

Thank you so much Hannah for this video! It's motivating me to get back on track with my own YNAB budget. Question - what do you with tax? For example, I purchased makeup and skincare in one Sephora order but the tax can vary. Do I add that to one of the makeup or skincare categories? Also I would be interested to see a Fresh Start budget video 😊

[@YNABofficial]

Great question! YNAB actually handles tax really well! Start your transaction with the payee as Sephora, memo whatever you want, and enter the outflow as the final total on the receipt. Then, when it comes to categorizing, I split the transaction into my two separate make-up and skincare categories. From here, I literally add up (with the + sign) the cost of all the individual items (pre-tax) in the outflow box for each category. So if I buy a $15 mascara, a $25 foundation, a $40 moisturizer, and $20 eye cream, I'll type "15+25" in the outflow box for my make-up category and "40+20" in the outflow box for my skincare category. YNAB will automatically do the math and change the outflow numbers to "$40" for make-up and "$60" for skincare. Then, you should still have all your taxes left unassigned. Click "Save" and YNAB will ask if you want to manually distribute the leftover amount or auto-distribute the leftover amount. Click auto-distribute and YNAB will divvy out the leftover money to your split categories based on the percentage of the total outflow amount (aka: it'll send 40% of the leftover money to your make-up category, and 60% to your skincare category). Easy peasy! Hope this helps! 🌻 Hannah

[@feliciawongso4984]

Hi Hannah, do you suggest separating budgets for personal and business? My business is really tiny and I don't think it needs a separate budget. But at the same time I keep getting personal and biz money mixed up. Any suggestions or advice are welcomed. Thanks!

[@YNABofficial]

Great question! I would keep them separate for exactly the reason you said! There's a lot less worry about miscategorizing or "losing dollars," and you can guarantee all the dollars are going to the right places right off the bat when utilizing two separate budgets. Plus, it's MUCH easier to handle reports this way-could make taxes at the end of the year a breeze, being able to export *just* business profit and expenses in one fell swoop! For security, clarity, and peace of mind, I'd definitely run two separate budgets. If two separate budgets feels like too much of a hassle for you, you *can* manage it all in one. I would first and foremost make sure you have a separate checking account set up for your business, if you don't already, so your personal and business dollars aren't getting all mixed together at the bank. Then, I would create a category group in your budget for all things business! Make all the categories you want (supplies, taxes, etc), and I would even include a top category titled something like "Business Money"-no target added. Link your business account to your personal budget, and whenever you get a paycheck or a sale from your business, categorize that money straight into "Business Money" when it enters YNAB. You can treat your "Business Money" category essentially as your "Ready to Assign" category for your business dollars, always making sure the category group's "available" dollars match the amount in the business checking account. From here, you can move dollars from your "Business Money" category out to your other business categories in your category group. This method won't generate very helpful reports for income vs expenses since you'll be categorizing business income directly into a category (generally inflows of money *have* to pass through "Ready to Assign" to count as income), so that gets a bit messy. But it is an option if you'd like the keep it confined to one budget! 🌻 Hannah

[@markford3677]

What a great video! So useful to see and hear the thought processes going into organising/setting up budget categories. Even as a well established YNABer I've picked up some useful tips.

[@YNABofficial]

So glad to hear it! Any chance I can get to just talk and process out loud, I'll take. But super glad to hear it was useful for more than just my own sanity! 😂 🌻 Hannah

[@conureron3792]

That was quite an educational experience. Thanks for going thru this endeavor.

[@YNABofficial]

Woo hoo! So glad, and good to know the length wasn't too intimidating! 🥰 🌻 Hannah

[@Maniga508]

This was such a helpful video. Thanks for this.

[@YNABofficial]

YAY! So glad! 🌻 Hannah

[@Mare00711]

You forgot the ynab subscription 😅

[@MindyTunnell]

She works for them, it's free.😂

[@YeraBlizzadHarry]

Do You still do the wish farm?

[@YNABofficial]

OH, I do! Definitely could've included that, or at least mentioned it, but I think I was worried about the video getting too long. 😂 Just purchased an item from my wish farm a few weeks ago! A red-light therapy light from Lumebox! 🚨 🌻 Hannah

[@eldiablopotato]

Looking for suggestions on what do with categories I no longer need. Backstory, I have years of data paying a subscription service. I canceled that subscription today. Do I create a new category "canceled subscriptions" and move all of the previous transactions to that?

[@YNABofficial]

In these types of scenarios, you have two options: 1. You can "hide" a category, which will keep the category and all of it's transactions in tact, but move them to a category group at the bottom of your budget called "Hidden Categories." This category group stays closed as all times to keep your budget looking neat and tidy! The cool thing about hiding a category is you can resurrect it whenever you want! So if you decide to re-subscribe to that service again in a year, you can just "unhide" that category and immediately start using it again, with your old target and all those old transactions still be attached to the category. This is probably the most ideal route! 2. If you're positive you'll never need the category anymore, or the accuracy of your reports don't matter as much to you, you can delete the category and YNAB will prompt you to "rehome" them to another category. Whenever I need to rehome transactions from a deleted category, I usually try to move them to the next most logical category (i.e. if I were canceling Hulu and I also had a Netflix category, I might rehome my Hulu transactions to my Netflix category). OTHERWISE, if they don't fit into any other category, I'll just rehome them into my "miscellaneous" category. If you want to delete the category but still maintain accurate reports, rehoming transactions to "miscellaneous" is the way to go! Hope this helps! 🌻 Hannah

[@eldiablopotato]

@@YNABofficial Big help, thank you!

[@claudiuionus506]

Not really fair to use the refill option for fun money. Maybe one of you wants to save their fun money (or a part of it) for a bigger fun sometime later, and it's not possible because the refill option doesn't carry the balance over to the next month.

[@YNABofficial]

Personally, I agree! I wish it weren't listed as an example for the "refill" target type. We absolutely run our fun money on a "set aside another" system. Just recently I saved up enough fun money to buy a $380 item from my wishlist! Never could've done that if we were on a "refill" system. So, follow your heart and do what works best for you! 🌻 Hannah

[@claudiuionus506]

@YNABofficial Actually, just realized that "refill" is the right option. The "refill" option takes the remaining money from this month and integrates it on top in the next month. Just discovered it right now by mistake.

[@emulienka]

I've been using YBAN for 9(?) years now and still learn something new!

[@MindyTunnell]

Uban coffee?

[@YNABofficial]

I think ALL of us feel that way! It's good to keep learning and growing and evolving how we see our money and our spending plan! Glad you're along for the ride, too! 🌻 Hannah

[@cokedust]

Is there a credit card video on how to show in your budget if you paid with miles?

[@YNABofficial]

Oof. That is out of my league. I've never used miles, so not sure how this whole process works. I'd write into our customer support and see if there's someone on the team who could help you answer that question! 🌻 Hannah

[@cokedust]

@@YNABofficial OK will do. Maybe make a video on the best times to reset your budget (if one is considering it).

[@m-jud1701]

I get that you are funding month ahead, but the lack of job loss fund in savings gives me anxiety.

[@ErnieV76]

I have an “emergency fund” separately in a High Yield savings account and I’m currently saving to pay off debt and save a month ahead. Month ahead to me is not an emergency, more for to stop living paycheck to paycheck 😊

[@trmoore0922]

Funding a month ahead is the same as having 1 months' worth of a job loss fund.

[@YNABofficial]

Totally get it! It's weird to think of our money in a new structure or organized differently than how we're used to understanding it. Our true budget is a few months ahead, so just as @trmoore0922 said, those months ahead FULLY cover months of job loss (MORE than fully, really, as it includes all of our individual savings categories we've funded for other emergencies as well). If one of us were to lose our job, we'd likely reorganize the budget to cut out some less necessary spending and stretch our dollars even further, but I actually feel much more secure funding full months out into the future than funding a vague "job loss" category. I'm not sure I would know when I was allowed to spend money from such a big, hefty category like that. With my detailed monthly plan, I know my exact limits on EVERYTHING-gas, groceries, even fun money. Hope that makes sense! 🌻 Hannah

[@stephaniegaddis1716]

No reason you can't have both!! We are 1 month ahead to keep us off the Credit Card Float or paycheck-to-paycheck. Once that was done, then I shifted our savings focus to filling up an Income Loss category.

[@ErnieV76]

@@stephaniegaddis1716 Yes!