Don’t Waste Your Time on These YNAB Practices

[@puffytail]

I would say the people who are checking their budget once a month are probably not listening to a budgeting podcast/video. 😅

[@stephaniebfi4297]

7 months later I discover this video to listen to as I'm budgeting and I instantly get anxiety. Don't use the underfunded button? 😲Looking at the budget once a month? (when I can't go a full day without checking several times) 😲All the same types of targets for each category? 😭Don't cover overspend and let that red sit there? 😖 To each his/her own. 🤠🥳Even if we don't do these things YNAB still gets us back on track. Thanks for keeping me company as I do first quarter adjustments.

[@airjordan777lt777]

How much coffee did you drink before typing this? 😂

[@ksk881]

I really feel that I “need” to enter everything manually. I really enjoy it, and I am one of those people who prefer to have more day-to-day control. I gave up on YNAB more than once until I stopped using targets. They confused and frustrated me. Instead, I “preplan” on paper, what I think will happen during the month that I am budgeting. I manually assign the money when I get it, making adjustments if needed. I am VERY aware of where my money is by doing this.

[@stop08it]

I never used to enter transactions manually but I do these days after restarting YNAB earlier this year and it really feels like a gamechanger for me. I've also used YNAB for years and i've fallen off using it multiple times (to terrible financial consequences in the long run) when I wasn't entering my transactions manually. I feel way more engaged with my spending and budget as they stated and it's actually easier and quicker to reconcile my accounts. I also struggled with checking my budget regularly and entering my transactions manually greatly increases my chances of looking at my budget almost every day which I really need right now in my financial journey. It definitely works for me.

[@KitsuneMiko383]

I'm realizing that I need to enter things manually each time, otherwise I'll forget that YNAB exists, just like every other budgeting tool I've used. And manually funding each category helps me out because I have extremely low income so if I were to fund, say, Rent in one paycheck I'd have no money for anything else the entire week.

[@Lilyvnilly]

Yeah I have a category for every subscription and believe me, it's a revelation. I need to see that list in my budget because subscriptions on auto pay can really get our of hand. I've got them under control now, thank you, and I'm in control, not the "providers" and I plan to keep it that way!

[@momhouser]

I'm SO glad to hear you admit that Targets are not necessary. It really complicates the onboarding. I really want a YNAB4-ish version to be available!

[@jamesandersonwalsh]

Agreed, as a newer YNABer I’ve only found one genuine use case for targets, and it’s for a planned medical expense in April. So hitting the monthly savings rate is a must right now but outside of that it complicates things a bit too much for my liking.

[@lw1405]

Love manual entry. I've used YNAB for years. I am very engaged in my budget and money, Not saying that those who auto-import are not. I also love targets. As you said in your targets video, its almost like the F word- forecasting! I also enjoy staring my day in YNAB. I check my bank accounts, credit cards and investments. I just like looking at my money....LOL. I also like to reconcile a few times a month. YNAB obsessed!

[@patrikwilliams9639]

Thank you for the story about using YNAB as a reason to deflect sales calls.

[@dabrick100]

I just love to manually enter because its so fun to add memos. Then i can go look back on all the fun things ive done and with whom :) If i wait for import, then I'll forget and wont have those fun memos

[@KatieJuarez]

Speaking of reimbursements, we need a better way to track expenses. I usually don't get the reimbursement until the following month, and I want to ensure it lines out in the same month, so I have to move transactions to the next month. This is the one piece not covered well. I'd love to see some improvements in this area, as both my husband and I have several of these categories each! Thanks!

[@theonyxknight]

This has probably been suggested before, but why not try this: 1) Create one or more budget category for reimbursable expenses (maybe they all get a prefix of "Reimburse" for ease of tracking) 2) A reimbursable expense happens in one month and you leave it unfunded 3) You get reimbursed the following month and you go back and fund any reimbursable expenses in the previous month. The expense stays in the month you incurred it in, and you're still covering the overspending. This assumes you're using a credit card to cover the expense, otherwise things could get weird.

[@joshcoady]

Create an off-budget tracking account. The payee when you pay for something that will be reimbursed or for when you receive the reimbursement is a transfer to/from the tracking account. The budget category is "Reimbursements" or something like that. You just need one -- if you want details look in the tracking account. When you receive a reimbursement mark both the reimbursement and the charge it is paying back as cleared in the tracking account. Anything in the tracking account that is uncleared is something that you are still owed. I use the memo field to track who owes me and what for.

[@conureron3792]

Man, I’m going to use that ynab budget excuse when confronted with salespeople.

[@jennw6809]

Targets are the entire reason I tried YNAB. I was lamenting to my ADHD body doubling group that the old Intuit product that my bank used -- which allowed you to see how much money you'd need have by what date to pay your monthly bills -- had gone away. Several people immediately mentioned YNAB. But I do understand and agree that maybe we don't need targets for every category. Also, I just converted my business from Quckbooks to YNAB so I definitely will be looking at that income and expense report. Just for taxes, really.

[@RonaldMorrissetteJr]

Love you guys and all you do, I have a category for each subscription, I have targets for every category and use auto assign and half targets for nearly every category, I never checked the budget before I spend, and have no problem or feelings of guilt moving money from category to category, and it is my habit to import or enter manually expenses and reconciled accounts every morning. I also cover overspending immediately when I see it in the budget. I only occasionally look at reports mostly out of curiosity like to compare what we spent on groceries this year compared to last year or when we were in the process of getting out of debt I enjoyed seeing our net worth increase.

[@ViolaGrl19]

I love this whole video. I appreciate the FB community, but it’s a little much sometimes. This is perfect to show your YNAB is your YNAB. Do it how it benefits you and your situation.

[@kathyoo787]

When I have a reimbursement coming, I enter the transaction, but also enter an uncleared deposit to the same category. That way the budget doesn't go off and I can track what is still owed to me by seeing the uncleared deposits.

[@RPamela]

You’re so right, just turned off the “red dot” because I’m also constantly in the budget! It wasn’t stressful because just ignore it, and no decision is a decision why bother with the mental processing to ignore. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@YKKY]

I input all my transactions because the file from my bank ks crappy and I don't live in a linkable country, if you get my drift... and I am just fine with it because it makes me feel good. Same for checking my budget before I spend or reconciling every day, and all the wee silly things I do. It works for me and that's what matters 😊

[@Green0Photon]

Thr ynab win with the saleman is incredibly funny. So funny to just advertise it back

[@mistyrobbins8193]

Im glad you guys brought up not entering transactions manually. I almost never do. I usually have enough money left in thr category to cover me for a few more transactions. If i didn't, I always have somewhere to WAM it from. I just know if I start entering all my transactions, it will be the thing that ends my budgeting career because it'll be the thing that's just too much for me. 😂

[@YNABofficial]

It was definitely time to give some love to the import-only folks who have control of their money! ~Ernie

[@stephaniekipf2424]

The bank account import feature, im perfectly happy and content not using it

[@TamekaTrave]

Yes, I prefer to manually enter it myself.

[@lindsayvanzandt560]

​@@TamekaTraveMe too, always have!

[@chicagocarless]

If it works for your financial institution (it didn’t for our old bank, but it does for our new bank, which is also where we keep all of our credit cards), then you don’t even need to enter anything into YNAB, because it will all just get automatically pulled in and you just have to select the category for each imported transaction.

[@susantom4400]

I enter manually or have scheduled transactions and then enjoy the matching when it imports. Very satisfying. We miss a couple (looking at you Amazon) but then I only have a couple of transactions to hunt down.

[@AlexandraPInDC]

One of the best 'Budget Nerds" you've ever done. Thank you!

[@YNABofficial]

So glad you liked it! ~BenB

[@AlexandraPInDC]

@@YNABofficial Hi again! I just got off a call with my YNAB coach. I asked her if there is a "fully spent" filter. She didn't think there was one. Is there one? I think it would be so helpful. Thanks again.

[@YNABofficial]

@@AlexandraPInDC there is not a fully spent feature. You could fill out a feature request if you want! youneedabudget.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek ~Ernie

[@caroleloomis1430]

I'm a HUGE YNAB fan - and though not as nerdy as the two of you, I am on the "spectrum." I became a bigger fan when I found out that YNAB could still be in my life after I moved to Spain. Now I have a fully automated budget on the U.S. side of things and fully manual (including cash) on the Spain side of things. I used to reconcile daily when I was only in the U.S., now I reconcile every few days. Love me some YNAB! Since I know what I can spend weekly on food (and have a bit of wiggle room) I do not check the budget before we go out.

[@MaxGrey03]

Interesting that on one hand the two of you consider manual imports to be relatively unnecessary, but then don't want to wait for the bank imports to make sure your accounts are updated. I have been using YNAB for since 2017 and still manually enter all my transactions, then the import function is used as a double-check. As a result, my account balances always reflect current circumstances. I will say that I also don't reconcile daily, but rather monthly when I receive the official end of month statement from the bank. Of course, since my accounts are linked, I can tell by the cleared transactions that the bank balance is correct.

[@marianaserpa]

Hi from a long-time user from Brasil! I simply LOVE targets. Don't use in all my categories, but in many, and for me they really help a lot! Love you guys, keep up the good work! ❤

[@katdef100]

A late and long comment to this older video but I have to stand up for reports! This feature was so useful to me to help me choose a retirement date. I was able to determine what my spending patterns had been over a range of years and remove categories that would no longer be relevant when I retired (e.g., mortgage paid off, no more pets). Using a retirement income calculator provided through work, I was able to determine the date when I would have enough retirement income to meet my spending needs. Now that I am in my second year of retirement, I am considering downsizing so am now using reports to come up with my average housing costs over a range of years (repairs, maintenance, etc.) and then compare that to the cost of renting in my city or purchasing another smaller home. I’ve been using YNAB since the app and went through many templates before I landed on one that would help me generate reports. I use high level categories (e.g., house, car, food, pet) so that it is easy to generate a report on all costs associated with each one. Hurray for reports!

[@MrNchicago]

I'm glad you mentioned homeowners insurance - the industry has seen unprecedented cost increases due to inflation and more frequent weather-related losses. State Departments of Insurance require insurers to base prices on actual costs. We should all plan for some of level of significant increases this year. If you're in coastal areas or areas with very bad wind issues, you'll see some of the highest increases.

[@MrNchicago]

So if we know this will happen (figure 10-40%), how to we budget for it?

[@YNABofficial]

Once I see what the new yearly price is, I'll adjust my yearly target thus increasing the amount I set aside month. Hopefully by catching the rate increase early, I don't even feel the change. ~Ernie

[@roxanneshelton8584]

I really liked this video. I input everything by hand, but I don't use targets. We are retired so our budget is kind of set and kind of flexible. I have found a way to have accounts that are for tracking, and not necessarily in the ready to assign. I never figured out the targeting and assigning, but I try at the start of every year as I do a refresh at the beginning of the year. I have been doing YNAB since at least 2016 and we still feel that it is worth having even though there are pieces that we don't use. I will be watching more of you videos and maybe there is something new that I can learn to make it even easier for me. Retirement is great and this help to pay off all the debt. Now we have some debt, but know exactly what we are doing every month.

[@RyChOr2005]

I spend a little bit of time looking at the Income vs Expense report at the end of every month to compare the current month spend per group against each group's 3-6 month averages. Basically this is where we make the mental note of 'we should probably tone it down a bit' on any group that is significantly higher than their prior month averages. You'll probably see this already when you are funding any overspent categories, but this report makes it easy for an 'at a glance' look per group. Also at the very bottom of this report, you can the see your net income. If it's negative and you don't know why, you need to adjust your budget because you are spending more than you bring in. If it's red because of an emergency expense, you can remove that emergency category from your view to see if your net income would have been positive without it. This is especially useful for people with variable income. Helps keep my budget in check by making sure I don't put too much money into the 'Available' column.

[@biblioholic7139]

As someone who intermittently interacts with my budget, it works for me at this point because a) most of my monthly spending is regular amounts on auto pay/recurring transactions/targets and b) my carryover balances in budget categories for variable spending (shopping, dining out, etc) are sufficient for whatever spending I actually do. Basically I am highly unlikely to overspend in day to day life regardless of how often I reconcile or even consult the budget. Re: using reports, I just wish I could get more detail out of them, like vendor level spending amounts. As they are they aren't really worth messing with except for a couple things and they are kind of clunky at those. I spent like 2 years not really caring that my recurring mortgage payment transaction wasn't applying against the mortgage balance I had set up in YNAB and messing up the net worth reports that I don't really look at (I do a separate spreadsheet).

[@dabrick100]

I have a whole group for subscriptions and i love it! Use the "needed for spending" targets and its 1 click to fund them all :) If i cancel a sub i just hide the category, or delete it and merge it into an "old subs" category

[@mikesushynski8175]

using the toolbox report to help by seeing all the months’ spend then an average. very helpful to roll.

[@theonyxknight]

As someone who uses an Apple Card with no transaction syncing and only monthly imports, I like the idea of not tracking every single transaction manually and relying on an end of month transaction import. BUT: There are certain categories where we tend to grossly overspend (like our reading and gaming hobbies). For those, I plan to track those transactions manually for awareness and sanity. We stay pretty much within budget for other categories each month, so I'm comfortable letting those be import-only transactions. GREAT VIDEO!

[@PaulaBrahanCan]

Dang. Your comment reminded me I forgot to link my Apple Card to YNAB. LOL Thanks!

[@theonyxknight]

Glad to be of service, LOL @@PaulaBrahanCan

[@WooliestPuma]

When we've gotten behind, we've imported. But typically enter manually. I think it makes sense for some accounts that we use less frequently and may overlook.

[@midnightbudgets]

Thanks for the clarity, guys - some really fun topics!

[@mwedzi]

I let auto-import bring in almost all of my transactions. Except payday, which I manually enter because I don't want to wait, lol. And I might do manual on the last day of the month for the reasons you brought up. I'm actually more likely to make a mistake doing it manually, like entering a transaction on the wrong account. I really like auto-import.

[@irisymontalvo]

There is one account that will not link into YNAB. The other ones are ok. But I have to enter every single transaction for that account. But you know what? You're more aware of your budget when you entered it yourself. I love YNAB.

[@mariaabelardadiazaraque798]

I have to input that transactions myself as I am using YNAB from Mexico and we don’t have automatic import with banks here that I have heard yet😅 and I have to say, it has made me very aware of my spending habits… Is not a dealbreaker for me ☺️

[@arambladen3087]

I enter all transactions every day myself! That's how I feel better about my money and being on top of it all! 🤗🤗 Speaking of loans... How do you handle refinancing a loan in YNAB? 🤔🤔

[@YNABofficial]

I would handle it as if it was a brand new loan-close the original loan account and then open a new one with the new terms. ~Ernie

[@arambladen3087]

@@YNABofficial Thank you, Ernie! You're a big help!! 🤗🤗

[@kentodriscoll9344]

Regarding entering transactions manually. The only ones I enter myself as I go along is spending at Walmart. If I wait for them to auto-import I will have forgotten which of the 12 transactions were for food, which were for car maint, etc. I then have to go dig out the receipts to remind myself, which is much more work (especially if they are splits). If I just enter it on the spot and then let the auto-import match them up, I am miles ahead in time.

[@YNABofficial]

This is probably the biggest reason I enter a lot of day-to-day spending myself! ~Ernie

[@mistyrobbins8193]

If you don't cover overspending, none of your categories are correct. Uncovered overspending = Schrodinger's budget

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

Will definitely be co-opting this term!

[@pollyhart5915]

My partner does an import once a week or so, whilst I enter mine manually as I prefer having visibility of live balances (especially groceries & discretionary $) & data (I really geek out on age of money stats). We have a shared budget but we make it work! As long as she updates her previous spending before I go food shopping I'm happy.

[@pollyhart5915]

Separate bank accounts but a shared budget. I'm surprised how well it actually works!

[@sonic60710]

Just as I was looking for something to listen to on my ride home

[@YNABofficial]

Thanks for choosing us! ~Ernie

[@muemelification]

I cover overspending right away, but only because I don’t like the red. There is enough money in the budget. Kind of related: I handle money that other people owe me through a virtual account to which I transfer any amount I lent to someone without subtracting it from any category. The budget is wrong on this front, too. But I am okay with that.

[@eldisturbio]

Irregular Manual Reconciler checking in. Manually log spend on phone app. Mid-month I clear transactions whilst comparing to online bank. Day after pay day I assign next months spend and reconcile accounts.

[@tjackson215]

I love this episode! I'm a big fan of all the bells and whistles. But my husband has resisted joining our cult (ahem... community) for 3yrs now because it seems overwhelming to him. If I stick ONLY to the basics, maybe I can get him to join 😊

[@samanthatelfor4413]

When it occurred to me that we dont have to have targets for everything, it clicked so much more. I make salary + variable commission and my husband has mandatory overtime. We used to have targets on every category trying to take into account our bonuses but we rarely hit all of them because it’s so variable. Now we have targets for all bills and necessary expenses equal to our base salary. When overtime or commission comes, we can put that money towards our extra categories and there’s not a feeling of failure. Same amount of money, a more positive mindset. YNAB win.

[@YNABofficial]

"Same amount of money, a more positive mindset." - I love that! ~Ernie

[@alexisdumire5634]

Sometimes I manually enter transactions and sometimes I don't. If I know I'm going shopping and need an up to date category amount, I'll enter pending. I usually enter pending whenever I reconcile. But not always. Having been doing it for awhile, I have a pretty good idea of what o have available in each category.

[@InfiniteCraftsman]

(over spending) we have a "reimbursement" category for work. Our payroll department is very good and they reimburse by the next paycheck. also, it goes on our credit card. because we pay off our credit card weekly, the due dat is usually 2 months away. So we don't cover that spending with our money, we just have an annoying yellow balance in that category for a week or two.

[@JK13A]

I will usually wait for overspending when its a little bit (under $50) and I know that the paycheck coming in 4 days is going to cover it and more. And if it doesn't then I will take from others and spend less to acheive my goals.

[@dabrick100]

Love auto assign, but i only do it on a category group by group basis. Like to see how things are distributed in the group. And then i can prioritize certain groups first like bills, and loans, then fun last

[@TechExplorer546]

Are you going to start connecting with Akoya since many banks are stop using Plaid? Example- Fidelity Investments

[@ErikBates]

You know how people complain that, “I just got paid and it’s already spent!” I feel like those folks are almost YNABers and don’t even realize it. I just got paid today, and it’s already allocated. Sure it won’t be spent until NEXT MONTH, but the money is spoken for as if it were spent.

[@JK13A]

It's absurd to me that there is a notion I will not be in control of my finances when I'm not entering transactions myself. My #1 need from YNAB was importing transactions working properly. If it hadn't worked properly I wouldn't have used it. I've always been in control of my budget because I'm always approving and categorizing things anyway.

[@YNABofficial]

We probably should have dispelled that notion sooner! ~Ernie

[@christinerobbins9131]

I do enter transactions manually as I make them, most of the time. I go over the imported transactions a couple of times per week because I'm still trying to get a handle on things I buy online, as I tend not to input those right away. Not sure why...lol

[@Blightfather435]

We want report! We want reports! We want report! We want reports!

[@JamesShipman]

Having a connection to Apple Card would be wonderful, everything else auto-imports

[@YNABofficial]

Apple keeps their connections pretty close to the chest, so sadly they won't let us connect right now. But I'm hoping they will one day! ~BenB

[@muemelification]

If my mortgage is part of my net worth, the house should be, too, I think. Anyways, I don’t track it because I neither know nor care about its monetary value. Also, I‘m speaking from a German perspective. The renting market is really big over here, so selling and renting is a possibility.

[@PatsSpats]

I get paid monthly on the 20th. How can I establish my budget with it starting on payday rather than on the first day of the month? I think this would help a lot.

[@YNABofficial]

You can't change the monthly view to fit your paycycle, but with the YNAB Method you are only assigning money once it arrives. When you get paid on the 20th, some of that money will be assigned in the current month (for expenses 21st - end of month) and some of it will be assigned in the next month (for expenses 1st - 20th). Hope that helps get you started! ~Ernie

[@erinkerbs6789]

You may need to sell your home to move into assisted living or something. We wouldn't be able to stay in our home without adding an elevator, if someone lost their mobility. I do count it as my net worth for this purpose.

[@KatieJuarez]

I'm so confused. This is very interesting. I personally said to myself "why would anyone waste time entering things manually?". Did I miss something where this is a good thing? I've been using this software for more than 5 years, and have only done that a few times. I'm wondering if there is something wonderful I'm missing LOL!

[@YNABofficial]

😃A lot of folks like to enter transactions themselves because it increases their money awareness and it updates their spending plan right away. Some, like me, also think it's fun to enter transactions 🤷‍♂ ~Ernie

[@aprilbrumm]

Does YNAB have an affiliate program??

[@YNABofficial]

We do! More info here www.ynab.com/partners/affiliate-program ~Ernie

[@aprilbrumm]

Thx! I applied!!!

[@rubyrocks5]

Speaking of breaking the rules, for transactions that haven’t yet cleared on the last day of the month, I actually wait until they clear and then change the date to move them forward into the current month. I know, I’m a rebel, don’t judge!

[@YNABofficial]

I do the same thing sometimes! ~BenB

[@YNABofficial]

Same! ~Ernie

[@Bav92]

This is heresy talk over here. Hide your kids, hide your wife lol jk

[@YNABofficial]

lol sometimes I felt that way as we were recording! ~Ernie

[@popoclay5532]

With the understanding that the housing market is pretty goofy, couldn't one get an appraisal? And doesn't equity built up in a house count as accessible value?

[@amycreagh3108]

Love the enneagram talk

[@amycreagh3108]

I'm a non anxious 9

[@PeggyMcKenna]

I don't think targets should be included in the beginner YNAB videos. When I try to get a friend started on YNAB I skip this part and if they stick with it I will teach them about targets later. It makes it hard to tell them to watch beginner videos because they all want you to imediatly add targets to everything. Anyone else feel this way?

[@YNABofficial]

Appreciate the feedback Peggy! I've entertained not teaching targets right away in the Get Started class-maybe it's time to think a little more about that... ~Ernie

[@patgosnell5260]

I've been YNABing for years, and STILL don't have a good handle on targets.

[@PeggyMcKenna]

@@YNABofficial Maybe have a beginner video WITH targets and one WITHOUT?

[@YNABofficial]

@@patgosnell5260 Ben and I JUST (like 25 minutes ago) finished recording a 50+ minute video on Targets! That will come out October 4. ~Ernie

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

I have 8 years with ynab. Targets are the bane of my budget. Looking forward to the video in October. In the meantime I will likely eliminate most of my targets and start enjoying my budget sessions that much more.

[@seethruhead7119]

people are reconciling more than once or twice a month? lol

[@YNABofficial]

Every weekday for me! ~BenB

[@ViolaGrl19]

I reconcile on the weekend - when everything that needs to clear has cleared until Monday morning. 😂

[@thewafflehouser]

I’ve been fighting myself from saying this for basically six months, and I’m not trying to be an Internet troll or a bully, so please, hear constructive feedback: Ben, you do not have to do the fake laugh chortle after every two or three sentences. I assume it’s a Nervous tick, which I think is totally understandable, because talking in front of a camera is hard, but it’s all the time.

[@linaaaah]

Still a bully comment...

[@thewafflehouser]

@@linaaaah agree to disagree.

[@mistyrobbins8193]

He doesn't have to, but he does. You didn't have to point it out, but you did. Honestly, I've never once been bothered by anything Ben. This comment, however, is pretty annoying.

[@thewafflehouser]

@@mistyrobbins8193 ah yes. I can see how me pointing it out once after struggling to do so is the same thing. If you haven’t been bothered by it, good for you. But considering you were bothered by my comment and didn’t wait 6 months to post about it. . . Same same. You gave feedback to me. I probably won’t use it as I rarely comment on KZbin videos.

[@YNABofficial]

I promise it's 100% genuine, but if it's a distraction, I'll try to be mindful of it in the future. Thanks! ~BenB