Ernie Changes His Budget!

[@YNABofficial]

YNAB is so excited to be making our way to Nashville for our FIRST EVER gathering! Come hang out with us and meet fellow enthusiastic YNABers! 🎉 Tickets are free but limited so make sure to register asap! www.eventbrite.com/e/ynab-gathering-tickets-432133010467?fbclid=IwAR2wBjlmeKyJkXwGgs7fvx9pKKHmntUGHb27E9k_MRqBsoaH_WoPwb0brjE

[@YNABofficial]

We'll have: free swag raffles with cash prizes food truck (budget a few $$!) lawn games live music meet Hannah and BenB and more! The venue has both indoor and outdoor spaces for mingling, and assuming the weather is warm-ish we hope to have the garage doors open in between so fresh air can flow freely. Make sure to dress warmly! There are parking lots on either side of the building, plus free street parking in the surrounding area. Grab a friend and come out for a great time! We cannot wait to meet you!

[@samanthaalberts979]

I like to rearrange my budget sometimes too. I do it on paper in a list first and see how I like it. I have biweekly bills as well, so my Categories Groups are: “biweekly” (put something in these every pay first), “monthly”, “variable”, “sinking fund”s and then “emergency and maintenance” I also add the rounded up whole number amount so there will always be extra money to it. This is new to me. Month ahead feels so out of reach with how much debt I have to pay and still live comfortably, so the few cents that are left over from the actual payments will eventually add up.

[@Gabepedaler]

This video came at just the right time for where I am in my YNAB history. I've been looking at doing the same thing as I have categories that I have to move money into on a regular basis while others are a bit over funded. Also YNAB rocks!!! Heading to CA for my sister's wedding tomorrow. I created a category just for this since last year. Set a total amount I wanted to have for the trip and broke it down so I know what I needed to put into per pay period. Now going without having to pull from other areas or go into credit card debt!

[@libbysworld7649]

LOVE THIS!

[@tfrizz2050]

YNAB WIN! I’ve been working really hard on my goal to pay off my credit card debt and I’m so excited because I did it! 🎉

[@amyaston8521]

That's awesome! Congratulations!!

[@KeliGwyn]

Congratulation$❗️

[@PeggyMcKenna]

YNAB win - Finally had someone notice my YNAB swag (hat) and ask me about YNAB, and for the the very first time someone wants me to show them how it works! I'm pretty excited :)

[@YNABofficial]

That's awesome, Peggy! YNAB in the wild moments are always super fun! ~Ernie

[@anitaeaston3450]

I wish there was a target type half way between savings builder and savings target. I would like to be able, for example, to set the target for our Vet Costs category to be $1000 putting in $100 a month until we get there, and then when we spend topping it back up at $100 a month. I think that’s kinda what Eric is talking about with those target type changes. A monthly target of $x per month works well, but being able to cap it so it when it has enough it just sits back and waits until it’s needed :)

[@linaaaah]

I use a needed for spending target for this end but with a very long time frame (like yearly)

[@Ann-Marielivingonabudget]

It's January 1st... this is just what I needed today! I'm not doing a fresh start this year, and this has encouraged me to take a fresh look by updating targets. My new plan is to set my bills as needed for spending each month, but my sinking funds/savings categories will be savings balances. I want to be more flexible instead of stressing out when I don't reach my savings target each month and see the dreaded yellow underfunded message! I think finding a balance between a budget template and being intentionally flexible is where I need to be. It's difficult for me when I see that monthly target to feel free to roll with the punches. I tend to feel like I failed. Now I'm feeling energized to tackle budgeting in 2023! Thank you, Ernie and Ben!

[@jameshardy9622]

I have been combining monthly expenses and no monthly true expenses (like yearly life insurance, auto insurance, licensing fees) together into my "Cyclicals" category. It works great for me, glad to see you have converted! Also, I find that manually assigning money to each category helps avoid the passive process of auto-assigning too much. For me, a little mindfulness with the budget gives me some Zen. Love the show, guys, if you guys had an episode every day I'd listen. Thanks for the content!

[@KeliGwyn]

Your “Cyclicals” category name is great. I’m going to adopt that name for my budget.

[@Natazavrik]

aaand stolen! ❤️

[@SonjasMaschensalat]

I have monthly, quarterly, yearly, flexible and savings categories. I also don‘t put a target on every category, but I write in the title, how much I want to need/want in it, eg „Repairs (700 Euros)“

[@monkawiley9145]

I understand Ernie's comment about how to find the categories to use when rolling with the punches. I hit on making two categories for my true expenses. One is "Future Funds - Annual Needs" This is my do-not-touch category that has items like house taxes, insurances, etc. My other category is "Future Funds - Just In Case". These are ones that I can pull from if needed. It has things like car repair, home repair, vet bills, etc. You know, the things we save for, but hope we never have to use. 🙂

[@litsadejulio9628]

Great timing for this topic. I've been debating changing from theme-based category groups to more functional groups. After a recent change in my income, I believe the change with be help decrease my anxiety. As a YNAB coach in training, I really appreciate this nerdy channel. Off to change my budget template. :) Thank you!

[@ToThePowerOfFour]

listened to the pod last night while working my side job- now i'm watching on youtube. i'm with you ernie- i've been using the themed categories and while it looks nice in terms of keeping like things together, it doesn't really help me feel good or secure about me and my wife's money. i'm now gonna tackle changing my budget, similar to yours, to make my budget work for me again. thanks again for a solid pod, guys!

[@rivasoucie]

This was such an honest and raw episode. Ernie’s vulnerability so moving. Real life with the Reppes! We are all going along the path of life with basically many of the same core challenges. I would love you both to do a spinoff podcast about other life issues!

[@aspynsgrove]

It's funny that you mention true expense bills being added to your regular bills category, I've been migrating a few annual bills to my bills category for the same reason of not ever taking money from them

[@Esti89dec]

Wow, bringing up the idea of not budgeting monthly really got my wheels spinning. I would love to see what this looks like. My spouse and I are on different pay schedules (monthly and biweekly) and it would be interesting to see how else we can make that work besides the default month.

[@jennpatterson8802]

I love this episode!!! I needed to change my budget structure for the exact reasons Ernie mentioned! This episode gave me a push to do just that and I feel sooooooo much better on where we are at now.

[@cjresener]

I have my categories the same way Ernie describes how he now has his budget setup and it's great for quickly knowing where you can and can't move money from. H O W E V E R . . . I wish there were 2 seperate categories you could assign a budget item, budget categories and reporting categories becuase I would really prefer to see my reports laid out how Ernie originally had his budget - Home related expenses, vehicle related expenses, insurance, etc.

[@linaaaah]

I guess you could put them into themes for the budget and then create focused views of the flexible categories for example? Or use hashtags for the themes and build from there?

[@Natazavrik]

This is the most interesting episode ever!! Thank you so much for sharing to both of you! I look forward to reorganizing at least the category groups.

[@eclecticinspiration178]

Such a great episode for where I'm at with my budget! I've found I'm shifting money a lot because I have several bills/expenses that have gone up and several that have gone down. After using YNAB for 6 months or so, my target amounts now shine a light on where my priorities really are, what's necessary, and what isn't. There's also stress and sometimes even guilt as I'm sticking to funding a goal that isn't really a priority any longer, or something has changed. Hearing Ernie go through the same thing and how he approached it, really takes away from the fear of adjusting. (It will be my 1st major adjustment to my budget since starting to use YNAB.)

[@amberdavies3178]

We changed to themed categories and we loved it because it was easy to find what you wanted but we ran in to the same issue a couple months later in that it gave us no information about the priority of the categories so we changed it to four walls, some other categories and then later goals.

[@mrachel3]

I use saving balance goals with no date for several true expenses - car maintenance and technology replacement for example - and it’s been great. I feel like that is a hidden gem target type.

[@mscandyclash]

I have one category for monthly bills and one for non-monthly bills/memberships. the only reason I do that is bc I have non-monthly bills that are things like Costco membership that are more flexible both in when I renew and if I can take from - but I know with things like car insurance which I pay every 6 months I just know for myself I can't move it

[@victoriathomas967]

I’ve been bored with my budget, too. I updated some of my targets, but I think a fresh start is in order.

[@alyselaurel]

Congrats on episode 50! I loved this topic. I'm actually currently redoing my entire budget due to several life changes and I agree with Ernie; putting all of the bills together (even non monthly ones) has felt so right. I also think y'all unearthed a wonderful diamond with regards to adjusting the budget if they way you set it up is causing you undo stress. Does anyone else resonate with budget template stress?

[@gaullaura]

I use color coding emojis (red yellow and green) to tell me if I can WAM from them. Then I can still group by theme. Often I like to WAM from the same theme if I can. Wish they had a WAM indicator that you could filter by though that would be awesome so when I'm moving money it can show only the green categories

[@jeffswife78]

I’m just starting out with YNAB and have mine set up by theme. I love your idea of color coding so I can keep it set up by theme.

[@vinnielou1187]

I would like to see biweekly periods rather than monthly. It's rough for me when there's 5 weeks in a month and a single biweekly pay check straddles 2 months

[@bucnner]

Great episode guys! Love the idea! ☺️👍

[@joanhall3718]

Wish I was at the place where I have the balance I want in my non monthly categories. You go Ernie!!

[@jordanwilliams24]

SO good, as always!

[@libbysworld7649]

Awesome video. I have such separation anxiety parting with my sinking funds! LOL I often have to remind myself, this is why you are doing this, TO SPEND IT! LOL

[@CitizenPlane]

Yes! The monthly structure does sometimes get in the way. Unfortunately, my bills are monthly, so the problem isn't in the budget. I get paid every other week, so my monthly income is pretty inconsistent. I had to math it out, and start putting aside 42.5% of each goal whenever I get paid, in order to avoid having feast and famine months.

[@anniemilakovic7683]

For the two months a year when i get a third paycheck, i stash it in its own category and dish it out to myself in equal monthly installments over the next 6 months. That smooths my income, turning it into equal monthly pay. Just an idea if you’re interested, easier to do this than divvy up the money to allllll the categories in some weird manual way.

[@marianakishida8843]

My YNAB win: My partner and I have always been good at saving money. We actually started YNAB so we could start giving ourselves permission to spend money without feeling guilty. This summer I started a new hobby, and have sunk $500 into it. Normally I either wouldn't do that or felt very guilty about it. YNAB allows me to know that I'm not going overboard and am spending my money according to my priorities.

[@mrsverge]

My bills category is called my Nonnegotiables. No touchy! Lol

[@amyaston8521]

looking forward to meeting you in Nashville!

[@thomaskraft9944]

One downside with this approach is that you lose the hierarchy information built into the category structure. ie. spent XX$ on my car, but not grouping maintenance in the reports anymore It would be cool if their was a "flexible" category tag you could toggle. Paired with a roll with the punches filter to just show these categories would give you a nice view of places where money could be pulled from. Either that or allow more then one level of subgroups for the categories.

[@LB-me7us]

This is a great idea. If we had the ability to add a second sub group you could have Bills/Gifts then birthday, holiday, Xmas or Bills/Subscriptions then list them. I would LOVE that set up!

[@NanetteLoves2Budget]

Love the idea of a roll with the punches filter!

[@KeliGwyn]

I’m with you on having a second sub-group option. It would work well for my gifts and subscriptions. I use the notes section now, but that can be cumbersome.

[@MrsSauer-vh6kh]

Today's the celebration of my 4-year anniversary with YNAB! I'm tickled that my budget structure resembles Ernie's. Next goal: pay off the house! 🎉

[@YNABofficial]

Happy 4 years! ~Ernie

[@victoriathomas967]

1) Ernie, you can request a refund of your lump sum payment from your mortgage company. They’d be happy to refund it and have you pay interest the full term of your mortgage. 2) Let’s talk about mortgage Recasting. If you’re going to make a lump sum payment, you can request to recast which makes your payment lower and your mortgage term/length is the same. It’s a little secret that helped me pay mine down. 🎉

[@YNABofficial]

🤯Good to know, thanks Victoria! ~Ernie

[@freenectarines]

I like the idea of having the option to NOT have a monthly budget. I have a biweekly pay period and it's still pretty complicated to budget within the monthly budget. For example, I have my next month covered, but I just got paid today, so I am essentially without money for the next 4 days until November 1. I LOVE the software overall though!

[@OneDeadBird]

This is similar to my categories, except I went with Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which means that the things in the top category are more essential than ones below it. I end up rolling with the punches from bottom to top. Category explainer is below :) It's "Physiological" (things that I need to maintain my essential living costs and bills, like rent , electricity and groceries), "Safety" (things that aren't strictly essential but make life easier to live, like insurance, public transit fares, auto true expenses, emergency funds), "Love & Belonging" (things that help me feel connected to other people, like dining out with friends, concert tickets, gifts), "Self-Esteem" (stuff that helps me feel like me, like my gym membership, dining alone, haircuts, clothing, subscriptions to things like spotify and patreon) and finally "growth" aka "self-actualization" which are things i want to work on. For this one I do a weird thing where i fund categories based on habits I want to build, and then when i do that thing i reassign that money. So, i reward myself for doing the thing by "unlocking" that money. For example, there's $20 in my "French" category that I can reassign to something else if maintain my duolingo streak this month.

[@nosirrahm]

It sounds good, but I really want to see the breakdown of housing, transportation, pets, etc. How would I get that info? I don’t know if I could give up the extra house payment. One extra payment a year knocks off about 7 years. At my age I know I don’t want to go into retirement with a house payment.

[@YNABofficial]

I was eager to make that category change because I rarely look at reports, so I usually don't care about that kind of spending breakdown. But if I did, I could adjust the category filters in my reports to show me a breakdown by theme. ~Ernie

[@elizabethgadsby9641]

I think it's interesting to reconsider the monthly budget. 🤔

[@_kamila_]

Hi budget nerds, great episode as always, gave me a lot to think about 😉 one request though - please don't discard the monthly structure! Not all of your users live in the US and I believe most of Europeans get paid once a month, so the current structure works great for us! 😊

[@ShoelessJoeChristian]

Great video, guys! I loved YNAB, but the main reason I stopped using it was the calendar month structure. I have never been paid monthly, so a monthly structure never worked well for me. I wish YNAB would let us budget based on our paycheck, rather than an arbitrary calendar month!

[@snana9665]

Ernie, how many total categories are in your bill group now that you’ve added non monthly?

[@YNABofficial]

I think I've changed my budget again since this video, but as of right now there are 12 categories in the Monthly group and 15 in my True Expenses. ~Ernie

[@LarryS_Artist]

I have paid off all debt except my mortgage. I'm paying extra on that now.

[@happyhappyjoyjoy7594]

Where do you put birthdays and gifts?

[@justinlindholm2679]

I have those under my "Giving" category group.

[@YNABofficial]

I have a gifts category for birthday and other gift giving occasions and then a category for Christmas. ~Ernie

[@LB-me7us]

Where do you put subscriptions - in the new bills category? I don’t pay any subscriptions monthly they are all annually now separated by month.

[@justinlindholm2679]

@@LB-me7us if they are monthly, then under the monthly group. If they are annual subscriptions, then they go under the Non-Monthly group, that is how I do it. I kinda like the idea that Ernie had with putting all bills and subscriptions under one group whether they are monthly or annual. My biggest issue with annual subscriptions is when to fund them. All but two are under $150, so I can easily fund them the month they are due. If I fund categories now, then most of them will sit there for the next 6-8 months. Every month I keep debating if I should fund them in full and let the money sit or keep the target goal and fund them every month.

[@iyeshaluker23]

Yeah, my mortgage rate is only 2%. In theory I should aggressively tackle my only debt. But with the inflation rate it just doesn’t make since.

[@snapninja3454]

Happy late B-day!

[@isaiahayers1550]

Ben recorded this episode on *his* 34th birthday and it aired on *my* 34th birthday. Born 10/19/1988

[@NettieFIRE]

Love to get the ‘bubble bath dirt’ straight from the horses mouth 💕 👏🏻

[@willowdovegirl]

Nothing against you Ben but lovely to hear more from Ernie

[@YNABofficial]

This is my fault-I definitely need to talk more! ~Ernie

[@robynpiggott858]

Great episode with lots to think about--thanks, Budget Nerds! If YNAB ever thinks about options for time periods other than monthly, I would gladly beta test that! I get paid biweekly and my mortgage is also biweekly, so a two-week cycle would give me more stability in my planning. And all bills would then effectively be "true expenses" since I would save each two-week period for future bills, whether they were monthly, quarterly or annual.

[@tekgy]

🤩🥳

[@rivasoucie]

I feel kind of … not smart. Bc I don’t understand why you wouldn’t update a budget pretty frequently. Isn’t real life ever evolving? Doesn’t new s*** come to light? I have always treated my budget as an evergreen tool… Have I been doing something wrong??!!

[@YNABofficial]

No, you haven't been doing anything wrong! Unfortunately, the worn out messaging that you can't change your spending plan is still quite prevalent. Thank goodness YNAB subscribes to a different mindset 😃 ~Ernie

[@rivasoucie]

Phewf!