Getting Started With YNAB in 2024

New to the YNAB app? We’ll show you how to set up YNAB in a few easy steps, plus how to succeed in managing your money over the long haul. This is everything you need to know packed into one informative video. Pour yourself a cup o’ something good and let’s get started!
Timestamps:
00:00 - The YNAB Method
05:21 - Using the YNAB Web and Mobile Apps
07:06 - Adding Targets to Categories
10:02 - Using Credit Cards in YNAB
12:34 - Weekly Spending Targets
14:57 - Setting Up Targets for True Expenses
17:37 - Saving for Long-Term Goals
19:33 - Using Mobile App for Spending Plan
20:53 - Example of a Finished Product
22:48 - Reality Check: Underfunded Number
24:22 - Assigning Money to the Plan
32:25 - Covering Credit Card Payments
33:12 - Funding Frequent and True Expenses
41:58 - Spending Money
43:32 - Handling Overspending
46:08 - Spending on a Credit Card
48:58 - Assigning Savings to Specific Goals
51:38 - Assigning Paychecks
54:39 - Starting to Get a Month Ahead
57:04 - Recap and Additional Resources
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[@mirla838]

I'm loving these back to back videos

[@mittendad]

I love Ernie's workflow of creating the holding spot for savings so that those dollars don't get touched, then once things are funded, go back and assign those savings dollars to your goals. Brilliant!

[@Amy-jc5mo]

Thank you! You are a great teacher!

[@jameserwin3734]

Thanks Ernie, I appreciate your soothing simple explanation of the basics. You are a great teacher!

[@elecnix]

This has been extremely helpful. I’ve signed up for a trial today, linked my main checking account, and the doubts I had are now cleared. Too bad my other accounts aren’t linkable.

[@haveaday66]

Ernie has a great natural cadence, he sounds super weird slowed down. His natural cadence is awesome and if people think it's too fast they can always pause and rewind

[@LaviaLavere]

Fascinating! I had to speed this up to 1.5x.

[@ericschexnayder1196]

SO helpful! You are a great teacher, Ernie. I just got started so this is extremely timely. I appreciate these videos!

[@pramwilson]

Stick with it! I am 4 years into using YNAB, and it has transformed my finances. I hope it will be great for you too.

[@destany_was_here]

Can someone please, for the love of YNAB, do an updates loans video. Like how to use them, set them up, track payments, etc. I'm to pay down Credit Cards and Students and each time I've tried it get so confusing i just end up doing a fresh start.

[@YNABofficial]

Noted! In the meantime, even though it's an older video and the loan planner has changed, this video will help you set up your student loans kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXm5i5msr7aardksi=xR9jZHlarMVvjcAn ~Ernie

[@mansonmodello4956]

Great video! As a beginner myself, I have to convince my brain that "it's ok to see yellow underneath Available "

[@hmspain52]

Give every dollar a job, and just as important, DON'T give a dollar TWO jobs LOL.

[@hmspain52]

It seems that folks get my meaning, but I'll give an example where it is tempting. $10 sits in checking to pay the annual insurance bill. You move the $10 to an interest bearing fund to gain a few pennies and serve as a short term investment. Two jobs?

[@whynot2934]

YNAB doesn't care where the money is held. It does not move real money. We still have send $ to the mortgage company, the phone company, etc. Two sides of one coin. The budget is one side. It's a plan/suggestion on where money goes. (Think of it as digital envelopes.) The flip side of the coin, has the account information. The accounts hold your money. Here you identify which account you'll pull money from to pay the mortgage, phone bill, etc. It's confusing in the beginning. Hang in there!

[@wdeemarwdeemar8739]

Hello Ernie!

[@marynedland8225]

So you mention that you are looking at each category to see where you can pull money from to roll with the punches and you took it from Transportation. In that scenario, what do you do when you go through all of the categories and you say no to everything. Now how do you roll with the punches? I think that is the most common scenario that a lot of us are trying to understand and the cycle to get out of.

[@YNABofficial]

The overspending has to be covered from somewhere. So if there isn't a good choice to pull from then I have to move onto the next best options. If this is causing a lot of second-guessing and regret, try rolling with the punches before you actually spend the money. We call this Finding the Money First. And if you can't find the money from other categories, then you don't buy the thing. That's a great way to break that cycle! ~Ernie

[@santiagoarteta2993]

The news target are good!!! but it missing AUTO ASSIGN FOR EVERY OTHER WEEK PAYCHECK . in order to fulfill ynab rules some months it needs split to different months Please ynab designer

[@marcusherrera5223]

Where should you put the savings into for the 6 month & 3 month expenses? I currently have a 6 month emergency saving funded in high yield savings account

[@YNABofficial]

The money you fund any category with can be put in any account you want. In your case, figure out how much you need in checking to cash flow a month and the rest you can move to the HYSA. ~Ernie

[@danettemassaro]

When you "set money aside" does that mean move from checking to saving?

[@lw1405]

Not necessarily. YNAB doesn't care what account your money is in.

[@sergiomartinez5946]

YNAB only imports info for tracking it doesn't make any actual transfers between your accounts for you. You have to go into your banking apps for that but you then record those moves in YNAB. Think of this as a virtual envelop system. Say you have 1000 in the bank. You pull all that cash out, take it home and you grab 5 envelopes at home. Envelope 1 might be for bills. You get 300 of your cash pile ans you then stuff it into or (set money aside) in that envelope. You then name your other envelopes for other things and distribute your money into them. This is what YNAB is except you're doing it virtually.

[@TheGunguy461]

Thanks for making an app so hard to use that I have to waste an hour of my life on a freaking video.

[@LasermanSteam]

You're not just learning to use an app, you're learning to budget. If you already knew how to budget or didn't need to, why would you be using YNAB?