How To Use Memos in YNAB

[@emilycrowe4625]

This is a fantastic list! You did miss my favorite one. My husband often leaves funny little messages for me to find when he logs a transaction. It's adorable. They are YNAB easter eggs!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, I love this one-thanks for adding to our list! ~Ernie

[@wurdnurd1]

I just want to say thanks for being so informative to us noobs. I tried YNAB back in 2017-18, after reading the book, but was immediately overwhelmed by the process of setting up the budget and aging money (I was living paycheck-to-paycheck while working multiple jobs). Last year, I started cash envelope budgeting, and this year I realized I needed something more to keep me on track to pay down my debt (I've gone from close to $20k in debt to under $10k in 9 months), and lets me check my budget when I'm away from my computer. I'm still in my trial period, but I'm fully engaged and encouraged by using YNAB. Thanks again!

[@YNABofficial]

I'm so glad you've found this helpful! Definitely let us know if you need anything. I know there's a lot to learn in your trial! ~BenB

[@elizabethhenson8645]

I have found that I like simplified payees using categories (does it matter where I bought the gas? not really). So I tend to use things like Car - Gas, Food - Groceries, Food - Restaurants, for categories of payees where the location does not matter much. I particularly like this for reports as it makes it quite simple to run reports on how often I'm eating out or how much I spent on gas over three months without having to find every payee. That said, I found it more difficult to reconcile and find the right gas to the right imported charge. So now I put the location in the memo spot. Allows me to focus on a simplified payee list and reports, while still reconciling easily.

[@janaleepickett7293]

Thanks for the mention, guys! I guess I’ve hit a whole new level of nerdiness! Love it! I love watching your budget nerd chats! - JanaLee 🌸

[@GetOrganizedYall]

Awesome topic JanaLee - way to rep the YNAB Coaches! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@YNABofficial]

Thank you for the idea, JanaLee! You're the best! ~BenB

[@peleela]

10:09 the transcript made me LOL, Ernie said "YNABers" and the transcription says "wine neighbors"!! 🤣 Love the show!!

[@meskobe]

Love the order number / warranty number idea! It's already super helpful to be really accurate/ consistent with payees for searching back to find a major purchase, but this is even more helpful infos. 🤓

[@anii2286]

I've been using memos for a while now and I do find it really useful. The different ways I use them like Ernie mentioned in the video - as a record of the year and what was happening at the time. I sometimes add a "CANCEL by x date" when I need to cancel something or if I went to a restaurant and it was terrible, I'll put that into the memo! When I'm out with friends I will say "Dinner with xxx", "Brunch with xxx". It's super helpful when I buy things from Amazon to add what I bought in that purchase. It's especially helpful for those unusual things or one-off expenses. Ben really needs to become a Chipotle spokesperson, does he mention Chipotle in every episode 😂

[@YNABofficial]

Haha, Chipotle has kind of become a joke between me and Ernie. We gotta mention it at least once somewhere. 😂 ~BenB

[@vectorhacker-r2]

YNAB Win, today was my second paycheck of June and I didn’t need that paycheck until July, which got fully funded before all the money was assigned so I budgeted the rest to August. I am now a month and a half ahead and will be two months ahead by the end of June!

[@ggppccvv]

Absolutely loved this ep - I'm a huge memo fan and use them A LOT to tell the story of how my money serves my life. I also have a holding category for side gig income (mainly pet sits) - all transactions on this one go with memos recording the job/client/dates. I can always check when I bought something specific (big, non-frequent purchases always have a memo!) and during trips/dining out I always note the name of the restaurant so I can keep track of the places I've tried already. The warranty number idea is genius!

[@YNABofficial]

"tell the story of how my money serves my life." I like that! ~BenB

[@NettieFIRE]

30:10 wow 😯 you guys still have carbon copy chequebooks in the US; the more you know. I thought those when out of production when dial up modems ended. 🇦🇺 Aussie here!

[@Bird2920]

I wish I could have been in on this conversation. I have a lot feelings on how to use memos as well as reporting and metrics. I have gone through all of these different things with other aspects of my life. I have a Journal in Notion that I added multiple properties to so I can track things like mood, status, wins, sleep, etc. I could see this same sort of thing being added to YNAB so you could filter and sort your transactions to get a real feel for how your money and budget are affecting you as a person. Seems a bit overkill or weird for some, but this would really change my life.

[@YNABofficial]

Love it! And I know a lot of other YNABers would love something like this, too! ~Ernie

[@lancepickett]

This is a little morbid but I like to put in little notes for things I do with her or buy something for her so when I ever die, she will find a bunch of notes from me “telling the story” like you said.

[@janaleepickett7293]

This is my husband. He leaves cute memos for me to find in the budget later. Little YNAB love notes. 😍

[@YNABofficial]

A little morbid but also really sweet. ♥ ~BenB

[@funnytime1111]

I collect houseplants and I always put the name of the plant I bought and #plants so I can search up either one. Plus it’s fun to see when I bought some plants and how long I’ve had them! I also usually put memos for items I bought where you buy a variety of stuff, like Walmart, Amazon, Target, etc and split the transactions of course

[@YNABofficial]

Love this! Yeah, it's super nice to see how long you've had something like a house plant. The memo is a super good way to keep track! ~BenB

[@danielvh87]

For checks that haven't cleared, if you wanted to be really meticulous about it, you could set up a liability tracking account, enter a transaction into it and categorise it to record the expense and then when it clears, transfer from your bank account to the liability account to zero it out and then close the liability account.

[@funnytime1111]

I have something like that but it’s called an IOU account where I also keep track of any money I potentially owe friends and family

[@NettieFIRE]

Along a similar vein I add a future DR transaction inclusive of the cheque number and date that I wrote/posted the cheque. I add it one week in advance in anticipation of it being presented/cleared. When the transaction drops to the present day if it hasn’t been presented I push it out a few more days. If it gets presented quickly I simply use the ‘enter now’ menu function to bring it into the present (at the date it was presented).

[@saradandridge]

Something I do that I haven't seen others do: I will sometimes make a note on my category name itself for something really important. For example: My online account for my car payment wasn't letting me login, but it was a Friday night when I discovered this. So I changed the category name from "Car payment" to "Car payment - CALL THEM ON MONDAY, ACCOUNT ISSUES". I've done this for any bill that I need to follow up on. Since I'm in ynab ALL the time, it's kinda like my to do list 😂

[@jennivanhart3016]

I use memos to keep track of adventures we have and all the expenses related to them, I also track what happened at the dentist or vet. We have 3 vehicles and the teen is permitted ONE gas tank per week during the school year and it helps me follow that (each vehicle has a nickname - Tank, Betty, Mini). If I've saved for something in my wishfarm, I add notes and then delete the category and reassign it to somewhere logical. I also note when I buy my kids SHOES and UNDERWEAR because seriously it feels like I buy those things monthly sometimes! Re trampoline socks, I HATE buying those things for a kid who has lost them OR (worse yet) the company has "updated" their socks and require you to buy the new versions - oh please, that's just a moneymaker!

[@YNABofficial]

Oh I like the idea of keeping notes about things like dentist and vet visits there. Mechanics also come to mind. I've been trying to take notes on that sort of thing in Notion. I could put a link to my notes in the memo! ~BenB

[@jennivanhart3016]

@@YNABofficial YES, I have a spreadsheet for each vehicle that tracks our maintenance; but I also note in YNAB so we can quickly look to see what happened last time, the spreadsheet has the extra details like odometer reading :)

[@_kamila_]

I use memos almost for every transaction. YNAB supports direct import for some banks in Austria, but for mine and so I don't have any other choice... but since I enter the transactions myself, almost every one of them has a memo... only groceries from the usual grocery store don't (when I don't buy something specific), or gas at the gas station... but other than that, I write everything about the purchase in the memo. Also I use really generic payees like Clothing store, Internet store, Restaurant, Hotel etc so firstly I write in the memo, where did I actually shop and then I write in the items I bought, so that I can find the transaction in the future... when I scroll through the all accounts view in ynab, aprox. 90 % of transactions have memos and some of them are rea-he-he-lly long 😅

[@homebodystitcher]

When I try a new restaurant I will rate the restaurant (at least when I remember to). I use a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating system, so I can look back to know if I liked it or not, especially when I’m trying to find a certain kind of restaurant that I like. But after listening to this now I am thinking I need to add what I ordered and rate each item because some things are better at certain places.

[@steph_a_noodle]

How a budget nerd knows they watch too many crime procedurals..."use the memo to track where you went, with who"...like...to provide an alibi?! 😅

[@YNABofficial]

LOL! I mean ... it could come in handy. 🤷‍♂ ~BenB

[@rhondaarnold6809]

My first thought also! 😂

[@Green0Photon]

I'm frustated desktop/web doesn't support newlines in a memo. Limits the usefulness and kind of makes me need to keep it relatively short. I kind of can on mobile, but then it confuses web/desktop a bit

[@monchichi4545]

+1 for real tags. And let me use the tags as a filter on the reports.

[@YNABofficial]

I'm really glad we talked about it, because now I know more about why people want them! ~BenB

[@kacysmith1411]

Y'all are hilarious! Story of your life! HA HA! Love it!

[@johannaholz]

It would be really great to also have the memo feature available when transferring money from one account to another. That would help me jot down why I’m transferring the money and if I’m aiming to return it in the future. Although … it does sort of also pop up if you look at the activity in the assignment section of the budget.

[@jennpatterson8802]

Ernie you aren’t wrong about the socks! You have to buy them at the trampoline parks in MN!

[@YNABofficial]

😭 ~Ernie

[@vladimir.zlokazov]

I use memos to keeo track of the transactions in currencies different from the main one.

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, that's a good one! ~Ernie

[@vladimir.zlokazov]

@@YNABofficial yeah, cause I've been living abroad and having transactions in 3 different currencies lately. still wanted to continue to use YNAB, so I had to figure out a way how to do that :)

[@ultimatenerd7267]

Wait people don’t usually put a memo for every transaction? I do it for everything or else I’ll never remember what I did

[@Tesla-Cannon]

I also put what I bought as some restaurants! Everything 'feels' like it's going up with inflation, but now I have undeniable proof that the same meal is going up in price nearly every quarter. I don't mind the price changes at small local restaurants, but at international chains, I feel jipped.

[@benmeszaros]

Regarding idea #6 I wish that you could then also filter the reporting section based on the memo field. So you could look at the overall cost of a specific vacation etc

[@bilistooka_go_boom]

Thank you for reminding me about me Menards rebate!!

[@Peter-kt2gb]

I love that Menards came up again. 😂 I'm with Ernie, I hate the rebate thing. But I love the store, so.....🤷‍♂️

[@nosirrahm]

I will note the cost for the dog food with tax. This helps when I don’t break out the purchases. I remember the cost for the split.

[@carolcollett7330]

After 5 years of using YNAB, I still do not use memos. YNAB is a budgeting app, keeping information about other "life" things is just another lock into the app. I use Evernote or Notion to record my life because I want to see everything in one place not just if I spent money. Some information mentioned is very transient, only relevant for a short period of time such as a tracking number or confirmation number. Anything I want or should keep for 3 months or more, should go there such as serial numbers or I have the burden of trying to remember which budget I put that information in if I do I fresh start.

[@YNABofficial]

Have you read "Building a Second Brain" cause it seems right up your alley! ~BenB

[@robertcraynon9475]

It would be a cool feature to be able to append some text to the memo when deleting a category & merging (that way you can do #Outerbanks after the fact)

[@dozergetscrafty]

I wish instead if memos we had tags. Or tags in memos. I like to keep track of when i bought things. I generally only use memos for house hold items and stuff. Like knowing how long did this bottle of laundry soap last me lol. It would just be nice to not have to type it everytime.

[@GetOrganizedYall]

If you use #soap in your memo then that works like a tag! Also, depending on how many you need, you can customize the names of flags and use them like tags.

[@janeknight3597]

I too there was a tags pick list . Just to ensure consistancy

[@dozergetscrafty]

@@GetOrganizedYall so # a word will bring up a list of previously #'d words?

[@GetOrganizedYall]

@@dozergetscrafty Yes! #️⃣ If you search #word then everything with #word will be show up.

[@dozergetscrafty]

@@GetOrganizedYall oh well honestly you don't even need a hashtag for that you can just type in the word soap and everything was soap in the memo will pop-up what I want is when I start typing and when I type the S I want a list of words that begin with s that I've already used pop-up cat you know like a tag so that I don't have to type the same thing every time or I accidentally misspelled it or something

[@Ace2021]

I don’t use the credit card functionality in YNAB, instead i put what card I spent money on in the memos. Then I can easily sort and select them, which shows the balance I have to pay. When I’ve paid them I will flag them as paid, so I know what transactions have been accounted for. When they actually hit my bank I’ll clear them.

[@anniemilakovic7683]

Why not just add the cards as accounts?

[@yarnstead]

Enter the check in YNAB when you write it !! YNAB will remember it and you won’t get a nasty surprise later when it clears - similar to credit card transactions, that money gray already promised to somebody!!!!!

[@yarnstead]

Not sure why the word gray got in there -oops on me 😂

[@dabrick100]

I memoize everything! If I can't recall what i spent money for it just feels like wasted money!

[@elizabeth1234..]

as a fellow Virginian I feel Ben but not for water since I have a well. We get a yearly personal property tax that you would think you could pay through the online portal. Nope it crashes every time. It's easier to walk into the treasurer and pay there. Oh and our treasurer is retiring Early because of scandalous issues. Aka they send the bill a day before it's due or they forget to send it. Oh. I also tore a ligament and tendon at a trampoline park. Still hurt a year later

[@YNABofficial]

Oof to the disorganized treasurer office and an even bigger oof to the torn ligaments. Yeah, I think my days on trampolines are over. 😅 ~BenB

[@karriecombs1721]

How do you recommend tracking Klarna or other "pay in 4" installment payments

[@elizabethhenson8645]

There seems to be a lot of debate in YNAB about using Klarna and many of the other buy now/pay later methods (See some of Jesse's rants in his podcast). However, if I was to use a Klarna type method, I would most likely create a category with a repeating monthly target amount and a matching scheduled transaction. That way I'd set the money aside each month, and the scheduled transaction would remind me to make the payment if it wasn't automatic. This could create a lot of unnecessary categories. But once it was paid I'd probably delete the category and merge it with something more general like my random spending or shopping categories. Or have a hidden category for installment payments and merge it there.

[@YNABofficial]

We've got a helpful guide on that here: support.ynab.com/en_us/managing-buy-now-pay-later-purchases-in-ynab-an-overview-BJrmfNdVj

[@jordanwilliams9300]

Thank you for reminding me I have Menards rebate receipts to send in 😂

[@YNABofficial]

I always set reminders in Todoist so I don't forget! ~Ernie

[@kristin1847]

I do the menards rebate every time! 😂 just sent some in last week

[@YNABofficial]

👊🏻 ~Ernie

[@LisaFolz]

I have the Menards rebate process down to a science now. I have pre-printed mailing labels for the rebate mail in address and I have a bunch of prefilled rebate forms in a folder. Then all I need to do is slap the labels on the envelope, put one of the forms and the rebate receipt (or receipts) in and then mail it off. And I love tracking it in the rebate tracking center because it will show all the pending and past rebates you've sent in and the amounts, and also if it's been used yet or not.

[@YNABofficial]

@@LisaFolz I do the same thing! I figured, if I'm going to be sending these back once a month, I should have a system! ~Ernie

[@dozergetscrafty]

I just got to the tags part lol😂

[@YNABofficial]

Haha! We read your mind! ~BenB

[@sposo]

I love YNAB but I'd prefer shorter videos... almost 1 hours is too long. 10 minutes would be better

[@YNABofficial]

Thanks, David! You should check out the main YNAB podcast if you haven't. It's short and sweet!

[@mirla838]

I know this is off topic, but I just got married this weekend, and I am just soooooo excited that my new husband and I were able to CASH FLOW my wedding using YNAB!!! 😮 😲 🫨 🫢 😳 😑. Like 2 years ago, I would never have thought I could do anything close to that. So I just want to say thank you to YNAB (especially for being on top of all my impulse spending). And the best thing.....NO DEBT, at all. 😊

[@yarnstead]

Congrats on the wedding and the YNAB win!!