Learn to Budget with Progress Bars + Tips to Customize Your Budget

YNAB has launched one of it's newest and most colorful features-progress bars! Learn how these shiny new bars can help you get a quicker, more visual grasp on where your money is at. Turn 'em off and on as you'd like, and budget away!
Rather read than watch?
www.youneedabudget.com/progre...
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:34 Web only? What about the mobile app?
0:54 Turn progress bars on and off!
1:51 What do the colors and stripes means?
2:47 For categories with NO target goals added...
4:47 For categories with target goals added...
7:39 Custom tip #1: Color schemes
8:40 Custom tip #2: Adjust columns
9:34 Custom tip #3: Change format of dates, numbers, and currency
10:04 Custom tip #4: Emojis
10:24 Outro
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[@alexanderquintanilla2207]

YNAB hit a home run when they hired this girl. She could probably talk about paint drying and still keep you engaged.

[@wyssdaniel]

So true! 😃 She is great.

[@DanStratton1]

Totally agree. What I want to know is which came first? The cute sideways smile on the piggy bank or the cute sideways smile on Hannah? Seriously, they are the same. Don't change! You're doing great, Hannah!

[@YNABofficial]

Thanks y'all!! I love my job and I'm so glad there are so many out there on the same wavelength as me! So glad to be able to share what I've learned since using YNAB. :) -Hannah 🌻

[@terri6584]

I totally agree. She definitely keeps my attention & does a great job teaching. Hannah is so cute in her expressions & all. Really enjoy videos & get motivated re: using YNAB.

[@Emily_Linka]

I literally wouldn’t watch feature announcements for any other app but because it’s Hannah, I watched the full 11:21 and dont regret it for a moment

[@JenGrice]

“You’re not quite there, tiger, keep going!” - Hannah, Motivational Speaker 👍🏻👍🏻😂 ❤️ emojis in my budget!!!

[@pierregabory8772]

All hail the one true date format ISO 8601. The one format to rule them all.

[@erloney]

Whatever they pay, Hannah, it's not enough 😂 I'm always looking forward to watching every new video! On budgeting... What?!? 😁 Progress bars look fun and helpful, thanks @ynab!

[@loganmatelan7860]

Great video! My only comment is that “Flexi Expenses” could also be named “Flexspenses” if you’re feeling particularly punny.

[@YNABofficial]

My only comment is "why didn't I think of that..." -Hannah 🌻

[@janessaw5948]

I totally didn't just rename my category...👀

[@FeliciaWilliams1908]

I love that this is easily toggled on and off. This is a great additional way to visualize spending. And with no shame, I have emojis on all of my categories.

[@fallondavis747]

As do I. It’s the best

[@expressivism]

I added the traffic lights, very handy

[@minjung2949]

YES. I hope the toggling is always there, and it isn't just until people get used to the progress bars.

[@kriannnne]

Saaaaaaaaaaaame. But of course. Lol.

[@conureron3792]

Need “progress bar” merch now, in stripes and solids & in yellow, green, red!

[@molliemarissa6189]

Love this idea!

[@expressivism]

“Like a little chameleon blending in with its surroundings” haha I laughed at the delivery of that one. Well done

[@YNABofficial]

🦎 -Hannah 🌻

[@dianneisabelle3581]

Hannah, no one can present information like you! Great new feature and great explanation of it! Keep up the great work YNAB Team!

[@tammywarmack9377]

Hannah cracks me up! She's awesome.

[@missswissdreamer]

Fully agree! Love love Hannah - the style, the humbleness and all around funny delivery.

[@YNABofficial]

Wow, thank you everybody!! Love my job, and love you guys!! -Hannah 🌻

[@tosha420]

You should consider adding vertical line representing progress bar for past and remaining DAYS. The progress bars in YNAB extension is more convenient in this sense for me. Because when spending exceeds this line, you know you probably overspend. In spite of the fact that your horizontal line is green. AND ALSO it would be great to see aggregated bar in folder-category when you fold it.

[@YNABofficial]

Thanks for the suggestion, tosha! I'll shoot your idea back to them team!! -Hannah 🌻

[@hfarrow9]

The progress bars are helpful visual indicators, A+. One thing to consider is to add a color palette option for Red/Green color blind folks.

[@kosmix3930]

Progress bar is long overdue! Love the new visual display

[@WealthyHabitsCoaching]

Love Hannah and YNAB!!!! These new updates are fantastic!!!! Keep em coming. YNAB for life!

[@blake3599]

this feature is so simple, but SO helpful! also, your support team is SO FAST with answering emails!! thank you for setting us all up for success, YNAB (and Hannah!)

[@JessicaEvans-zt6lf]

I joined when progress bars were already a thing. Love it! And Hannah has been my edutainment the last few days. Thanks Hannah!

[@YNABofficial]

HA! Edutainment is a new word for me, and I am GLAD to be associated with it :) 🌻 Hannah

[@evesix]

The bars look great, but I'm still hung up on the "socks pants for your feet" memo. Amazing 😆

[@valeriewoodard8501]

The "bee eye en gee oh" gets me too 😂

[@robserpa]

Fun fact: In Indonesian, "socks" is "kaus kaki" which literally means "foot t-shirt" and "gloves" is "sarung tangan" Which means "hand sarong". So maybe YNAB wasn't too far off calling "socks" "pants for your feet" :-D

[@hudfamfour]

Did I go back and rewatch and pause my screen, just to see the Memos? Yes, I did. Was it worth it? Yes, it was.

[@warriorsybil3818]

These are really helpful so I’m not clicking on each one and seeing what’s underfunded. I can see it all one shot.

[@gregcarlson1186]

Love the new addition. I also like that I can collapse them whenever I want and keep my budget looking clean. Great stuff!

[@izzyd.9864]

A feature I didn't know I needed but I'm already loving!

[@marionhowells5364]

I am a new YNAB er and am loving the humour mixed with great info ! Thank you Hannah . I’ve already seen great changes in my budget and financial situation in a couple of weeks. It feels good.

[@YNABofficial]

Yay Marion!! That's amazing news! YNAB is truly a game changer in so many ways. -Hannah 🌻

[@carrymyheart]

Love the addition of progress bars so so much! 😍

[@spookybell]

I 💕 this!!!! The bars are fantastic!!!it’s what I didn’t know I was missing and it makes the budget so much better! 💗 and then there are emojis for Hannah ☀️you are fun to watch. Really, I’d forgotten that this was released because I read it on my phone and then I couldn’t actually use it. So when I saw you at home on KZbin I started using it and I love it thank you

[@shvetsm]

Love it!!! You are a fantastic presenter!!!

[@bensinger7940]

I LOVE the progress bars and all the new improvements!! YNAB keeps getting better!!!!!

[@jodienichols2002]

Love it! Thanks for the great video lady

[@GenZFinance]

THE OPTIONS! I absolutely love how detailed y'all made these

[@NettieFIRE]

Thank you! Thank you! Love the new progress bars (toggler here! 🙋🏻‍♀️) I must stay the visuals gave, me food for thought. It made be change my goals type selections even though I thought I had choose the perfect goal type previous - go figure!! And this is despite me being a YNAB toolkit addict! A picture does says a 1000 words!!

[@zifnabdr]

Thanks Hannah. Another great video!! Love the new progress bars!!

[@BlairSlavin]

I love this new color scheme. I am definitely a visual person. And colors do help. (😳 WOW!!! You can close the left column)

[@YNABofficial]

Yes! Don't miss that little icon at the bottom left of your budget! It lets you close and open the left column with one click! -Hannah 🌻

[@elizabethmellen4178]

I love them, I adore a graph or chart and they feel much like that. I really like seeing what percentage I’ve funded, but also how much I’ve already spent together visually

[@nicolemarsh990]

I am so excited for the progress bars!

[@leerv.]

OPTIONS!!!!! Yes!! I love YNAB's developers! Thank you for sharing the news, Hannah!!

[@emiliewilkinson7857]

Ohh this is so cool! Definitely turning that feature ON!

[@dalleenpente]

Just awesome! The progress bar is the better improvement after the invention of the slice bread!!! I love it.

[@clarekrmiller]

Wow! I remember seeing this option appear a while back. I thought it just looked cluttered so I toggled it off and forgot about it. Now I’m excited to look at it more. Thanks, Hannah!

[@MackenzieEvansMarts]

Saw the title of the video, immediately went to my budget to check it out. Love the new bars!!!

[@danicabahadur6380]

I’m in loooovvveee with this new feature and I appreciate I can toggle on and off. I’m a visual person so it works great for me 😄

[@gailesawchuk]

Entertaining as always, Hannah! Can't wait to check out the new features!

[@sdcorrey]

Love the progress bars!

[@michiluz13]

Love her - Loving YNAB! Thanks

[@adrianhall6769]

Great Idea! I can now see at a glance the mount required to fully fund any category rather than having to check box the individual category and look.

[@katzimmerman7436]

I ❤️ the bars! I like having the visual there 👀. Also a big emoji fan! 🤓

[@shayneptorres]

Definitely love the bars

[@lexaeternal2496]

Love this update. Can't wait for it to reach the app.

[@maite4homes]

Love them! Hannah You're great and hilarious

[@toddw8396]

Progress bars! This looks like something I’m going to like! 👍🏻 😀

[@somesunshinegirl5314]

The Progress bar Feature ist awesome. And I really did hear it from you first. How did I not know about the weekly goals? They totally make more sense now with the added visuals. Bye Bye groceries-week2 til 4 categories.

[@fiddycaliber947]

Love it!

[@myrajoyce3494]

I'm loving the progress bars. Didn't even find out about them until last night.

[@ZuzusPetals69]

I love you Hannah! Also, I'm a month into YNAB and I can't imagine not having the progress bars! Maybe as time goes on I won't need so much hand-holding but for now, those bars make me aware of what the heck is going on. ;)

[@YNABofficial]

Oh friend, I still have progress bars on to this DAY! Can't live without em. Don't know how people survive turning them off 😂 🌻 Hannah

[@diannaskillen845]

Thank you. The USA date format was so frustrating. Now just need my little Aussie bank to be able to link.

[@jake.spirek]

Great stuff!

[@deb5392]

Love the progress bars. I got very used to that visual from other budget apps (we shall not mention them 😉). It's probably the only thing I missed from other tools.

[@ilaliberte]

I'm a toggler. Love it. Thanks!

[@molliemarissa6189]

I love this because it helps me compare how far into the month I am and how far into my spending I am.

[@floodo1]

Great feature. And I too am a big fan of being able to toggle these bars because while helpful they add a LOT of visual clutter.

[@AngelStormee]

Is there ever going to be a way to label your colored flags so you can remember what you were using them for. I wrote down a key but cannot find it. On Outlook you can label your categories; would be nice to have that capability here.

[@janeknight3597]

And a few more colours please😉

[@ryanlingmann74]

Yes, agreed. Labels would make flags WAY more useable.

[@raerichards6493]

You can update on the desktop version

[@ryanlingmann74]

@@raerichards6493 I just double checked, and I still don’t see how to do this on the desktop version. If you know how, please let us know.

[@raerichards6493]

@@ryanlingmann74 you should be able to double click on the colored flag in the account screen. Then you can change it. Hope that helps!

[@lisaw.1601]

Never met a toggle I didn't like... Great new feature!

[@33goodwitch]

Can't wait for the mobile version of this!!

[@PierceMD]

I'm new to this, so I'll take all the help I can get!

[@dcolum23]

This is a game changer. I am no longer a fence sitter.

[@alicialowes6]

I am definitely a fan.

[@SapphireBlueTravelExplores]

As a return YNAB user love the new look 😁

[@mercyfae17]

The best feature. ❤️

[@robysfurniture]

I love the progress bars! I am super happy I can toggle them too... 'cause I'm a toggler :D

[@YNABofficial]

TOGGLERS UNITE 🤘🏼 -Hannah 🌻

[@Skysenshi]

Ooh, I accidentally discovered this recently haha. Wasn't sure what it was but it looked pretty so I maintained the look.

[@BrandonBurch]

Thanks

[@iyeshaluker23]

I really like the bars

[@jphock1998]

I had tried the progress bars with Toolkit and didn't like it at all. Love the new YNAB version though....10/10, would recommend.

[@PlaninProgress]

🙋‍♀️ I leave memos on SO many transactions. Amazon purchases and every time my kids buy something out of their budgets... I get grilled all the time on the accuracy of their budgets when they insist that they didn’t spend that much!

[@kerricutler2974]

Hannah 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@amandabrophy2869]

8:48 Umm, yeah - Heard It From Hannah Gives Me Life!!! 😊

[@ItsTOUGHtobeFascinating]

You're the bomb.

[@Musicman2012Now]

I really like this new feature. A lot! And, of course, Hannah rocks! (But, she didn't pat Mr. Banks the pig...what's with that?! :) )

[@YNABofficial]

Ahh! *pat pat pat* There, he's better :) -Hannah 🌻

[@Xieda]

I have yet to fully test drive the bars. But I'm pretty sure I'll be mostly bars, with a dash of toggling.

[@Boilinglemon]

Loved the vid but I gotta ask, next swag sale when?

[@YNABofficial]

It's a mysteryyyyy... 🔮 -Hannah 🌻

[@catherinemccurdy7518]

How did you set that budget up with flexi expenses and fixed expenses, etc. Did you rename the categories and add the little icons?

[@YNABofficial]

Yes! I always rename the categories and category groups to fit my own personality and flavor! 🌶️ This help doc will show you how you can add your own emojis to your budget! docs.youneedabudget.com/article/196-using-emoji-in-your-budget -Hannah 🌻

[@catherinemccurdy7518]

@@YNABofficial You are the queen of YNAB!

[@conureron3792]

Just stumbled upon them accidentally....so, I’m curious how to use them...?

[@marleens]

Who else paused at 9:26 to read all the memos 🤣

[@Theo_Caro]

I feel the progress bars are just kinda redundant. I noticed them on my own everyday. Thanks for having them off by default tho.

[@alejandroruiztemina1691]

If was not Hannah, I would never see these videos.

[@cristelmariebuenafe]

Done.

[@dan_lev]

Too Busy for me, also overlaps the "Goal" column of the YNAB Toolkit. Something I'm sure they'll fix eventually.

[@lexymcavinchey7147]

COLOR SCHEMES! I didn't know. Oh chameleons.

[@janrifkinson5227]

HANNAH + COLORS + PROGRESS BARS..... what else could one possibly want? I can think of one thing but will leave that for another time. This time belongs to Hasnnah

[@Morganwmahan]

Missing the only date formate I like.. 10Apr21

[@ultraArcite]

Love the new bars, but wish I could turn it on and off for specific category groups

[@cherylreynolds8148]

I'm a toggler, mostly because I hate to see the yellow. Makes me twitch. 😜

[@YNABofficial]

I get that. Thousand percent get that 😛 I do too, and I've found it helps me move money around and cover spending *sooner* than I did before! Which can help me slow down on unnecessary spending when I've had to do that five times in the month already 😂🙃 🌻Hannah

[@Xieda]

I am mixed. I LOVE the progress bars themselves, but the text messages are what makes my budget feel cluttered and hard to focus on. So when people talk about toggling this feature off when you want it to be clean and simple.... like, the coloured bars ARE clean and simple! It's all the extra words that are not so clean and simple. But if I make that word clutter go away, then I lose my beautiful progress bars. Wistful sigh.

[@YNABofficial]

I get that! It's all preference. Aesthetics plays a lot into our ability to hone in and focus on the information we want. If you want, you can leave this idea as a feature request for our developer team! They occasionally browse through this list of customer ideas to spark new projects/features! youneedabudget.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek?typeform-source=docs.youneedabudget.com 🌻 Hannah

[@Xieda]

@@YNABofficial That's a great idea, thanks. 😊

[@MarcStober]

So... are "target goals" what are now just called "targets"?

[@YNABofficial]

Marc, yes!! We recorded this video in the "limbo" when we knew they would soon be called "targets" but viewers still knew them as "goals." Hopefully, this can translate to future viewers like you! Wouldn't want too much of that old terminology hangin' around! -Hannah 🌻

[@khylavega5649]

I do think the progress bars are a little redundant. I can get all of that information from the budgeted, activity and available column. I won’t use them BUT i can see how it can be helpful to someone else who needs a visual

[@amandacollins518]

You are so sweet to watch.

[@YNABofficial]

Thanks Amanda 🥰🥰 -Hannah 🌻

[@reveille4]

Am I the only one that only uses mobile version??

[@letstalkabouthomeschooling443]

Squeeeeee..

[@Alvaro-Silver-Pine]

Hard work. Play hard Nintendo Switch Zelda.

[@wrongwayeric]

Progress Bars, didn't think I needed them, and I was right. Just like the Web BS.

[@joeschmoe1574]

Cluttered repetition of info already shown, gimmicky feature of little value.