The Budget Nerds Answer Your Nerdy Budgeting Questions!

[@PlaninProgress]

I love this series so much! I’m definitely on the “too obsessed” side. YNAB makes budgeting fun and so empowering. Can’t stop won’t stop!

[@lzhu87]

About the savings account question, I use mine to pay for a few large monthly bills and off-budget (usually investment) saving goals. These for me include mortgage, my kids' college funds, etc. Of course this is conditioned on your payees accepting a savings account and you can keep the out-going transactions around 3 to 4 a month for each account (you can only do at most 6 in most savings accounts). This also works for me because I deposit most of my paycheck into my savings account.

[@LisaVanGemert]

Nicole's question about savings I think was more about the idea of an emergency fund. The general rule is that you need 3 - 6 months' salary. (3 if you have a stable job or are 1/2 of a partnership, 6 if you are the sole earner, self-employed, or in a less-stable job)

[@birdy3314]

Thanks for another awesome episode. Have you thought of making this part of the podcast. Would love to listen to it while I’m out :)

[@christineteffenhart5722]

Great episode! Here's a homeowner surprise expense: did you know that automatic garage doors are only expected to open and close about 10,000 times? That spring is guaranteed to break when you need to drive to an appointment. $350 later and we now plan for this to break again in a few years.

[@dcs7077]

I know!! My remote-controlled roller garage door has stopped opening. I’m told at £144 callout cost it’s the motor at £600+. I feel your pain!

[@christineteffenhart5722]

@@dcs7077 I remember the panicked thought "how am I going to get out of the garage?!". Then, I remembered that you can open it manually, duh! It was still a pain.

[@VikingKittens]

Another excellent episode! Please keep 'em coming!! Cheers

[@rachelstallings5460]

YNAB nirvana - getting a month ahead, fully funded emergency fund and properly contributing to sinking funds! vs. Having to constantly move money around when something big comes up and it's not funded enough for long enough.

[@valeriemartini6315]

I agree with Ernie on new home. My husband loves Home Depot about everyday. The previous owners delayed maintenance

[@TheWealthPrince]

Excellent work and I enjoyed listening in. Love it 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing.

[@KeithBarrowsToday]

True expenses, subscriptions, loan payments, etc, all go into a Money Market acct through my Credit Union. I have auto transfers setup twice a month to cover monthly payments while the rest stays in the MM. Earns more interest than savings and far more than checking.

[@HarlandDWhite]

Lol, there's been so many times I thought I could fix something by watching a KZbin video and it hardly ever works out!!

[@sabrinaguerin]

My question: How do you track the funds you are accumulating for the next month? Do you create a category for that? Do you directly fill next month's categories? How do you track your progress on this goal if you spend it right at the beginning of the month? Thanks!

[@julietmontague2365]

I will reply since no one else has - I have a budget category called "Next Month's Money" and when Jan's paychecks (2 for my husband, one for me) come in, I flow them into that category. On the first of the month, I move all the money in that category into "To Be Budgeted" and start budgeting it. I think it's easier to budget it out all at once. But I'm also a full month ahead, so that may vary for you. I'm not sure what your last question means and I'd be happy to answer if you clarify.

[@elissalarsen9145]

Our original college spending money fund was $7 each. Very relatable 😂

[@sybille1234]

LOL don't insult my beloved Excel spreadsheet. But yes, a lot of work and time went into it. I liked creating and tweaking it and everything, definitely on the "obsessed" side.

[@HeidenkindHideaway]

What were some of the books, documentaries, etc. you found super informative when you really into your budgeting hobby?

[@valeriemartini6315]

I would love to join a live at sometime with budget nerds

[@reginasloan2201]

omg I need to re-evaluate our spending money limit (personal).

[@sarahgoulet7654]

can you share some tips you used to get a month? this is for anyone and everyone. Do you just keep adding a little extra to each category and let those rollover? I've added some lines twice like auto insurance due this month and another due at this month so i'm almost adding double every month but not sure if that is the best solution for getting a month ahead.

[@YNABofficial]

If you're going to go that route, I would suggest actually clicking forward and assigning the money in the next month! 1) that will help you track how close you are to getting a month ahead a little easier, and 2) it will make your available amounts more accurate, because you won't see the money as available until the following month. A lot of people set money aside in one big category until the month rolls over. Then they move all that money to Ready to Assign and budget for the new month all at once. That's a good option too! ~BenB

[@tlen07]

Great episode. Question: do you spend out of your savings category for big purchases? My husband and I are saving for a family car. We’re trying to figure out if it’s best to spend out of that savings category.

[@YNABofficial]

Great question. Most of the time, I save in more specific categories and spend out of more general ones. So, for example, I might save for a new phone in a "New Phone" category, but once I have the money, I'd move it to my "Technology" category and spend the money there. In the case of a new car though, I might just spend right out of the savings category since it's such a big purchase that doesn't happen very often. I myself have a "car replacement" category that I'm always saving for, so I will probably just spend out of there next time I buy a new car. ~BenB

[@lavs23]

We do the same, we have a vacation fund but we also have a vacation group for road trips that gets more detailed (hotels, gas, everything else). We use the detailed categories before for saving and while on vacation. After the vacation is over we delete the smaller groups and recategorize to just vacation.

[@lissi4052]

4:06 only $5?! what are you going to buy personally for a whole month with that. We started with $100 each...

[@helomech1973]

Why should you keep money in a savings account? Is it to keep it safe? Because it isn't because of interest. It really is no better than burying it in your back yard. I keep about 5k in a savings account, only to be able to move that money into checking if needed quickly.

[@melissakinard4324]

I am relatively new to YNAB. I have been a paper and spreadsheet budgeter for years though. The one thing that I seem to be having trouble with is getting on a schedule to transfer money between my accounts. Moving money to and from my sinking fund accounts as I use them. It has been a constant struggle. Do you have any advice to share? I

[@aaronstephens9339]

Personally I tried to for a while to match up my savings account(s) balance with the YNAB budget categories that matched them. It was a struggle to keep them synced between bank balance and category balance. So I gave up and now keep one large savings balance that I just access when my checking account starts to dip too low. I use YNAB only to track my sinking funds/true expense buckets. This disconnect has made it much easier for me to manage - and I am 100% a budget nerd. It just wasn’t worth the hassle to move money around between various savings accounts. My two or three cents if I understood your comment correctly 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@lavs23]

We've simplified, we keep everything in our checking account except for emergency fund and larger purchases ($3K+) we're saving for (car, roof, siding etc.). Those go in our one savings account. (We are considering a separate savings account for our EF) We created a category group called Savings that has those larger items in it so we know what the allocation of our savings balance is at a quick glance. Smaller sinking funds like insurance and taxes just stay in our checking account. It's all about looking at the category balances before spending NOT the account balances.

[@julietmontague2365]

When you say accounts, do you mean accounts at your bank, as in 2 savings, 3 checking, etc? Or do you mean categories? Bc the whole point of categories is that you could theoretically keep all your money in a single account (investments would be different of course) since it's divided into category 'buckets' by the Budget.

[@sarahdemille]

A question for the next budget nerds episode. How does one become a “budget nerd”? I’m new to budgeting and have been finding YNAB easier to stick to than other methods I’ve tried, but it still feels like a lot of conscious effort to get myself to actually do the budget and adhere to it. Were you always budget nerds, or do you have some tips for us nerd-aspiring newbies on how to get there?

[@ilaliberte]

Well the fact you're already here watching this makes me think you already are a budget nerd! :). For me it was just gradually: the more I got control over my money, the more I wanted more tips, so I am listening to the podcast and this.

[@lavs23]

I think like a lot of things it's doing it consistently for an extended period of time. Once you see the impact a budget can have on your life it becomes far easier. We've been ynabing for a few years now and it's gotten more valuable and easier.

[@sueharrison4873]

How do I get back to 1/1/2021. I lost and it begins when I got back on.

[@aint2proud2meg]

YNAB has you start on the actual day you start your budget or do a fresh start, with your current cleared balances. Then just budget as far as the $ will take you! If I do a fresh start I do like it to be on the first of the month- which it is today!

[@beginetienne]

They have songs!!!!

[@elisee7422]

Starting to think AUD$250/m might be excessive 😅

[@julietmontague2365]

My husband and I each get $300 US, which I don't think is excessive for two professionals with no kids. That covers clothes, dining out with friends, misc things.

[@Jone276]

Bert & Ernie Budget :)

[@sallynoble4663]

Oh my goodness I thought the same thing lol !

[@terrymahoney4199]

Is there a reason my post was deleted?

[@YNABofficial]

Hi, Terry! Ashley here. I don't see another comment from you. Please post again! If it's a question, I'll ping BenB and Ernie. 😀

[@christineteffenhart5722]

Watching now... $5/month...that is not living! I budget $50-60 each month. I primarily spend it on my hobby.

[@YNABofficial]

Nice, Christine! Yeah, I think we quickly learned $5 was not enough. :) What is your hobby?

[@christineteffenhart5722]

@@YNABofficial I really enjoy knitting so I budget money for really nice yarn.