Rolling With the Punches - How Much Is Too Much?

[@erinmcaleer1189]

On my way to work last fall, I came to the end of my driveway and it wasn't there. I cleaned my glasses, turned on my windshield wipers and high beams, and took a big ol sip of coffee. Yup, it was gone. It is about 40 ft over a creek, so I didn't have any option besides immediate repair. The $13,000 bill for a total rebuild of that section was a SHOCK. It wasn't covered in the insurance policy, so I pulled all my savings and cash and paid what I could and set up a plan to pay the rest off. I cut all spending except what was required to maintain life for myself, my kids, my pets, and my house. It got paid off and I found YNAB in the process. I can plan for true expenses and roll with the punches, but the saying is true: being an adult is like looking left and right, stepping into the road, and getting hit by a plane.

[@YNABofficial]

Wow, a shock seems like an understatement here! Kudos to you for getting everything paid off! ~Ernie

[@alexheslop2917]

Amazes me how I could sit and listen to you guys talk about money all day, when only a week ago budgeting was the most dull thing I could think of!

[@Natazavrik]

Same!!

[@hschwarzwalder]

I have $500 in a Banana Stand category in the event that I need to borrow a few dollars for a category and replenish it the next month There's always money in the banana stand!

[@YNABofficial]

And just like that, my "Emergency Fund" category was retitled to "The Banana Stand." Dying. 😂 -Hannah 🌻

[@hschwarzwalder]

@@YNABofficial it brings me joy, glad you enjoy it as well 🤣

[@jrdill1631]

NO TOUCHING!

[@yodamuppet]

I’m so happy to see that I’m not the only person that has their emergency fund named Banana Stand.

[@stop08it]

Why do you call it Banana Stand?

[@samueltremblay275]

Sorry if I missed the part when you talk about it but when there is an overspending, there is a big part for me that is about something I don't really need. In other words, big part of overspending for me is a misalignment between my emotional and my intellectual. Ok, a pipe can burst but this is normally absorbed with my true expenses or my emergency fund. And if I buy a t-shirt 52$ and I only have 50$ in that category, I will roll with the punches. But the big issue I generally have with overspending is when I want to buy something I don't have planned to buy. As example, I budgeted 50$/mo for books. My category is named Sharpen the saw (in Honor to 7 habits of highly successful people). If I already buy 45$ this month and I find a really good book for 15$, if I buy it by the end of the month instead of waiting the next month, I don't think this is called roll with the punches. I think this is called: Do you really need it. And in the vast majority of time, this is to feed illogical needs. I purchased ynab exactly as a mini me to snap me each time I want to do this type of purchase.

[@thesaranowak]

LOVE this series - have y’all considered turning Budget Nerds into a podcast, or just publishing these recordings on a podcast feed? I just went back to my 1hr+ commute and need more YNAB in my life!! Thanks for the great videos :)

[@thosewhowander5815]

I just wish it was more often. 😋 I love ben & ernie. Strongly agree this would be a great podcast.

[@thetiktokking]

These YNAB videos are EVERYTHING. I’ve had YNAB for a while but only more recently started really confronting things like checking the budget first and I have to say, it’s terrifying. Hearing from budget experts like these guys not only makes me feel human for overspending categories, but also reassuring me that if I keep trying I’ll be able to head in the direction I want over time. Their stories about biggest unexpected spending really hit some kind of way. THANK YOU for making these videos you guys. More please!

[@mamasquid1401]

So my husband's enormous family frequently holds fancy events. We call it the Lastname Tax. When the most recent black tie event took place, we decided to bite the bullet and buy him a tux, plus I purchased and altered three formal gowns for that and future events. It took an enormous chunk out of our clothing category, which was way overspent. Fortunately I've been using YNAB so long that I have a lot of flexibility in the budget. Sometimes with big expenses that cause us to go over budget, it's a game I like to play: Can I cover this without using emergency fund money? I always can. It just requires a little creativity. But I have a lot of fun trying to figure out how to pull it off.

[@Fayelin449]

I have little traffic light emojis at my categories. For example my main monthly expenses are red, I can never take money from that. Fun money is green etc Ben, your tax story reminded me of this time when our neighbours mail was wrongly delivered to us. It was a €3000,- tax bill. Me not paying attention, just ripped open the envelope and almost had a heart attack before I noticed it was for the neighbours. Phew. Luckily my neighbours weren’t too pissed lol.

[@YNABofficial]

Love the idea with the stoplights! That can be a good way to communicate with a partner too, a way for you to write down what you agreed are "no-go" categories. Tax bills are never fun, haha. Glad you dodged that bullet. 😀 ~BenB

[@andrewmitchell571]

We have a "Holding Tank" category that we add random income into (credit card rewards, interest, savings if we hit a sinking fund goal, etc.) and it is the first place we pull from for any overspending. We typically have a hundred dollars there that rolls over into the next month. After that's gone we pull from Dining out, drinks, etc.

[@YNABofficial]

I love the intentionality with credit card rewards and earned interest. I never have a purpose for those items and end up just budgeting them wherever. Plus, "Holding Tank" is a such a great category name! ~Ernie

[@conureron3792]

Good idea!

[@kimharris3322]

I keep a category after I've allocated everything and put any extra money there ("if I overspend go hear!") I hate robbing my categories I am trying to keep money in for when I want it.

[@YNABofficial]

Same. It just hurts to take money from those sacred categories! ~Ernie

[@Ilareau2]

Your videos are always so helpful! It is sooo helpful for me to see what the ynab rules look in real life and to see how you both handle it differently. It makes it real and helps me so much to see how to do this in real life rather than just these are the ideal tips or steps etc. question: would love a video on how you deal with amazon purchases.

[@YNABofficial]

Glad these videos are helpful! And thanks for the idea about Amazon purchases! In the meantime, here's my process. (1) make Amazon purchase, (2) receive email from Amazon of all items purchased, which includes price per item, (3) receive text alert when Amazon charges my card (I set up those alerts with my bank), (4) check the amount charged against the email of items I've purchased to figure out which item was charged (5) enter item in YNAB. This works for me, especially for those time where orders are broken up into multiple orders. Hope that helps! ~Ernie

[@bobbypoole4378]

Great topic and discussion! One thing that has really helped us with reeling in our dining out spending is allocating part of our monthly dining out money to a "weekly dining" category every week. I went extra nerdy and automatically reset the transactions in the "weekly dining" category to the monthly dining category on Monday mornings via the API as well.

[@YNABofficial]

Ooooh, that's so clever, Bobby! Love the automation. 😀 ~BenB

[@VoiceoverMomentum]

That checking the budget first will be critical for me because I basically put stuff in after the fact and it definitely does not balance out! Working on that with my CPA right now. She’s going to teach me how to be really successful with my personal budget in line now. Thank you guys for what you do

[@YNABofficial]

I was finally able to save money once I embraced checking the budget first! Keep up the great work! ~Ernie

[@TaraL-oj6kj]

dollar menu! LOVE that! Thanks for that tip!

[@52536626]

I almost always take dining out from groceries because they are both food, and it’s just me so I have a little more flexibility. When my sons were still home it was a constant struggle. The amount that teenage boys eat cannot be overstated.

[@YNABofficial]

I've considered hiding food from my teenage boys just so I can have something to eat 3-4 days after shopping 🤣 ~Ernie

[@sabinapieterse5855]

We don’t have a dining out category either (thanks covid 😖). Our reward if our groceries are under budget = takeout. Its always a surprise which type of takeout we can afford at month end. Our grocery budget has also been slowly decreasing too. 🤩

[@AngelaNortonTyler]

It's unbelievable :)

[@lynnetiltman1001]

Yep, check the budget first! It's amazing to hear about you eating out so much, we live in FRance, not in a city but a small town and it is not the culture to eat out as frequently.

[@52536626]

I have a General RDF which is simply for extra money that I know I can spend for. I only keep less than 100 in there at any given time

[@katiemoe3687]

This was super helpful and encouraging to know I'm not the only one who rolls with the punches... a lot. 😂Confession though... I abuse this rule (or ignore it completely) if I overspend in a category (like groceries) but know my second paycheck for the month is coming on the 15th. I was going to add money to the grocery budget anyway, so I just leave it overspent until that comes in. But I'm learning to make adjustments and be more realistic about where my money is actually going/needs to go!

[@taniab2018]

I wonder if there is a difference between overspending & underbudgeting? Perfect example... early in Covid, I kept the same amount in the line I have for fuel in my car. I only spent about half because I was only filing up half as often (just because I wasn't going anywhere). As things are opening up & I'm finding I'm going out more, I had a month or two where I put that new amount in my gasoline line, and had to take from my 'fun' money to pay for gas. It wasn't a big deal because I wasn't coming close to spending the amount of fun money I was setting aside.

[@conureron3792]

Given the job you guys have done with the “mock sports interview” and the “May the Forth be with you” skit - I think you should role-play all your budgeting tips moving forward! More performance art!

[@YNABofficial]

Honestly, that sounds like a lot of fun! And I don't think I'll have to twist Ben's arm. ~Ernie

[@Twiztedxdreams1116]

New to YNAB and binge watching videos. I have a 6 year old and I met my boyfriend with a teen. I never knew how much they could eat. 2 cans of Pringles and like 6 snack bags of chips in 3 days. So crazy how much they eat. I'm still adjusting

[@rivasoucie]

Coming back to say that certain unexpected expenses should be…expected. Bringing food to a friend in need, gifts for kids’ birthday parties, school book fairs, church fundraisers and potlucks, etc. Easy to plan for by keeping ingredients on hand for a delicious inexpensive meal (Dollar Tree has everything including foil pans for pasta and meatballs), birthday gifts (easy to find $5 and under brand name items at Dollar Tree or Amazon), etc. So, these unexpected smallish expenses don’t become big ones.

[@EinherjarLucian]

When you buy your toilet paper/paper goods/household items, do you start with the Grocery category (if you buy them during the same trip) and then move money from household items back to grocery? Do you split it then and there?

[@rivasoucie]

We are a family of five with two of our kids having major disabilities requiring highly special diets. But we still stay on budget every month using Amazon subscribe and save, generic everything (except special foods for the two boys) and minimal ultra processed foods. We have a 15 year mortgage and only one income, so our discretionary spending, especially fun money, is really low. It’s not a big deal to make these sacrifices for us, we just get our joy and pleasure in other - less expensive - ways!

[@Cclaudia228]

How do you handle “overspending” from something you’re waiting on a reimbursement for from the month previous?

[@YNABofficial]

We have a couple suggestions in this doc! Bottom line, if it's cash overspending, you really do need to cover it with your own money while waiting for a reimbursement. You're only lying to yourself if you don't. But if the charge was on a credit card, you could leave the overspending until you get reimbursed since cash hasn't actually left your hands. docs.youneedabudget.com/article/183-reimbursements ~BenB

[@Boilers2000]

The one time I had to give a big temporary loan, it was such a big one but I knew it was really temporary, that I actually cheated a bit and when I got the money back I deleted all references to both the loan and the repayment. It was only a few weeks but it was a large enough sum that it actually really affected my reporting and age of money. It was a unique occurrence and I wrestled with how to handle it, but in the end decided to make it like it never happened in the budget at all.

[@YNABofficial]

Nice one. This is one of those things I wouldn't suggest for brand new people, but for a power user like you who has a good understanding of the mechanics going on, I think it's just fine, especially since it gives you more peace of mind. ~BenB

[@tomipetteri4881]

Question: I have double buffer categories in my budget, do I do it wrong? First buffer is "Things I forget to budget" that is smaller size, but then I also have a large-buffer called "Buffer" that is actually almost a size of my whole monthly budget. I don't feel emotionally attached at all to this bigger buffer, do I do it wrong, too easy to use for unnamed expenses?

[@Baoran]

I seem to budget more than I spend "just in case" attitude. For example my electricity bill is usually around 45 Euros and I ended up putting 55 in that category just in case and since the electricity bill is always smaller I now have over 200 euros saved in that category..

[@plaidmom]

I agree with moving money out of those variable monthly expenses (gas/dining out/ groceries). I’ve also moved money out of categories like car repair when I have money saved but no real immediate need for the category. But also, Ben, that overspending on dining out should be for guacamole on your Chipotle burrito the next month! Also, you guys should just work Chipotle into every episode. Just for fun! 🌯 also, yes to that “teenage” grocery budget. We have 6 kids and 2 are teens. Just yesterday I went looking for the cereal box I just bought. My son remarked it was gone a long time ago!!

[@YNABofficial]

Haha, working Chipotle into every episode would be a fun challenge! I actually just edited a video that will be released sometime next month that has a joke Chipotle category in it. 😝 ~BenB

[@Gpchv25]

I live in London and that means that my worst overspending is usually... TRANSPORTATION 😩 and particularly because throughout 2020 I spent pretty much 0 in that category the avg spending did not help 😂 So when it was time to reactivate that spending, it has been a nightmare to re-adjust ("Was I SERIOUSLY spending this amount of money on bus???!!!"). Last month I overspent almost 40$ in that category and I was so annoyed. 😂😂😂

[@YNABofficial]

Oh wow, that does sound hard! It's always so hard to reintroduce an expense you got to retired for a while 😩 Feels like a hit to the budget even though it was once a normal, everyday expense. You'll figure it out soon enough! I believe in ya! -Hannah 🌻

[@susantom4400]

Now I want Chipotle

[@cristelmariebuenafe]

Done.

[@Natazavrik]

I really hope Chipotle is giving you two a cut of the sales! 🌯

[@rquethe]

I take money from my grocery category and use it to cover overspending in my alcohol category. I think I should feel guilty.

[@christineteffenhart5722]

You took the words right out of my mouth. I should feel guilty but somehow I don't.

[@YNABofficial]

@@christineteffenhart5722 Hahaha, thanks for the laugh, Christine! ~BenB

[@sooishisooishi6682]

#wineapp

[@RachelSmith-rq5ku]

I ❤️ you guys.

[@erinkerbs6789]

I wish the decision was as simple as to buy a burrito or not. I just started using YNAB, have very little discretionary money, and am facing a huge plumbing repair. Blah

[@YNABofficial]

Oh, no! I hope YNAB gives you the clarity you need to make this big tradeoff, and hopefully you have some simpler tradeoffs in the future! ~Ernie