For stuff like auto/home insurance it's better to set the yearly target for a month before renewal day. This way you will meet the target a month earlier and if the insurance cost is higher than last year which it probably will be you will know the exact amount to budget and have a month to do so.
Hannah we need days/weeks in custom! Our mobile provider bills every 28 days! (13 times a year) I don't want to do the math. I want YNAB to do it for me!
@@trackchik6 this is just one example of where daily/weekly would come in handy. I have requested it as an extra feature a few times. Australia seems to do a lot more fortnightly or 4 weekly expenses
Wow, that's fascinating! I wonder why they work on that billing cycle? I'd do what @trackchik6 suggested, but totally see where you're coming from with wanting even more customizable targets! Dropping a feature request to our developers let's them know what users are wanting in the app, so it's worth a submission if you're up for it! It doesn't necessarily mean that feature request will come to fruition, but if we see the same request coming in over and over, we definitely add it to our list of potential features to consider! Here's that form! ynab.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek?typeform-source=docs.youneedabudget.com 🌻 Hannah
Last month, I reset all of my categories' targets with this new target look for June (a.k.a. this month), and playing with these new targets made me feel like I'm making a fresh start without having to move money around!! 😆😆
What happened to the target type where you wanted to budget say $1000 for Christmas or a trip, but you spend along the way.. Plane tickets ahead of time.. etc.. I don't see how that can be done now. thanks!
So helpful! I do have a question for a category I haven’t been able to figure out with the new targets. What if I want to save for a wedding with a specific date but want to keep spending from that category before the due date. I don’t want the spending to count against my target and make me replenish what I’ve spent as I’ve already saved for it, just need it to keep having me put aside money towards that goal. Is “Needed for spending” the right target?
Use the "Custom" target with the "Set Aside Another" option and then enter the due date... I think that option will not trigger the target to replenish as you spend from it!! 🤔🤔 I hope this helps! 😄😄
"Needed for Spending" would've been the correct target type to select with our old targets! However, if you make sure your current apps/browser are up to date, you should now be seeing the new target types! The new target types operate on this exact scenario you're talking about: they assume you'll be spending from the category each month, and won't dock you for spending out of a fully funded category. Just like @arambladen3087 said, a custom "set aside another" target type with your wedding date applied will do just the trick! If you DO want to create a more of a "no touchy" type savings target that will prompt you to put more money in if you spend any out of the category, this is where you'll use the custom "have a balance of" target type! If you add a date to it, it will tell you exactly how much to drop in that category each month to meet your target by the time you want, and if you spend from it during the month, it will prompt you to refund the category right away in order to keep up with your savings goal. Hope this answers your question! 🌻 Hannah
What about setting targets for category amounts that slightly change each month. My rent charge includes water so the amount is slightly different each month but I still want to see progress bars so I add targets. What I've been doing is updating the target but then last month's target is gone. Essentially you can't have different targets for the same category in different months I guess.
I still really want an option of "contribute X amount per [time period] up to X amount" for things like house emergencies and car emergencies. When I do have to pull from these categories, I want to be able to just slowly (and automatically) contribute to them to get them topped back off.
Oh, that's a fascinating idea! Like "Contribute $200 every month up to $10,000" so when you spend from your home emergencies fund, you fill it back up to $10,000 again at the $200/mo pace? That's a great idea! You should submit that as a feature request! It doesn't guarantee we fulfill that request, but it let's our team know it's a feature people are wanting. The link to submit feature ideas is here: ynab.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek?typeform-source=docs.youneedabudget.com 🌻 Hannah
Hannah, we do grocery shopping every two weeks but because hubby and I are both on Social Security our pay dates are the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. I have never set a target because I can't figure out how to customize the "by date". Sometimes there are 5 weeks in the month which means there are 3 weeks between pays ,so occasionally we will hold off grocery shopping for 3 weeks instead of 2. Usually, I allow $250 each pay for groceries. Is there a way to customize this in YNAB?
Thank you! Can you explain the broken progress bars? I have two in my budget, and the targets seem to be set up the same as other categories that don’t have a broken line.
@@ryanconnolly1718 If you have your categories set for a "Monthly: Set Aside Another" then those segments mean: Left line - Old money budgeted in previous months. Right line - New money budgeted in the current month. I hope this helps! 😄😄
ryan, @arambladen3087 nailed it! It just represents extra money in your category that rolled over into the next month beyond your current month's target amount. This help doc might help you out! support.ynab.com/en_us/progress-bars-a-guide-SkDEhot09 🌻 Hannah
It's so funny-- I definitely want any extra in my groceries to roll over to next month, but I have no need of that in my internet! 😅 That's what is so great about *personal* finance!
Good point, good point! Another user pointed out that target type doesn't actually matter on consistently priced bills like the internet-valid point 😂 And I guess I'm so used to OVERSPENDING my groceries that I've never even had a scenario where I have money left over at the end of the month in that categories, so that's probably why I do it that way 😂 🌻 Hannah
After I set my laptop back down on the desk and evaluated what in the world kind of job I have that let's me hoist a computer above my head like a caveman... me as well, Mindy, me as well 😅 🌻 Hannah
Thrust upon you against your will too, I'm assuming. Dang yawns. 🌻 Hannah
6 месяцев назад+2
This was fantastic - thank you for running through the new target functionality. Question - what recommendations would you have for scheduled transactions vs targets? For example, I know $1,000 will be withdrawn each 1st of the month from my checking account for my mortgage. Do you recommend a scheduled transaction for the exact amount or a target?
To confirm, targets reset each month, right? That is, on the first day of the new month the amounts we need to add to each category with a target are shown …?
Yes, exactly! So, say, if you were to overfund a category one month using the "refill up to" option, once you hit the 1st of the following month, YNAB will recalculate how much is needed to add to that target after accounting for the rollover from the previous month. 🌻 Hannah
With the old targets I had a category for my cellphone where I told it that I needed $115 on Jun 1st every year (I pay yearly). Occasionally, I would buy some data for my phone and would assign that expense to the cellphone category and YNAB would recalculate how much I needed to assign each month to still have $115 on 1 Jun. This would repeat every year. I can see under custom, I can set up balance needed by, but there is no option to have it repeat yearly. Will I now have to reset the target every year? I think I will run into the same problem with other categories as well. For example, I need to save up for a yearly insurance payment but occasionally need to borrow some of that money due to low funds. I also had a similar target for Gifts, where I would like to have $600 available on 1 Dec each year, regardless of how much I spend in that category...so basically, it to recalculate every month how much I need to contribute. Do I just have to re-set these up each year?
Hi there! This is because the custom "have a balance of" option is more intended for expenses or categories you won't be spending from (like maintaining an emergency fund balance of $1,000) or goals you will be contributing to over a long period of time and not spending from often (like saving up $10,000 for a new deck). For your situation, you'll want to select the "Yearly" target option (as opposed to "Custom"), and select "set aside another." Make it due for June 1st, repeating every one year. If you spend money from this category on data in the middle of the year, YNAB will recalculate your new monthly contribution amount for the rest of the year in the next month, always making sure you end up with $115 by June 1st. Hope this helps! 🌻 Hannah
The underfunded button should actually still be quite helpful in this scenario! If all categories have targets with the appropriate due dates and target types added, YNAB's "underfunded" button will determine which categories are most important to fund first (or partially) using only the amount of money in Ready to Assign. After applying the underfunded button in the web app (or before applying the assignment in the mobile app), you can then shift any money around that you'd rather assign differently. So if YNAB decided to fund your "household supplies" category with the auto assignment, but YOU would rather wait to fun that category and put all your extra money toward your "groceries" category first, you can make that change post-assignment. Still takes a little time, but worth playing around with! 🌻 Hannah
If you are using YNAB, it does not matter if all of your money is in one account or ten. You budget all money into the categories (and create targets) , no matter where the money is held. If this is difficult to understand, you may wish to take some of of their learning courses.
One of the big benefits of YNAB is not having to have a whole slew of different accounts. The categories serve this function. If dollars are assigned to a savings category, those same dollars can't be utilized elsewhere (assuming you're using YNAB as intended, not overspending your categories.)
@dpayne1943 is all over it! With YNAB, which account your dollars are stored in doesn't actually matter-it's the categories that keep your dollars organized. Anytime you spend money (like on groceries), you'll record that transaction and categorize it to your groceries category, which it will then subtract what you spent from the available total. This ensures that you are indeed ONLY spending grocery money on groceries, and not accidentally spending away your vacation savings or your emergency fund on bananas. If you would like to make sure checking account dollars are only assigned to certain categories and savings account dollars are only assigned to certain other categories, I'd encourage you to group all of your savings categories into one larger savings category group. You can then select the entire category and ensure that the "available" amount for the category matches the account total in your savings bank account. However, I personally just make sure I always have enough money in my checking account to do my general spending, and outside of that I don't pay much attention to which bank account my dollars live in-YNAB is the thing that tells me which dollars I'm allowed to spend on what! I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions! 🌻 Hannah
I just started the free trail and I have a month to figure out if this can work for me is there a good way to track previous months income and expenses to have an idea of what a completed month would look like without messing with the available money in my accounts without linking my accounts 😅
The simple answer is no. If you just started YNAB, you start from that point and move forward with what you have available in your bank accounts... If you have been tracking your spending somewhere else (like on a spreadsheet or a budget book) before YNAB, then that should be your reference to your future spending!! There is no completed/perfect month, there's always something that will derail the budget one way or another!! That's why it is up to YOU to ensure your months go as smoothly as you possibly can!! I hope this helps 😄😄
Hi there! YNAB is focused on handling the dollar we have right now, so we encourage users to start from right where they are the day they start their trial and not worry about past spending/income. What I would encourage you to do instead is set up a target for each category for the amount you expect to spend in that category (make your best guess for now, and adjust overtime as your spending trends become a little more clear). Once you've fully fleshed out all the targets in your spending plan, you can select all categories and look at the dollar amount on the "underfunded" button in the Auto Assign menu. This amount tells you how much money you would need to fund a month's worth of your expenses/savings according to your targets! You can then evaluate and adjust from there as you like. I hope this helps! 🌻 Hannah
I would do the same Eric just suggested! If I need to pay my nanny $800 every two weeks, I'll set a weekly target for a $400 weekly amount. This makes sure that I'll be setting aside $400 each week for the nanny, equaling $800 every two weeks. Even better is that if the bill is always due on a certain day (or, for example, I always pay the babysitter every other Friday), YNAB will account for how many Fridays are actually in that month, making sure I set aside $400 each time-this is good! You may find you have some "extra" money sitting in this category for a while, but it's not truly extra, because eventually-when I finally hit that inevitable month where I need to pay the babysitter three times instead twice-I'll be fully prepared. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions on that approach! 🌻 Hannah
May I give my honest (but very humble :)) opinion? I struggle to see why I would want to use the "Set aside another..." option - the peculiarity of which, as explained in the video, is to allow for leftover money to build up - for expenses that are predictable in time and amount, like the Internet bill. If I know that every month my Internet will cost me exactly 100$, why would I want that category to build up over time? I'd rather use this option for variable/less predictable expenses, where a bit of safety margin is desirable, than for perfectly predictable ones. For the latter, I would use "Refill up to", because I know exactly how much I will need... I suspect I am missing something here, so any clarification would be more than welcome :):):) Thanks!!
If you will reliably spend the category down to $0 every month, it really does not matter what you pick. The options are instructing YNAB whether or not consider leftover money when setting the targets the following month.
She did say you can change the target if you know which target option to use! For people who are confused about which one to use (since this is a new feature to all YNABers), it is recommended to use the "Set Aside Another" option until they figure out which target option is for what category!! I hope this helps! 😄😄
Okay, good point good point, I'm picking up what you're putting down. I suppose for something like the phone bill or the internet bill, it actually does make more sense to use the refill up to option since you don't even need to "build up" a back log of cash in there. For things like the electric or water bill, which I never know how much they're gonna cost, I like "set aside another" so that some extra can build up in there like you also said, but you make a very good point! I think I thought "set aside another" made sense because there would never be any reason my internet bill would be charged *more* or *less*, so might as well set aside the exact amount every time, BUT... a "refill up to" target does this too. And in the off-chance that I did ever get a random discount on my internet bill, it would credit that extra to next months target. So... you sold me! @monchichi4545 is also right, that with consistent bills that you spend down to $0 every month, the target type doesn't really matter. So I suppose just follow your heart on those! 😂 But, great point! 🌻 Hannah
definitely agree, that is the point, in the end: with fixed, predictable expenses, the type of target doesn't really matter after all 😊 Actually, the REAL point is... keep up the excellent content please, these videos are awesome!!
I didn't realize the option "Set aside another $$" will rollover unused money to the next month. Not sure why I thought that was unique to "Refill up to $$"
The money will rollover to the next month in both cases, whether you use "set aside another" or "refill up to"! The difference is that a "refill up to" target type will take the rolled-over money and apply it back to meeting your target for the next month, where as the "set aside another" will simply keep that money in that category *in addition to* fully meeting the target on top of that. If I have a target set for $100 on a category this month and I spend $50 out of it: - a "refill up to" target type would put that remaining $50 toward my target for next month and only prompt me to add another $50 to the category, leaving me with $100 in that category next month. - a "set aside another" target type would still retain the $50 of rollover, but prompt me to assign ANOTHER $100 to meet my target, leaving me with $150 in that category next month. Hope that helps! 🌻 Hannah
Thanks for another great video! Question? You set a target of $200 a month for Electricity. This is the average monthly amount from YNAB for last year. Is there a way to have YNAB roll the extra at the start of a new year. Bills go from $90 - $400 per month so can't roll it monthly.
Choose $200/month & "set aside another $200." This should build the dollars in the category during the cheaper months to have extra $$ for the more expensive months.
You can still accomplish this. Set the target to your highest electrical bill ($400). Then, set it to refill up to $400. That way, in your months where the amount is lower, you'll have to put less in there the following month to refill it. When the big $400 rolls around, you'll already have that much saved up!
Hi there! All our videos are timestamped, which means you can quickly to navigate to whatever part of the video you want by scrubbing the progress bar or by clicking in the hyperlinked timestamps in the description! Hope this can help you find the info you're wanting faster! 🌻 Hannah
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
For stuff like auto/home insurance it's better to set the yearly target for a month before renewal day. This way you will meet the target a month earlier and if the insurance cost is higher than last year which it probably will be you will know the exact amount to budget and have a month to do so.
That's a great tip!! Worst case scenario: you're ready for that bill a month ahead of schedule. It's a win-win!
🌻 Hannah
This system makes sooooo much more sense to me than the old options, which I could never keep track of.
Yay! That was the hope! 😂
🌻 Hannah
Hannah we need days/weeks in custom! Our mobile provider bills every 28 days! (13 times a year) I don't want to do the math. I want YNAB to do it for me!
I know you don't want to do math, but I think this is it if you want to do it :) Payment amount x 13 then divided by 12.
@@trackchik6 this is just one example of where daily/weekly would come in handy. I have requested it as an extra feature a few times. Australia seems to do a lot more fortnightly or 4 weekly expenses
Wow, that's fascinating! I wonder why they work on that billing cycle? I'd do what @trackchik6 suggested, but totally see where you're coming from with wanting even more customizable targets! Dropping a feature request to our developers let's them know what users are wanting in the app, so it's worth a submission if you're up for it! It doesn't necessarily mean that feature request will come to fruition, but if we see the same request coming in over and over, we definitely add it to our list of potential features to consider!
Here's that form!
ynab.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek?typeform-source=docs.youneedabudget.com
🌻 Hannah
Informative part of the video starts at 2:05 (chapter 3). You're welcome.
Thank you
@YNAB - give Hannah a raise.
so many people have probably asked them hundreds of times lol
They granted you your wish and now we all have to pay $10 more. Thanks a lot.
@@trebory6😂
@@trebory6 YEP! hahaha There goes my budget. -___-
Correction, YNAB set a new Target for Hannah, bonus money!
Thanks for this. Was waiting for this for sure.
Last month, I reset all of my categories' targets with this new target look for June (a.k.a. this month), and playing with these new targets made me feel like I'm making a fresh start without having to move money around!! 😆😆
So fun!! I love a little YNAB spring cleaning 🥰
🌻 Hannah
Hi Hannah, could you do a video on closing a category that is no longer needed please.
I love the new names for the options! The old ones always confused me.
Great! The hope was that they'd be more "plug and play" and self-explanatory. Just complete the sentence and you're off to the races!
🌻 Hannah
What happened to the target type where you wanted to budget say $1000 for Christmas or a trip, but you spend along the way.. Plane tickets ahead of time.. etc.. I don't see how that can be done now. thanks!
I'm having trouble with this too.
Hi, Hannah! Great video, nice extra credit! 😁
I love the categories but wish we had more repeat years to choose from in custom category.
An every 8 weeks category and in the budget as well.
Looks like I will be reassessing all my targets in my weekly budget meeting with the Mrs. this weekend. (Just for fun 🎉) Thanks Hannah! 😅
Would highly encourage some snacks and fun drinks along with it! Make it a fun little date!
🌻 Hannah
So helpful! I do have a question for a category I haven’t been able to figure out with the new targets. What if I want to save for a wedding with a specific date but want to keep spending from that category before the due date. I don’t want the spending to count against my target and make me replenish what I’ve spent as I’ve already saved for it, just need it to keep having me put aside money towards that goal. Is “Needed for spending” the right target?
nailed it
Use the "Custom" target with the "Set Aside Another" option and then enter the due date... I think that option will not trigger the target to replenish as you spend from it!! 🤔🤔 I hope this helps! 😄😄
"Needed for Spending" would've been the correct target type to select with our old targets! However, if you make sure your current apps/browser are up to date, you should now be seeing the new target types!
The new target types operate on this exact scenario you're talking about: they assume you'll be spending from the category each month, and won't dock you for spending out of a fully funded category. Just like @arambladen3087 said, a custom "set aside another" target type with your wedding date applied will do just the trick!
If you DO want to create a more of a "no touchy" type savings target that will prompt you to put more money in if you spend any out of the category, this is where you'll use the custom "have a balance of" target type! If you add a date to it, it will tell you exactly how much to drop in that category each month to meet your target by the time you want, and if you spend from it during the month, it will prompt you to refund the category right away in order to keep up with your savings goal.
Hope this answers your question!
🌻 Hannah
Thank you all!!
What about setting targets for category amounts that slightly change each month. My rent charge includes water so the amount is slightly different each month but I still want to see progress bars so I add targets. What I've been doing is updating the target but then last month's target is gone. Essentially you can't have different targets for the same category in different months I guess.
It took me three watches to realize you were saying "teenagedom" and not "teenage dumb" The auto captioning didn't help.
Well, we arguably also enter "teenage dumb" when we hit 13, so probably not entirely inaccurate 😅
🌻 Hannah
Seriously. She needs to stop with the quirky-speak and get straight to the point.
Thank you!!
I still really want an option of "contribute X amount per [time period] up to X amount" for things like house emergencies and car emergencies. When I do have to pull from these categories, I want to be able to just slowly (and automatically) contribute to them to get them topped back off.
Oh, that's a fascinating idea! Like "Contribute $200 every month up to $10,000" so when you spend from your home emergencies fund, you fill it back up to $10,000 again at the $200/mo pace? That's a great idea! You should submit that as a feature request! It doesn't guarantee we fulfill that request, but it let's our team know it's a feature people are wanting.
The link to submit feature ideas is here:
ynab.typeform.com/to/Pt6cek?typeform-source=docs.youneedabudget.com
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial Submitted. I have been wanting this for quite some time.
Please can there be weekly custom target??? I think many people raised that, it's very common to have spending every couple of weeks 😢
Hannah, we do grocery shopping every two weeks but because hubby and I are both on Social Security our pay dates are the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. I have never set a target because I can't figure out how to customize the "by date". Sometimes there are 5 weeks in the month which means there are 3 weeks between pays ,so occasionally we will hold off grocery shopping for 3 weeks instead of 2. Usually, I allow $250 each pay for groceries. Is there a way to customize this in YNAB?
Thank you! Can you explain the broken progress bars? I have two in my budget, and the targets seem to be set up the same as other categories that don’t have a broken line.
The segments are weekly targets. It will look different depending on whether it's set aside another or refill up to.
Ok thanks. I don’t have any weekly targets, so I’m still confused!
@@ryanconnolly1718 If you have your categories set for a "Monthly: Set Aside Another" then those segments mean:
Left line - Old money budgeted in previous months.
Right line - New money budgeted in the current month.
I hope this helps! 😄😄
ryan, @arambladen3087 nailed it! It just represents extra money in your category that rolled over into the next month beyond your current month's target amount. This help doc might help you out!
support.ynab.com/en_us/progress-bars-a-guide-SkDEhot09
🌻 Hannah
It's so funny-- I definitely want any extra in my groceries to roll over to next month, but I have no need of that in my internet! 😅
That's what is so great about *personal* finance!
Good point, good point! Another user pointed out that target type doesn't actually matter on consistently priced bills like the internet-valid point 😂 And I guess I'm so used to OVERSPENDING my groceries that I've never even had a scenario where I have money left over at the end of the month in that categories, so that's probably why I do it that way 😂
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial These days it would take a miracle to have extra in the grocery budget!
Word. 🥵
🌻 Hannah
Well played on the opening Hannah. Made me giggle.
After I set my laptop back down on the desk and evaluated what in the world kind of job I have that let's me hoist a computer above my head like a caveman... me as well, Mindy, me as well 😅
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficialat the end and now I'm yawning. Thanks. 😂😂😂 Have a great day!
Thrust upon you against your will too, I'm assuming. Dang yawns.
🌻 Hannah
This was fantastic - thank you for running through the new target functionality.
Question - what recommendations would you have for scheduled transactions vs targets?
For example, I know $1,000 will be withdrawn each 1st of the month from my checking account for my mortgage. Do you recommend a scheduled transaction for the exact amount or a target?
😂 “send me to camp” ❤
For real. Sounds amazing.
🌻 Hannah
To confirm, targets reset each month, right? That is, on the first day of the new month the amounts we need to add to each category with a target are shown …?
Yes, exactly! So, say, if you were to overfund a category one month using the "refill up to" option, once you hit the 1st of the following month, YNAB will recalculate how much is needed to add to that target after accounting for the rollover from the previous month.
🌻 Hannah
With the old targets I had a category for my cellphone where I told it that I needed $115 on Jun 1st every year (I pay yearly). Occasionally, I would buy some data for my phone and would assign that expense to the cellphone category and YNAB would recalculate how much I needed to assign each month to still have $115 on 1 Jun. This would repeat every year. I can see under custom, I can set up balance needed by, but there is no option to have it repeat yearly. Will I now have to reset the target every year? I think I will run into the same problem with other categories as well. For example, I need to save up for a yearly insurance payment but occasionally need to borrow some of that money due to low funds. I also had a similar target for Gifts, where I would like to have $600 available on 1 Dec each year, regardless of how much I spend in that category...so basically, it to recalculate every month how much I need to contribute. Do I just have to re-set these up each year?
Hi there! This is because the custom "have a balance of" option is more intended for expenses or categories you won't be spending from (like maintaining an emergency fund balance of $1,000) or goals you will be contributing to over a long period of time and not spending from often (like saving up $10,000 for a new deck).
For your situation, you'll want to select the "Yearly" target option (as opposed to "Custom"), and select "set aside another." Make it due for June 1st, repeating every one year. If you spend money from this category on data in the middle of the year, YNAB will recalculate your new monthly contribution amount for the rest of the year in the next month, always making sure you end up with $115 by June 1st.
Hope this helps!
🌻 Hannah
Now I just need a weekly auto-assign feature and my time budgeting time will be cut in half 😁
The underfunded button should actually still be quite helpful in this scenario! If all categories have targets with the appropriate due dates and target types added, YNAB's "underfunded" button will determine which categories are most important to fund first (or partially) using only the amount of money in Ready to Assign. After applying the underfunded button in the web app (or before applying the assignment in the mobile app), you can then shift any money around that you'd rather assign differently. So if YNAB decided to fund your "household supplies" category with the auto assignment, but YOU would rather wait to fun that category and put all your extra money toward your "groceries" category first, you can make that change post-assignment.
Still takes a little time, but worth playing around with!
🌻 Hannah
Do you recommend having separate bank accounts for the targets so that the money is not utilized elsewhere?
If you are using YNAB, it does not matter if all of your money is in one account or ten. You budget all money into the categories (and create targets) , no matter where the money is held. If this is difficult to understand, you may wish to take some of of their learning courses.
One of the big benefits of YNAB is not having to have a whole slew of different accounts. The categories serve this function. If dollars are assigned to a savings category, those same dollars can't be utilized elsewhere (assuming you're using YNAB as intended, not overspending your categories.)
@dpayne1943 is all over it! With YNAB, which account your dollars are stored in doesn't actually matter-it's the categories that keep your dollars organized. Anytime you spend money (like on groceries), you'll record that transaction and categorize it to your groceries category, which it will then subtract what you spent from the available total. This ensures that you are indeed ONLY spending grocery money on groceries, and not accidentally spending away your vacation savings or your emergency fund on bananas.
If you would like to make sure checking account dollars are only assigned to certain categories and savings account dollars are only assigned to certain other categories, I'd encourage you to group all of your savings categories into one larger savings category group. You can then select the entire category and ensure that the "available" amount for the category matches the account total in your savings bank account. However, I personally just make sure I always have enough money in my checking account to do my general spending, and outside of that I don't pay much attention to which bank account my dollars live in-YNAB is the thing that tells me which dollars I'm allowed to spend on what!
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions!
🌻 Hannah
I just started the free trail and I have a month to figure out if this can work for me is there a good way to track previous months income and expenses to have an idea of what a completed month would look like without messing with the available money in my accounts without linking my accounts 😅
The simple answer is no. If you just started YNAB, you start from that point and move forward with what you have available in your bank accounts... If you have been tracking your spending somewhere else (like on a spreadsheet or a budget book) before YNAB, then that should be your reference to your future spending!! There is no completed/perfect month, there's always something that will derail the budget one way or another!! That's why it is up to YOU to ensure your months go as smoothly as you possibly can!! I hope this helps 😄😄
Hi there! YNAB is focused on handling the dollar we have right now, so we encourage users to start from right where they are the day they start their trial and not worry about past spending/income.
What I would encourage you to do instead is set up a target for each category for the amount you expect to spend in that category (make your best guess for now, and adjust overtime as your spending trends become a little more clear). Once you've fully fleshed out all the targets in your spending plan, you can select all categories and look at the dollar amount on the "underfunded" button in the Auto Assign menu. This amount tells you how much money you would need to fund a month's worth of your expenses/savings according to your targets! You can then evaluate and adjust from there as you like.
I hope this helps!
🌻 Hannah
What about every other week targets that are due?
I would do the same Eric just suggested!
If I need to pay my nanny $800 every two weeks, I'll set a weekly target for a $400 weekly amount. This makes sure that I'll be setting aside $400 each week for the nanny, equaling $800 every two weeks.
Even better is that if the bill is always due on a certain day (or, for example, I always pay the babysitter every other Friday), YNAB will account for how many Fridays are actually in that month, making sure I set aside $400 each time-this is good! You may find you have some "extra" money sitting in this category for a while, but it's not truly extra, because eventually-when I finally hit that inevitable month where I need to pay the babysitter three times instead twice-I'll be fully prepared.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions on that approach!
🌻 Hannah
May I give my honest (but very humble :)) opinion?
I struggle to see why I would want to use the "Set aside another..." option - the peculiarity of which, as explained in the video, is to allow for leftover money to build up - for expenses that are predictable in time and amount, like the Internet bill. If I know that every month my Internet will cost me exactly 100$, why would I want that category to build up over time? I'd rather use this option for variable/less predictable expenses, where a bit of safety margin is desirable, than for perfectly predictable ones. For the latter, I would use "Refill up to", because I know exactly how much I will need...
I suspect I am missing something here, so any clarification would be more than welcome :):):)
Thanks!!
If you will reliably spend the category down to $0 every month, it really does not matter what you pick. The options are instructing YNAB whether or not consider leftover money when setting the targets the following month.
She did say you can change the target if you know which target option to use! For people who are confused about which one to use (since this is a new feature to all YNABers), it is recommended to use the "Set Aside Another" option until they figure out which target option is for what category!! I hope this helps! 😄😄
Okay, good point good point, I'm picking up what you're putting down. I suppose for something like the phone bill or the internet bill, it actually does make more sense to use the refill up to option since you don't even need to "build up" a back log of cash in there. For things like the electric or water bill, which I never know how much they're gonna cost, I like "set aside another" so that some extra can build up in there like you also said, but you make a very good point! I think I thought "set aside another" made sense because there would never be any reason my internet bill would be charged *more* or *less*, so might as well set aside the exact amount every time, BUT... a "refill up to" target does this too. And in the off-chance that I did ever get a random discount on my internet bill, it would credit that extra to next months target.
So... you sold me! @monchichi4545 is also right, that with consistent bills that you spend down to $0 every month, the target type doesn't really matter. So I suppose just follow your heart on those! 😂 But, great point!
🌻 Hannah
definitely agree, that is the point, in the end: with fixed, predictable expenses, the type of target doesn't really matter after all 😊
Actually, the REAL point is... keep up the excellent content please, these videos are awesome!!
Haha! Well, THANKS! And thanks for being an active, thoughtful listener! Keepin' me SHARP 😂
🌻 Hannah
I didn't realize the option "Set aside another $$" will rollover unused money to the next month. Not sure why I thought that was unique to "Refill up to $$"
The money will rollover to the next month in both cases, whether you use "set aside another" or "refill up to"! The difference is that a "refill up to" target type will take the rolled-over money and apply it back to meeting your target for the next month, where as the "set aside another" will simply keep that money in that category *in addition to* fully meeting the target on top of that.
If I have a target set for $100 on a category this month and I spend $50 out of it:
- a "refill up to" target type would put that remaining $50 toward my target for next month and only prompt me to add another $50 to the category, leaving me with $100 in that category next month.
- a "set aside another" target type would still retain the $50 of rollover, but prompt me to assign ANOTHER $100 to meet my target, leaving me with $150 in that category next month.
Hope that helps!
🌻 Hannah
Crystal clear, thank you Hannah!
Slay. Does this baby sitter know Mike's Mic?
lol, I think the real question here is do iiiiii know mike's mic.
And the answer after googling is... I guess now I do 😂
🌻 Hannah
Thanks for another great video! Question? You set a target of $200 a month for Electricity. This is the average monthly amount from YNAB for last year. Is there a way to have YNAB roll the extra at the start of a new year. Bills go from $90 - $400 per month so can't roll it monthly.
Choose $200/month & "set aside another $200." This should build the dollars in the category during the cheaper months to have extra $$ for the more expensive months.
You can still accomplish this. Set the target to your highest electrical bill ($400). Then, set it to refill up to $400. That way, in your months where the amount is lower, you'll have to put less in there the following month to refill it. When the big $400 rolls around, you'll already have that much saved up!
@@MrsSauer-vh6kh Thanks, That is what I am currently doing. Thought it would be nice if there was a way to have YNAB roll the extra into the next year
Cut the two minutes of junk out from the beginning of the video.
Hi there! All our videos are timestamped, which means you can quickly to navigate to whatever part of the video you want by scrubbing the progress bar or by clicking in the hyperlinked timestamps in the description! Hope this can help you find the info you're wanting faster!
🌻 Hannah