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How do (did) you guys deal with the month-to-month leftover money while working toward Rule 4? Create a line item for the remainder and negative budget at the beginning of the month, with a refill plus some at the end of next month? Just leave it alone in the Available to Budget up top? Whatever, as long as it works for me?
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Feb 22, 2015 02:31
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zamin posted:How do (did) you guys deal with the month-to-month leftover money while working toward Rule 4? This is where budgeting pays off: You can start putting those extra funds toward specific goals. In the next month, you can start budgeting this month's leftover money! Keep delegating money to the appropriate categories; If you just have a "miscellaneous overflow" category, you can't really keep track of exactly what you're doing with it -- it's contrary to the primary purpose of a budget. If you keep doing this over time, eventually you'll find that you can cover your next month's expenses with this month's income. After that, you can dump excess funds into savings/spendings goals.
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Feb 22, 2015 02:43
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What I've been doing (started 1/5 this year) is leaving my remainder unbudgeted at the top and applying what's left toward my smaller categories, working up in amount, in the next month tab.
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Feb 22, 2015 03:04
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You can do either. I made a "buffer" category, then deleted (hid) it when I was done. I've seen ynabbers do it both ways in the classes.
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Feb 22, 2015 04:06
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I'm starting to hit my stride with YNAB, I think. I used our tax return to top off some of our spending accounts that we overspent or for expenses we knew were coming up, and then even though we're still playing catch up with my wife's paychecks, we were able to balance our budget for next month using this month's income (about $500 short). Having a plan 
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Feb 24, 2015 15:34
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2 months of using YNAB I've gotten my credit card paid down $1,600 and will have last months statement paid off in full. Slowly but surely my bills are being shifted to earlier paychecks and some already in Step 4. Now I just need to 
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Feb 24, 2015 20:57
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dreesemonkey posted:I'm starting to hit my stride with YNAB, I think. I used our tax return to top off some of our spending accounts that we overspent or for expenses we knew were coming up, and then even though we're still playing catch up with my wife's paychecks, we were able to balance our budget for next month using this month's income (about $500 short). I've been using YNAB for four years now. March is a big month where I get tax returns and my annual bonus check. Generally, this money is used to play catch up on overdrawn categories and buy random poo poo. For this year, I've funded several categories with this money that make it so I don't have to do monthly funding and it's fantastic. After the checks hit I will have fully budgeted our vacations, Christmas, my twins preschool, life insurance premiums and two significant home projects. I've also put a chunk aside to fill budget gaps throughout the year. It definitely feels good man.
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Feb 24, 2015 21:39
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Was browsing on Amazon for a birthday gift for my girlfriend, yesterday, looking through different versions of the same thing. I found one that I kinda liked, but wanted to keep browsing, and eventually found the one I wanted to get, and bought it. Went to my recent orders to confirm the total price to enter into YNAB, and realized that I accidentally bought the other one, earlier. Cancelled the order, but I'm still waiting for the payment to reverse ($116). A couple months ago, this would have been a disaster, but right now, it's just a minor annoyance. Thanks YNAB!
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Feb 24, 2015 23:38
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zamin posted:A couple months ago, this would have been a disaster, but right now, it's just a minor annoyance. For September's quarterly property tax bill, I apparently, back in June, put a scheduled payment into my bank account, and a scheduled transaction in YNAB. Then I got a reminder that my bill was coming due, so I paid it. I put it in YNAB, and the next time I reconciled, there were 2 transactions for it. "WTF?" I asked myself. Figured out what happened, and carried a positive balance on my property taxes from September until January's bill came "due". Oops, I guess? Paying attention to my budget via YNAB made it no big deal - came out of my buffer.
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Feb 25, 2015 03:30
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Feature request submitted to the company: Recurring frequency of every 30 days (because some services bill by the day instead of monthly). grrr t-mo prepaid.
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Feb 25, 2015 20:55
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SaltLick posted:Another satisfied customer! Hey btw I took the plunge and I get the appeal now. They are really good. Still steep as gently caress price, but definitely better than anything I own.
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Feb 26, 2015 19:07
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I highly doubt MeUndies are any better than ExOfficio Give-n-Go boxer briefs.
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Feb 26, 2015 19:41
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Probably not but they are nearly half the price. Premium underwear is something everyone should invest in. It's time to ditch your Hanes people
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Feb 26, 2015 20:13
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I've been wearing the Champion C9 series for a few years. I don't have a frame of reference because I haven't had any other brands but they are awesome and not real expensive.
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Feb 26, 2015 20:29
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SaltLick posted:Probably not but they are nearly half the price. Premium underwear is something everyone should invest in. It's time to ditch your Hanes people Doesn't look like it: https://www.meundies.com/products/boxer-brief http://www.sierratradingpost.com/exofficio-boxer-briefs-underwear-for-men~p~6488u/ (pre-35% off coupon that's issued every few weeks) Regardless, whichever brand you choose, good underwear are awesome.
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Feb 26, 2015 21:26
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Recently, whenever I use the YNAB app on my phone, I have to put in a payee. This is annoying, because I never fill in payees. And I can't seem to figure out how to keep that field empty. Am I missing something?
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Mar 4, 2015 09:51
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Why would you not put in a payee? If you don't want to see who you're paying, do something more general like "Gas" or "restaurants" or something like that.
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Mar 4, 2015 13:17
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Gothmog1065 posted:Why would you not put in a payee? If you don't want to see who you're paying, do something more general like "Gas" or "restaurants" or something like that. That would be what the categories are for. It is repetitious if that is all he is using it for.
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Mar 4, 2015 13:58
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Chin Strap posted:That would be what the categories are for. It is repetitious if that is all he is using it for. Yeah this. I don't care if I spend money in grocery store A or B. I just want to see how much I've spent on groceries. And a couple of weeks ago, I could leave the payee field empty, but now it seems I can't do that anymore.
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Mar 4, 2015 14:16
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If you enter a payee, it will remember that payee's location along with category and payment method, and then next time you enter an expense in that location, it will auto-fill all of the fields.
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Mar 4, 2015 14:23
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Just make a payee named "Groceries" and be done with it. Instead of entering Groceries in the Category you enter it there and as Guy Axlerod said it'll remember the category so the amount of effort is the same. I have a generic one for Gas but that's it. It works well enough.
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Mar 4, 2015 14:35
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Guy Axlerod posted:If you enter a payee, it will remember that payee's location along with category and payment method, and then next time you enter an expense in that location, it will auto-fill all of the fields. Ah ok, that makes sense. I regularly update through the app while I'm at work, so it probably thinks that I'm always in the grocery store or w/e
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Mar 4, 2015 15:40
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I added my credit cards as accounts to simplify the reconciliation process, but I see them in my budget as "Pre-YNAB Debt". They have a zero balance because I added them after paying them off completely. Can I hide that category without adversely affecting my budget? Should I just delete that category?
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Mar 25, 2015 17:41
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Karthe posted:I added my credit cards as accounts to simplify the reconciliation process, but I see them in my budget as "Pre-YNAB Debt". They have a zero balance because I added them after paying them off completely. Can I hide that category without adversely affecting my budget? Should I just delete that category? Go ahead and delete it. I hate that pesky category.
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Mar 25, 2015 17:43
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TraderStav posted:Go ahead and delete it. I hate that pesky category. My next question is about that whole "use last month's pay" model. I currently get paid on the 10th and 25th of each month. Pushing the 25th into the following month is easy enough but should I be doing the same thing with the 10th? If that's the case then how does this sound: take from my more-than-ample "emergency fund" an amount equal to a typical paycheck and back-date to the 10th of March as income for April. Then, when April 10th rolls around I can say that that's income for May, and do the same thing for April 25th's paycheck. Is that robbing Peter to pay Paul?
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Mar 25, 2015 17:54
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Karthe posted:Alright, easy enough. Until you build your buffer your 10th paycheck should be Income This Month and the 25th will be Income Next Month. As you work your budget eventually you should be able to make the 10th Income Next Month and you've successfully accomplished it! I would advise against taking from your e-fund to pay for it since it's not addressing the cash flow issue of not being able to be a month ahead.
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Mar 25, 2015 17:57
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TraderStav posted:Until you build your buffer your 10th paycheck should be Income This Month and the 25th will be Income Next Month. As you work your budget eventually you should be able to make the 10th Income Next Month and you've successfully accomplished it! I would advise against taking from your e-fund to pay for it since it's not addressing the cash flow issue of not being able to be a month ahead. IAmKale fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Mar 25, 2015 |
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Mar 25, 2015 18:00
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What's the difference between having a one-month emergency fund and living on last month's income?
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Mar 25, 2015 18:48
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Radbot posted:What's the difference between having a one-month emergency fund and living on last month's income? Have a lump sum of money equal to monthly expenses vs budgeting ahead a month
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Mar 25, 2015 18:50
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Radbot posted:What's the difference between having a one-month emergency fund and living on last month's income? If poo poo hits the fan on the 31st, you're hosed.
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Mar 25, 2015 18:51
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so I could say that I finally figured out what this god damned cube is doing. Get well Lowtax.
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A one-month emergency fund is money on top of last month's income. You want to use last month's income for your normal expenses in an upcoming month but have an extra amount available for any time or unknown unexpected expenses beyond that.
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Mar 25, 2015 18:58
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Teeter posted:A one-month emergency fund is money on top of last month's income. You want to use last month's income for your normal expenses in an upcoming month but have an extra amount available for any time or unknown unexpected expenses beyond that. I think I get that, but that still doesn't seem all that different from a two month emergency fund and otherwise living paycheck-to-paycheck - right? spincube posted:If poo poo hits the fan on the 31st, you're hosed. I don't get this. How so?
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Mar 25, 2015 19:04
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Radbot posted:I think I get that, but that still doesn't seem all that different from a two month emergency fund and otherwise living paycheck-to-paycheck - right? I mean, functional can be seen as the same but really you're budgetting money to be used next month, instead of throwing it into a pile. Even if they're both going to be used for next months expenses, budgeting a month ahead is just a big goal for YNAB that makes life a lot less stressful and breaks the mentality of being paycheck to paycheck
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Mar 25, 2015 19:08
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Bread Set Jettison posted:I mean, functional can be seen as the same but really you're budgetting money to be used next month, instead of throwing it into a pile. Even if they're both going to be used for next months expenses, budgeting a month ahead is just a big goal for YNAB that makes life a lot less stressful and breaks the mentality of being paycheck to paycheck Gotcha, so it's more about emphasizing the importance of budgeting so that living on last month's income/having two months of E fund is even possible in the first place. Makes sense, I can definitely see that mindset being valuable.
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Mar 25, 2015 19:16
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It makes paying for expenses way less stressful. One of the big appeals of YNAB to me was that forward thinking mentallity and also removing the "YOU hosed UP" budget mentallity
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Mar 25, 2015 19:20
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Radbot posted:I don't get this. How so? If you're only living on last month's income, you've only ever got a month's worth of expenses before your budget runs dry: if you lose your job at the end of March, although April would be funded you'd be using up your budget faster than it could be replaced. Having a one-month emergency fund means that you have a little extra time to pay the bills if the worst happens, without worrying about where the next rent payment is coming from. Honestly, I think it's down to semantics and your own risk tolerance: my aim is to have, on April 1st, enough put by to cover April's bills, so that the money I earn in April can be used to fund May's budget. That's entirely separate from my 'emergency fund' of a few months, which I'll only use in case I get into a car wreck or the company I work for collapses or something. Maybe it'd be less confusing to call it a 'gently caress you, I quit' fund instead? That way it'd avoid trapping people into thinking of an 'emergency fund' in terms of lasting a specific period of time - one month, six months, whether it's expenses or income, and so on.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:18
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Spincube- this is why you should have both a buffer (rule 4) and savings. The buffer covers irregularities in pay and lets you ignore when you get paid, the savings is for longer or bigger issues.Radbot posted:I think I get that, but that still doesn't seem all that different from a two month emergency fund and otherwise living paycheck-to-paycheck - right? What you want is to have an entire months income sitting ready to go on the 31st for all normal expenses, PLUS an emergency fund for expenses you don't anticipate. In practice you pay bills as they come in, and you don't have to worry about when you get paid or how your paycheck(s) align with your bills. The funds are there because you had them on the 1st of the month. As to the original question from Karthe. Do it. The buffer is great for peace of mind. Functionally theres no difference, and you'll rebuild the emergency fund to where it was easily enough. Which account the money is in is primarily psychological anyway.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:27
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ilkhan posted:Spincube- this is why you should have both a buffer (rule 4) and savings. The buffer covers irregularities in pay and lets you ignore when you get paid, the savings is for longer or bigger issues. I understand - all I'm saying is that the definitions of a few terms sound a little muddied. As I currently understand it, when starting from scratch with YNAB you gradually build up a buffer category to store one month's expenses: this one month's expenses then eventually frees you to live on last month's income, thus achieving a Rule 4 state. Having an emergency fund is entirely separate from this process - once you're out of the payday-to-payday cycle it's a safety net you can then start to build underneath yourself, depending on how much of a safety net you feel you need.
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Mar 25, 2015 20:43
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I have a question about reimbursements and Rule 4: if I make a reimbursable purchase in March and I receive the reimbursement in April's first paycheck that gets sent to May's budget, how do I split that paycheck so that the reimbursement amount gets applied to March's reimbursement category that I used for the purchase?
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Mar 26, 2015 23:07
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Karthe posted:I have a question about reimbursements and Rule 4: if I make a reimbursable purchase in March and I receive the reimbursement in April's first paycheck that gets sent to May's budget, how do I split that paycheck so that the reimbursement amount gets applied to March's reimbursement category that I used for the purchase? I have a separate category called "To be reimbursed" and put the charge in there. Then I set the remaining (negative) balance to be carried forward to the next month where I mark the corresponding income as "To be reimbursed" to offset it as if it never happened. Essentially taking it out of the budget but tracking the dollars.
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Mar 26, 2015 23:15
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