YNABJ - Everyone needs one! - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > YNABJ - Everyone needs one!

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Old Fart posted:

My debit card was compromised a few months ago. They got $800. It was cleared up and credit back within a week, but still. That's a reason not to keep an emergency fund in checking.

Up here in Canada, we get 1% savings! Woohoo!

Australia, bitch, currently getting 4.62% :cool:

I've been using YNAB for a while. You can get the free Andriod/Iphone app. It uses dropbox to sync your budget. It's fantastic but my only complaint is that I can't see my untouched budget categories or modify them.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2014 09:41

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:50

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

How do you reconcile? What does it actually do? Ive been using YNAB for ages now but I never stick to it. I still save a lot but I really want to track every single dollar to see where my money is going. What usually happens is either my actual balance is more than YNAB balance or vis versa. So I usually make a fresh start.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2014 15:39

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Thanks guys in regards to reconciliation. I was actually clearing everything as I entered it in. I thought the green C meant the transaction had gone through. I was doing poo poo wrong.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2014 23:49

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Right! That makes sense. How does YNAB actually handle the discrepancy? I remember doing reconciliation once and it threw my budget out of wack and it made things confusing.

Veskit posted:

Wait the green C is for reconciliations?

Apparently. I thought it was a relic of old times or there for transactions that are pending.

Suspicious Lump fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Feb 14, 2014

# ¿ Feb 14, 2014 01:26

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Can people critique my budget categories? I'm wondering how specific I should get for everyday expenses. Should I have a different category for eating out/market food/cash on hand vs restaurants/incidentals?

MONTHLY BILLS
Phone
Internet
Electricity
Rent
Parents

EVERYDAY EXPENSES
Groceries
Fuel
Restaurants
Incidentals
Hobbies

Long Term Expenses
Car Repairs/Maintenance
Medical
Health Insurance

SAVINGS GOAL
50k Savings Goal
Car Replacement
Vacation

# ¿ Feb 17, 2014 16:08

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

LogisticEarth posted:

A few things that might be missing: Clothing, Gifts (Christmas, Birthdays, Weddings/etc.), Computer replacement/maintenance, Home Maintenance*. "Incidentals" is kind of a broad category depending on what you want it to cover. Generally I have mine broken up into "Spending money", "Entertainment", "Beer/Wine/Spirits" (separate from drinking/eating out), and a "Misc. expenses" for everything else.

*You may not think you need a home maintenance category because you rent, but I've found that it still helps in case you need to pick up a new appliance, furniture, small repairs, etc. Also, I don't see a category for renter's insurance there. Get some if you don't have any. It's like $10/month.

Thanks! I'll be adding most of them very shortly. I live in a sharehouse, I dont think I need renters insurance. My stuff put together is less than $500 bux. I think my bed is the most expensive thing. Also I live in a relatively safe neighborhood where sometimes a push bike is stolen. Thanks for the consideration though. I did try to look up how much it is, and (ahah) the site said:

quote:

due to a change in our underwriting guidelines, Allianz is no longer able to provide home insurance in this area. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause.

I think a lot of companies don't offer contents insurance in my state because of all the cyclones and tropical weather we get.

Cuddlebottom posted:

For every day expenses, you can go as specific as it helps you plan. For example, if you ate out for lunch at work, it would make sense to budget that separately as a predictable expense. Does incidentals also cover fun money, outside of hobbies? I've got a "spending money" category that covers any small things I want like a book or whatever.

A few more you might be missing, if they're applicable, besides what LogisticEarth said: car insurance, saving for moving/deposit, laundromat money, haircuts.

I think I agree. I'm going to get really specific about about both my daily spending and my savings.

Kenny Rogers posted:

Categories that I'm using that I don't see in your list:
Car Registration
Parking
Online Services (that are not your ISP like web hosting for a blog or email, MMORPG subscription, MyFICO, Spotify/Grooveshark/Pandora, etc.)
Software Purchases (Steam, Amazon, Play Store/App store purchases, etc.)
Books (I use this for regular books and Kindle purchases)
Tax Preparation
Fees and Penalties (when you pull $20 from the ATM when you're out someplace, split the transaction. Put $20 in your cash account, and the $2.50 service fee in this category)

I was thinking of starting a blog so I might add an online service category. Car rego is something I forgot about, thanks!

Thanks everyone.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 02:57

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

spinst posted:

I'm currently fighting the battle of saving for so many things it feels like I don't have enough money to have any fun. My emergency fund is wimpy, my car needs a 60k service soon, I might be moving in June� But I also want to pay an extra 33% on my car payment each month and slowly build my Roth IRA and and and and

Don't stop having fun. i think budgeting is about making sure you spend your money appropriately, this includes budgeting for fun. If you're too much of a tight arse then youll snap one day and buy something ridiculous and then hate yourself. Also because not to practice false economy.

Of course this is all within reason. If you're poor and need every dollar then you may need every dollar to live.

Oh and you can always have fun without spending money. but I save a lot because I don't drink hehe.

# ¿ Feb 19, 2014 11:36

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Did the sale end? I see as 25% off @ $44.99 USD. Might be because Im in Aus

# ¿ Jun 27, 2014 02:41

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

In YNAB if I budget $200 for education in July and end up spending $300, in August if I again budget $200 will education have $200 or $100?

Does a negative balance on a category rollover like a positive balance?

# ¿ Jul 23, 2014 15:04

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Thanks for the links AWU and thanks for the explanation LogisticEarth.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2014 16:14

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Panzer Attack posted:

Holy poo poo, I was just playing with my favourite video game, YNAB, and was looking at my reports... I've gone from my new worth being $-4000 to $-700 since I started using it earlier this year... next month I will be net worth positive for the first time since 2012!

TY SA for getting me onto this, YNAB is a lifesaver. I can't believe how much it has changed my spending habits. Once I get my home cooking under control (I eat at restaurants and get takeaway farrrr too often) I will be totally in the clear!

This is really awesome, it took me a second to realise you were talking about debit.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2014 01:35

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

I'm starting to dislike YNABs monthly centric approach to budgeting. I get paid every 2 weeks, I've tried forecasting my budget but that seems like a bad idea but I keep switching back. Currently I have reoccurring income but they are not exactly evenly distributed throughout the month. When the money comes in I allocate it where needed but I'd prefer to simply setup a budget and not touch it for a while.

Is there any option that simplifies this? I'd prefer to have a fortnightly budget. I think it's a major flaw/limitation in YNAB.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 03:06

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

Old Fart posted:

What do you have in mind? With varying income, even if it's fortnightly, how would you set a budget and never change it? I'm not really sure what you're wanting.

The solution, I think, is to get one month ahead. Then you budget the previous couple of paychecks together at the same time. When the next month comes along, you can simply copy the previous month's numbers (under the lightning bolt symbol at the top, next to the month's summary). I think that's basically what you want, if I'm reading you right?

It's not good at forecasting, no. It's for getting your spending under control, and living within your means of what you've already earned, not what you think you might earn.

I have a massive buffer in the form of a savings goal just sitting there. The issue is not availability of money, it's more about setting up an ideal budgeting scenario which, after initial tweaking and modification of categories and their limits, I would not have to touch again. Currently I find myself having to go back in and reenter my budget because I haven't found an optimal way of using YNAB.

I think another problem is my pay essentially goes into 3 different bank accounts and this adds to my lack of transaction recording. I completely realise this is all nitpicking and if I wanted I could work with YNAB but I think having such a settings limited environment is really hindering the software. I can see why they've done it though, but an advance mode would make a lot of people happy.

# ¿ Aug 5, 2014 05:22

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

SiGmA_X posted:

It changes nothing. You're complaining about a problem you created.

I'm starting to think my problem is this.

In regards to lightning bolt, I use that and it's really amazing but I stopped using it because it is considered forecasting. But I realise now if I use last months income to budget for this month it would solve this problem. LogisticEarth: I really hate having that red XXXX I don't know why but as per above, I'm creating a problem.

Old Fart posted:

Are you just using the savings buffer and budgeting paycheck to paycheck, or have you used that buffer to budget one month ahead, and label the paychecks as next month's income? If not, I strongly recommend it. It makes everything easier.

YNAB doesn't care where the money lives. It's all part of the budget. I don't understand how that hinders your transaction recording? Could you explain a bit?

Yes, I'm budgeting paycheck to paycheck. I'm essentially living off last months paycheck but budgeting month to month. In regards to different accounts, I was being pedantic and trying to have everything into YNAB and being worried when the totals dont match up (because I get paid fortnightly).

Thanks for the help guys.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2014 00:53

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 22:50

Suspicious Lump: Mar 11, 2004

I get paid $1000 every 2 weeks.
I forecast - $2000/month.

At the beginning of the month
Actual balance: $1000
YNAB Balance: $2000

I would still prefer to have my budget fortnightly. I'm going to rework my budget soon to include step 4 and to also remove the the unnecessary detail of 3 bank accounts.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2014 05:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > YNABJ - Everyone needs one!