After using YNAB for almost a year I can't imagine going back to budgeting on paper. I'm saving more now than I ever have because I can prioritize more effectively since every dollar is accounted for.

YNAB lets you look to your budget instead of your bank account. That is budgeting’s magic.

100% agree that moving money from category to category really teaches you about your true priorities, and can even give some priorities that you didn't know you had a chance to show themselves.

I'm in my 4th year of using YNAB and still use my Stuff I Forgot to Budget For category, usually to flex dining out or groceries or tbh games. The category started out at $100, is now down to $25, but I still use it! It's an important part of budgeting to have some wiggle room, but also understand that it's not what the To Be Budgeted section is for.

Love you in these videos. Still trying to navigate budgeting. I do miss your other videos though, wish you could do both

You're my fav host in YNAB. Thank you for delivering great ideas in clear and calming way.

Great video! I have an actual category called "stuff I forgot to budget for" and "burning a hole in my pocket" they both get moved to more responsible categories if they go unused or as needed.

@YNABofficial

4 жыл бұрын

"Burning a hole in my pocket" - so good! And that's a great point about moving them to other categories if unused. 😀

@Dilcie

4 жыл бұрын

Love the “Burning a hole in my pocket” category. I’m going to add that one to my budget.

You really zeroed in on why zero based budgeting has been so helpful to me as I bet in control of my finances. One of the problems I faced before YNAB that I made a priority to fix was impulse shopping. If I saw an ad for a fancy new kitchen tool that I could imagine helping me in the house, well... I needed it, obviously! And pre-YNAB I never had to face or think about the opportunity cost of buying the gadget--what I was losing in exchange. Doing my budget when I receive a pay check, and when I'm not under the influence of the shiny new doohickey, let's me set my priorities and having to face those priorities when I want to go in and move money to buy the thingie is an amazingly strong deterrent to unnecessary impulse shopping. Another, complementary, thing I did was recommended by Chelsea Fagan of TheFinancialDiet--when I was making my first budget in YNAB I went through my credit card and Bank statements and flagged every transaction that I had no real memory of making: a bagel here, some socks off the internet there, etc. The fact that I had no memory of them meant they weren't important and didn't improve my life in a meaningful way, and therefore I could make a note to remember that those things should not be priorities for me when that impulse-purchase-itch starts back up.

Thank you! Please make this one of the beginner how-to videos. So helpful!

My favorite part of this video was when you used my last name 4:37. ❤️ We practice the YNAB rules, but we also have an Emergency Fund category. This is left over from before we started with YNAB. It gives us piece of mind even if we never use it for anything. Thanks for another wonderful video!

Wonderful video! Thank you so much.

Wow, such a good video! Really informative and made simple. Thank you :)

Liking all these new videos! Keep em coming 🤑🤑

Great video. I'm also sharing YNAB with family members. Awesome. Great video.

Another great vid, thanks!

Love the new intro & graphic!

Thanks 🎉so simple

I’m 5 days into trying YNAB. I’ve used two major ‘Australian’ Budgeting tools/app over the last 6 years and wow I am impressed! I planned to quickly break rules - because I considered myself beyond a newbie to budgeting. Regardless, I quickly road tested the ‘recommended way’ and well - to my surprise - I can not speak more highly of manual entry of method for transactions (despite being a sync bank account person in the past), and ZBB (zero based budgeting) is a breeze. My my first app did ZBB well, the 2nd didn’t have it (it was more for tracking and not budgeting), but YNAB is superior to both I already have ‘old’ money and I can see this app is going to give me some insight that my previously apps were not able to do. The YNAB mechanisms for rolling with the punches (i.e. ‘robbing from Peter to pay Paul’) make it so FAST to shuffle the money. Shifting money via the YNAB mechanisms minimises the confusion; if anything it is a symphony in simplification once you have the hang of it. Well done YNAB! I can’t image go back to the old ways for the budgeting insight - I look forward to see what reporting tools are available (I would like it to I replace my other app which does track and pull data well). Tip - I did consuming many of the instructional guides and some videos (from all the various presenters) - to get the best feel before I dived in - and, that was a great grounding - it convinced me to try unexplored methods that I would have dismissed; many I will now add to my toolkit.

@YNABofficial

4 жыл бұрын

Nettie-this is one glorious comment!! SO glad you found YNAB, and SO glad you shared your story with us!! Hope it's going just as well for you now as it was then. Definitely dive into your reports and see what you can learn about yourself from them! Suuuper helpful and very eye opening. Budget on!! -Hannah :)

I have a "things I forgot to budget for" category

Great video

There are tons of people in groups for ynab that just leave. the money they don't need for the month in "to be budgeted" I cannot do that I have to do something with it lol

Hi Ashley! I'm wondering what your thoughts are on an emergency fund. I'm working toward a goal of having a year's worth of expenses saved up in an emergency fund due to the income uncertainty of COVID. How do you suggest notating this in YNAB? Budget the money in future months? Have a general "Emergency Fund" or "Rainy Day Fund" category where the money goes? Budget the money to each category for future months (like having multiple months of rent/mortgage allocated to that category)?

@kacybudgetyourfreedom6736

4 жыл бұрын

I create an "Emergency Fund" master category and then sub-categories. Housing, groceries, loan payments, etc. I don't like budgeting in future months because it's so hard to see what is actually happening AND if you over-budget, YNAB will pull from future months without being obvious about it, which could give you a false sense of reality.

@JeanGenie92

3 жыл бұрын

Great question!

I’m only here for Ashley! 😂 is there any chance you’ll sort your videos into playlists according to the presenter? Although I’d like to point out that zero based budgeting actually means you have to justify your spend each time. For example you spent $500 on food last month but that doesn’t automatically mean you start the next month with $500. You have to zero out your budget and justify the amount you plan to spend again.

Yeah, I definitely like having a buffer for unexpected autopay expenses, but it’s definitely nice to make a zero based budget.

Wow! This seems so useful, can't wait to try it out! Just one question, what if some of my income is not always certain from the beginning of the month?

@NanetteLoves2Budget

Жыл бұрын

One of the YNAB principles is to only budget the money you have. This takes out the uncertainty. If you have $100 in your wallet, budget where you’ll spend that. You don’t budget the unpredictable income until you have actually received it. This comment is 8 months old so I’m likely telling you something you already know. 🤓

I’ve struggled with that myself.

Is there really a difference between 'leaving a little money unasssigned" and creating a "stuff I forgot to budget for" account?

@pareannafamily7582

4 жыл бұрын

There are different ways to think on this question. Lets say i choose to create 'stuff i forgot to budget for' and be done. Thereby zeroing out 'to be budgeted'. Mainly because with Next pay cycle, new income, instantly verify correct income as not mixed with remnants of last income cycle. Thats one benefit.

@chrisrudsdale

4 жыл бұрын

Two thoughts: One, it can help with the decision making. By that I mean it could make you ask yourself "Is this really something I forgot to budget for that I need, or do I just want it?" For myself, having dollars unassigned can feel like it's just a slush fund, so I don't question my spending quite the same. Two, over time the category will give you a picture of the random stuff that comes up that doesn't really fit elsewhere. Then it will give you an average of how much that stuff costs you.

@srconrad

3 жыл бұрын

They are similar but of the two choices, obviously the category is preferred. The biggest "issue" here is ending a phrase with a preposition. The 'for' at the end is superfluous. ;)

@Bozeman42

3 жыл бұрын

I use 'stuff I forgot to budget for' for actually creating new categories if I find some new category I hadn't thought of before. That's different than simply 'available'

Done.

I love YNAB. Been using it for years, ever since I bought it on Steam. But dang, I really wish they could get the account syncing issues fixed. It feels slow but I understand that this is probably out of your control.

I'm fine with moving money when I have to "roll with the punches" but I'm still I a little confused about the negative budgeted balances I get when I move money. I'd like to zero them out but I don't quite get how.

YNAB comes with a "Stuff I Forgot to Budget For" category but default. Does this defeat the purpose? EDIT: This category was mentioned in passing, but my question still stands.

She is ridiculously cute.

Category called cushion or miscellaneous.

I normally have about £75 on "Stuff I forgot to budget for" category everybody. Another unintentional way of saving money.

Magic? Where? Sometimes, YNAB just seems to say things in order to say things. It's off-putting.

@brendanchumney1129

9 ай бұрын

The magic is in you my friend. You are the driver of your life and you yourself need to put the magic of zero-based budgeting to work by implementing the strategies instead of just watching videos hoping for things to change without action from yourself.

@nope24601

9 ай бұрын

@@brendanchumney1129 Nice try. Didn't save the title/content mis-match.

@BrendanChumney

9 ай бұрын

@@nope24601 I’m sorry this video didn’t help you gain a better understanding of YNAB and the magic of zero-based budgeting.