YNAB You Need A Budget

[litterbug]

Puddleglum, I think we all do the best we can and have different approaches to life. I see posts that I just can't relate to, but the great thing about the forums is the general live-and-let-live attitude and the recognition that we all have one thing in common: we all want to figure out how to optimize YNAB for our particular circumstances and what we think is important in life. Even when someone wants to use YNAB in a way that seems strange to some of us, you'll see people brainstorming on how it could work, even while we might express some confusion or concern about whether it's an effective use of YNAB's design.

There is something a bit Polly-Anna-ish about the forums, but there's a reason for that--many of us have gotten such relief from using YNAB that we can get a little giddy and preachy. The non-YNAB-focussed forums like this one are where our individual lifestyles and quirks come out the most. Horatio Alger--maybe, although I haven't noticed many YNABers who think they're're entitled to be rich or that they ever will be. Most of us seem to simply want to be able to live comfortably and securely on what we have.

[FrankQ]

I want to be a responsible person, and YNAB seems like a really helpful tool towards that end. The thing I don't like about YNAB, but ignore (because to each their own, after all), is the Horatio Alger aspect (does anyone else have a similar feeling? I'd be so curious to hear if you do--)

I find there's a fine line between being prepared/being responsible and realizing that in the end we all depend on one another. Hmmm... maybe that's a bit preachy. But, you know, at least it's sincere

I think I understand what you seem to be saying, but in my case, it may be the reverse. It's because I'm been teaching myself to become self-reliant (note that I did not say self-sufficient), that I found YNAB. I was looking for better tools, and for me, YNAB is just that. A good, solid, simple tool. I basically learned that despite all of my strengths, that my greatest weaknesses fell into the category called "Life skills". Most life skills are based around an idea. "Pay with past money, rather than future money" was a simple, and succinct head-turner for me.

By taking charge of my life, one of the many positive benefits has become greater available wealth. I don't own a mansion or a mazzeratti, but I do not fear the future. And the more that I practice these skills, and learn more, that my feeling of comfort and control extends further and further into the future, and across a broader continuum of contexts.

[FrankQ]

we all want to figure out how to optimize YNAB for our particular circumstances and what we think is important in life. Even when someone wants to use YNAB in a way that seems strange to some of us, you'll see people brainstorming on how it could work, even while we might express some confusion or concern about whether it's an effective use of YNAB's design.

I can't get it to get my mouse to vibrate, no matter what I do. Can we brainstorm on that?

[litterbug]

I can't get it to get my mouse to vibrate, no matter what I do. Can we brainstorm on that?[/quote]
Have you tried putting it on top of your cell phone? My old phone was quite small and had a curved profile, which didn't work well, but now that I have a Droid Incredible the phone provides a stable base for the mouse.

[Jaxia]

In the past, I've had less than stellar living arrangements, and so I kept a stash of cash hidden in my car. Usually around $200, enough to get me a bit of food and gas to get me far away when I finally hit my breaking point.

I don't like to keep large amounts of cash in the house because I'm more concerned about losing it to fire or something. There'd go the money to pay my deductible!

[Luna]

My car gets broken into more than I like, so I don't and won't keep cash there. I have a secret place in my house where I could keep cash. Old houses seem to have been built with secret stash places. I don't keep any cash beyond the usual in my wallet, but I will reconsider it. I might want to keep my EF or part of it in the house as cash. Thanks for starting this discussion.

[Jaxia]

Yeah, that's a concern but I've found there are a ton of good hiding places in cars. Under floor mats, with the spare tire, between the pages of the user manual, inside the fuse box, etc. The only hiding place that was found in my Jeep with the top off (so people were always rifling through it) was the ashtray. Don't use the ashtray But, if I were trying to hide more than a couple of bills, I wouldn't keep it in my car.

I used to carry an emergency $100 bill in my wallet, but after losing my wallet too many times, I stopped doing that.

[dmdunca44]

We don't keep a lot of cash lying around for several reasons.
1) We do keep a $20 stashed in each vehicle (in case I leave the house without my purse and need gas)
2) If There were an extended power outtage, merchants would process credit cards the old fashioned way. They'd use the manual imprinter. I actually had this happen recently.
3) While cash can be handy for a craigslist type purchase, if I could not get cash from an ATM, I simply would not buy the item.
4) In the event of a widespread natural disaster, stores would be emptied very quickly. No amount of cash is worth much when store shelves are empty.
5) Burglars know where to look. We feel that banks are still the safest place to keep cash.

[Ziggle]

I also keep a $20 in the car for the same reason -- only had to use it once in eleven years.

When D was in K-12 school, I used to keep a stack of 1s in the house for the inevitable 7am "I need $2 for my science fair poster board today" after I got tired of trying to scramble around to find cash while trying to get everyone out of the house on time.

These days, when power or computers go out, most stores refuse to make sales, even with cash. At least part of this is because they don't have a good way of looking up prices without the computer.

We also keep about $20 (2 5's and 10 1's) in the emergency go backpack since we live in an area with a real flash flood risk and a significant wildfire risk. I suspect the list of phone numbers, flashlight, wind-up radio/cell charger,emergency blankets, duct tape and rain ponchos we keep in there would be substantially more useful in an emergency than the currency.

[Bee&Bea]

I keep a small amount of cash with our camping supplies, both for emergency situations and just in case we need it when traveling. We have stayed in campgrounds that take cash only and had to scramble to dig up enough because we hadn't seen a cash machine to get more. In an emergency situation where we had time to pack stuff, our camping gear would definitely be put in.

When we had a camper, I used to keep $50 under the silverware organizer in case of emergency or needing gas. I think I forgot to take it out when we sold the camper.

[bookman413]

I want to be a responsible person, and YNAB seems like a really helpful tool towards that end. The thing I don't like about YNAB,
but ignore (because to each their own, after all), is the Horatio Alger aspect

I must have missed the part where Horatio had a machete, an AK47 and five thousand in mixed bills stashed on his property.
LOL

Seriously, though, a decent supply of cash is always more useful than not, in my experience. Like, the actual green stuff, not just having credits in the bank. I recently purchased a flashlight from a stranger when I had a semi-emergency on my property late in the evening, which required me to have a light to look at a boiler in the basement, when the store I went to didn't have any and I didn't have time to drive all over town looking for one.

A friendly word to the next customer in line and he was routing around through his trunk under the Medieval Fair costumes to find me his flashlight, which I gladly offered him $10 for.

this was during normal life. during an actual emergency it doesn't hurt to have multiple methods of convincing people to part with goods, including the green stuff (for parking lot deals like that).

[litterbug]

I must have missed the part where Horatio had a machete, an AK47 and five thousand in mixed bills stashed on his property.
LOL

[bookman413]

Hahahaha, litterbug, you made me laugh!

[cathode]

I keep a thousand dollars in mixed bills from 100s to 20s in my home, just incase.

Same here, I figure $100 cash should get me thru most power outages where the banks and ATMs are down. Also, lots of guns and ammo

[terrabyte]

Anywhere from $1000 to $2000.
My goal is to get a particular debt paid off, review a few stable month's worth of transactions, and then only keep that amount needed in the bank. The rest out.

If you look at the bank runs in Greece & Spain, the new ATM rules there, and some of the prepping our government is doing here for social unrest, it doesn't take a conspiracy nut to be cautious now a days.
Add in winter storms here, power outages, local estate sales / garage sales, and there are practical uses too.

And sorry, I don't buy that the banks can't be closed for more than 3 days! Words and words, let's see what happens on our first bank holiday

And here is my very recent personal experience: I wanted to walk a large amount of cash from my one bank to my other bank down the block to pay off a loan. They didn't have enough.
My wife carries the checkbook, I wanted the transaction to clear immediately - not days later by check. Interest was about $6/day. They wouldn't do ACH type transfer, and were going to charge me $8 for cashier's check. I got mad, told them to "give me my money", and they waived the $8 fee "just this one time".

Since then, for spite & exercise, I walk to my bank every day during lunch and withdraw cash from ATM, pile it up at home, and when YNAB says I'm ready to be even more debt free, I make my cash deposit at bank #2 each month.