YNAB You Need A Budget

[courtneyjersey2]

Ok so I am having a hard time wrapping my head around this a little bit. I understand the concept. In my situation, I am not sure the best way to go about things. Hopefully someone can help. Here is what I am dealing with.....

Joint Checking $266
My Checking $82
His Checking $205
Savings $785

I get paid into my account and then deposit into the joint account on the 1st and 15th of every month.
He gets paid into his account and deposits every other week into the joint account.
I try to squirrel a little bit of money into the savings whenever I can.

So, I started off just using the joint account and savings account on the register. But before we were both keeping money in our own accounts to spend at our leisure. This has ended! In order to get control, it has to. I don't know if I should put all 3 checking accounts on the register of it that would be madness. Or should I just leave $20 a paycheck in each of our accounts and put the rest in the joint and only have the joint on the regisater?

Also, my joint account has the $266 in it yet my available for Nov is $342. I don't get it.

I would appreciate any feedback anyone could give me as well as any tips!!! Thanks in advance!

[macduncan]

Hi Courtney...YeAh I have found having multiple accounts can be tricky. I guess the question is why have multiple accounts? Before YNAB I had set up a fixed checking account and a flex one. The fixed was where I have my mortgage, previous car loan, any regular monthly expense essentially (insurance etc). The flex is where I use my debit card etc go pay for groceries, dining etc, all the variable stuff. I separated the two becAuse I always wanted to ensure my mortgage got paid and didn't miss because of some $30 check for somethig little!

Well now that I have been using YNAB it almost makes that need irrelevant as I now sped to my budget versus what is in my account. This has been one of my biggest aha moments with YNAB. You could streamline things by having one joint account and then create a category for each of you to have "fun money". The you would each spend to that category. I think that serves all interests of being on same account with finances which is critical but allows for each of you to have some sense of independence and "guilt free" spending since you each have your own category.

Make sense? Take care.

Bill

[malisab]

My set up is similar to what macduncan has had and what you have had. I have had a separate 'bills' account to make sure there was money to pay what had to be paid and then have had the extra go to my credit union account to be used for general spending by debit card. Some money also goes into an account for DH's fun money each month and it's the account linked to his paypal, etc. I haven't had a separate account, as I am the one that 'deals with the money' and we've both felt that I had a better handle on things and didn't need to segregate out my fun money. But I am starting, this month, to maintain a separate fun money account for me as well. At this point I don't need it to curtail my spending, but I want it as a place to retain my savings.

I agree that the separate accounts aren't necessary when YNAB is up and running at 100%, but due to the convenience of being able to check account balances by iphone (or phone for that matter), I find it best to maintain the separate accounts. The bit of extra work it entails gives me more peace of mind. And since I'm still in a learning curve, as far as what works best for us budget-wise, I still like the separate bill account,etc. However, since we're both teachers, our credit union has a summer saver account that pays phenomenal teachers and I love that via YNAB I can put as much of my savings as I want in there (up to what they allow each month) and then see it divided up in YNAB for our rule 3 categories, etc.

As far as your question about if you should leave $20 in each account and put the rest in joint, it depends what makes you more comfortable as you're learning.

And as far as the $266 vs. $342 question, I'll let someone more eloquent and knowledgeable than me come along. It could be wrapped up in your starting balances or not categorizing something, I think. If you started prior to November, also make sure that each month prior has a zero balance, working from month#1 to present.

[courtneyjersey2]

Thank you both so much. I appreciate your help!

[chrischr]

i have not bought ynab yet, but i have a similar situation.
my wife actually banks at a different bank.
my question is can the software keep track of different acounts when downloading? Do I need to assign an account before downloading?
I guess I am wondering if many people operate this way or is it just to difficult.
On my bank acct i have all my automated payments. However i like my wifes bank, online features better. I guess i'm just on the fense because of the hassle of resetting up autodrafts on another bank.

Chris

[WairereRose]

I don't use the downloading feature - I find I control my spending better when I have to do the hard work myself, but I believe that you can set preferences for accounts for the downloading. When you download for the first time for each register be sure that YNAB has the correct register open.