YNAB You Need A Budget

[simtan44]

Having "bent" another accounting program to do envelope style budgeting for the past 4 years, I've just found YNAB3. I had bought YNAB Pro in 2008 but went back to my old program, I think I was put off by the buffer idea. But the new rollover of unbudgeted funds makes such sense I get the "Income available this month/next month" idea now. Of course YNAB 3 is purpose built for the envelope concept, and it was easy to set up categories on what I had been using.

My category balances for my regular expenses and Freedom funds are already in place to be set up in YNAB, my longer term funds (and emergency) though are at zero - these I would like to build. I started afresh and budgeted to zero what money I had left in July, I get paid on the 30th but will enter it as Aug 1; this months money. The true test will be keeping my discretionary spending in budget during August.

I can drop my mortgage payment to a minimum for three months, this will fully fund my buffer. (The buffer will still be offset against my mortgage so I won't lose any interest savings) I can see 4 months on the screen in YNAB3, I've planned the budget - which shows me 2xsalary over-budgeted by the end of the 3 months (October). I hope this is not too premature, the red over-budgeted warnings are a stark reminder of what would happen if my regular salary does not get paid in!. I also had 4 savings accounts alongside my current account, I've closed all but one as YNAB takes care of the compartments - just need to keep an eye on the balance so I don't go overdrawn.

YNAB 3 is a delightful program to use - I think being focused on budgeting helps, plus the 4 rules make such sense, with the program there to facilitate them. If I can come back at the end of August within budget will be a big step in the right direction. As my old program was set up to allocate grocery money/petrol/fun money weekly, doing it monthly will take getting used to.

It's been impressive the impact YNAB has on people, in this forum - and all the positive reviews on Amazon.com!

Sim

[malisab]

As my old program was set up to allocate grocery money/petrol/fun money weekly, doing it monthly will take getting used to.

Since you're no stranger to bending a program, you can tweek things to budget weekly (within the monthly context). But it sounds like you've got a pretty good system and probably will adjust just fine without that. If need be, feel free to ask though.

It's been impressive the impact YNAB has on people, in this forum - and all the positive reviews on Amazon.com!

Sim

The people on the forum (and what they've accomplished) are awesome. The journals are another great place to see people's progress. It's also a nice place to keep track of goals as you go.