YNAB You Need A Budget

[sonhador]

So I started YNAB the middle of last month and managed to get about $1000 of my buffer built up. I work on commission generally making about 3k a month plus my rent means I usually can put 750-$1000 on bills. But this month Murphy came a calling. My tenant's did not pay rent, nor had they switched over the gas bill to their name. For some reason in May we took a nosedive and I only brought in about $1500 this month. And I've had about $400 in expenses at work that I am waiting on reimbursement for. So my buffer is gone. BUT Thank goodness I've found YNAB. The struggle I've always had with budgeting is my income is EXTREMELY variable, and how do I budget the future for what I don't know what I'm going to get? So I absolutely love the idea of the buffer. And while this month I've done little more than track spending, at least I'm aware of what I'm spending - and what I've got left. I cannot wait until I get my buffer built up and I can budget the month in advance.

Thanks YNAB!

[jjsouth]

Yea for buffers (and partial buffers)!

Boo for non-rent paying tenants!

Joyce

[malisab]

Those oh-my-what-would-I-have-done-without-YNAB moments just keep coming. Great job staying positive, knowing that being prepared IS forward progress.

[Sairey724Gamp]

...And while this month I've done little more than track spending, at least I'm aware of what I'm spending - and what I've got left.

And if you're like me, pre-YNAB you wouldn't HAVE anything left!
Thanks for sharing.

Sairey

[shandsh]

My first "murphy" incident occured this week. My central air went out. I live in St. Louis and it was 100 degrees yesterday so AC is a need. I have only been able to save a few hundred dollars since I started my new "lifestyle". I transferred money from my emergency fund and wrote out the check to the repair man. My savings account has been cut by half almost and I feel a bit defeated right now but I didn't use a credit card so I guess that's a success. My daughter's birthday is next week so I won't be able to replace the money just right now. I'm thinking of taking a break one month from my debt snowball and just pay minimums so I can send the extra money back into the savings. I had a goal of $1,000 in the EF by end of year and I won't make it at this rate.

[malisab]

That's a GREAT success not to have had to use a CC for something like that. Congrats!

[Patzer]

My first "murphy" incident occured this week. My central air went out. I live in St. Louis and it was 100 degrees yesterday so AC is a need. I have only been able to save a few hundred dollars since I started my new "lifestyle". I transferred money from my emergency fund and wrote out the check to the repair man. My savings account has been cut by half almost and I feel a bit defeated right now but I didn't use a credit card so I guess that's a success. My daughter's birthday is next week so I won't be able to replace the money just right now. I'm thinking of taking a break one month from my debt snowball and just pay minimums so I can send the extra money back into the savings. I had a goal of $1,000 in the EF by end of year and I won't make it at this rate.

This is actually a budgeting lesson. You don't just budget your income, you also budget your accumulated savings. You found that part of what you had budgeted to "emergency fund" really needed to be budgeted to "home repairs." You played Whack-a-Mole to move the dollars to where they were most important to you.

Going forward, you're going to try to rebuild the emergency fund . . . but you'll probably also consider building up a category for home maintenance. YNAB is teaching you about the things you need to think about when designating what your money is for.

Patzer

[shandsh]

I would love to be able to have money in all of those folders that I created like auto repair, home repair, emergency vet, etc.... but I don't have any money to put there yet because I live on all of my money right now and I'm trying to pay off my debt. I'm only squirreling away about $50 to $60 a month in the emergency fund and if that money was in my budget and in my checking account it would have been spent already. Someday.... I'll be there.

[Walkingtal]

$50-$60 a month to put back, it is a start. It is hard starting out with nothing and I know that for a fact. Just thing in a few month it may be $80-$100 all it takes is control and no Murphy. In the mean time I do not know what country you live in or anything but maybe you can get a extra job just 1 day a week....I myself is considering it.

Good Luck with everything and grats on kicking Murphy in the butt

Walk