YNAB You Need A Budget

[macduncan]

Hi all...quick stories here about how YNAB is helping out. I believe it was Steve or Patzer who had stated that one of the key principles of finance is to learn to let money sit. That hit me square between the eyes and was a major aha moment. And the whole Rainy Day concept is key too.

Following the Dave Ramsey plan, I have two vehicles that are older and have higher mileage (one has almost 150k and the other has 120k_. I realized last month that my car inspections for those cars are due at the end of February and March respectively coming up. I am expecting a big hit for inspection (new tires, blah blah blah). But thanks to YNAB, I am chucking a bunch of money each month now into my car repair category so I will be ready for it! Hopefully the bills won't be so bad but I would rather be prepared and reallocate leftover money than to run out!

I can't tell how liberating that is to start to get out in front of those type of hits to the wallet. Thanks to YNAB I am scanning the future more regularly and planning! This will be our first Christmas paying for everything in all "cash"! I set up categories for each of my kids, for my wife, and one for combined family gifts/others. We now keep track of how much we are spending (hence the envelope system!) and it has been going great.

Another "success" is we are playing a trip to Disney for our family in the spring. I set up Vacation category and we are setting aside money each month so we can pay cash for that too! YNAB really allows you to use time as an asset so to speak in being able to look ahead and divide the expenses up over several months rather than waiting till the last minute.

What is so great is YNAB acts like a snowball per se. I started out just wanting to track what I was spending, then it became how can I save a little better, it is now how can I plan better too and get in front of things to give more breathing room. Amazing! I love that my young children know what YNAB stands for! That will hopefully be the biggest "success" for us, to borrow from Dave Ramsey again, to change our family tree. If our kids can learn from what we are doing, and they follow a similar path, what a difference this could make in each of their lives! That is the coolest thing of all!!

Bill

[malisab]

YNAB really allows you to use time as an asset so to speak

Bill

Another great tag line.

[maryea]

That's great. I use YNAB to plan ahead for everything and am amazed how much we can pay for in a month now. I never thought it was possible, and it is because we are debt free and we are always thinking ahead and putting potential expenses into YNAB.

[macduncan]

Awesome! I can't wait to be debt free too! The idea of saving money instead of paying debt keeps me going!

I just mocked up my December budget and it it took me about 20 minutes max! Really cool!

Bill

[Hwynette]

Bill,

You sound like you know what you're doing, so I'd like to ask a question. I'm trying to start over AGAIN. Never did use this successfully.

How do I wipe out the budgeted amounts that are carrying over from previous (read OLD) months? It's messing up me 'new' budget.

Thanks!

[Patzer]

Bill,

You sound like you know what you're doing, so I'd like to ask a question. I'm trying to start over AGAIN. Never did use this successfully.

How do I wipe out the budgeted amounts that are carrying over from previous (read OLD) months? It's messing up me 'new' budget.

Thanks!

There are two ways. Which one is easier depends on how much data you have and how much your category and account structure differ from the default.

Method 1:

Start a new budget from scratch. There is no old data to mess it up, but you do need to create your preferred category structure and all your accounts.

Method 2:

Clean the date out of your old budget, leaving the category and account structure. To be safe, start by saving your old budget under a new name, then work with the copy.

Method 2, Step 1--delete transactions: In the register, select all transactions (CTRL-A), then delete them. Depending on the volume of historical transactions and the speed of your computer, this could take a while. Now is a good time to break for coffee or lunch.

Method 2, Step 2--delete old budget amounts: Once you have an empty register, you need to go to the budget page and delete all the old budget amounts. Unfortunately, there is no way to do this as a mass function like you did with the register transactions. The best you can do is scroll left to the oldest month with budget amounts, then go down that column pressing down-arrow, delete, repeat to bottom of column. Move right to the next month and repeat until you've blown away all the old budget data.

Method 2, Step 3--You now have an empty budget file with your preferred category and account structure. Save it! After you save it, you can start from scratch by putting in your account balances just like the Day One guide says to.

Patzer

[Hwynette]

Wow. Thanks for the help. I'll start with a new budget I think.

Thanks for being so responsive. YNAB is lucky to have helpful people like you!!

Heidi

[macduncan]

Always a safe bet to go with what Patzer says!

The Save As feature is so helpful as I created a "December Planning" copy and then planned out my December budget. I printed it out and reviewed it with my wife (took only 10 minutes!) and printed it out. I get paid on Monday and will be able to just plug in my December numbers right off the sheet when it comes time to actually do my budget. That type of what is planning is big as we could talk about adjusting.

I found a great post awhile ago somewhere on the forum about organizing the budget categories. My first master category is my Fixed expenses like mortgage etc that I know I can't adjust. My next one is "fixed but variable" meaning I have to pay my energy bill but it is variable month to month.

My next and largest master category (in the sense of number of subcategories) is "Variable" for things like dining, medical, groceries etc. This is where we spend most of our attention on during the month and tweak as needed. My last one is "Murphy's Law & Savings" which has my car repair, home repair, and savings categories.

This has really helped me structure things so I don't get lost in all the categories and what I can and cannot tweak! It is so much easier for me to quickly scan my budget!

Hope that helps as you start over if you would like!

Bill

[Hwynette]

Thanks for being SUPER HELPFUL. Maybe this novelette should go somewhere else?

I'm really going to try to stick with YNAB this time! It took me all day yesterday to set up a new, blank budget & register, but I think I'm basically done (I'm not a linear thinker; more on the creative bent but with a touch of OCD). I couldn't figure out how to start in the middle of a month, so I just put all my register transactions in as December 1st. I tried using the 'real' dates, but then the spent amounts in the Budget were in November with no income? Did the same thing with all (get it?) my credit card balances too. I do pay them in full each month, but I was shocked at how much my monthly spending is!! Tim Horton will be able to open a new franchise soon on my coffee purchases alone.

I just went through a divorce this past year, sold the house, started a new job (it's awful) etc. I was soooo stressed out I took solace in buying lots of new furniture (read $13,000.00) To finance this, I, uh, hate to admit this, borrowed against my life insurance policies. I figured what did I care if I died and there was no money? I don't have kids so really no one to leave it to. I know, BAD reasoning. It's always been my financial safety net, and I've always paid back any loans I've taken against it. This time, it's going to take a LONG time to repay. That's why I know I'll have to YNAB it or it will never get repaid. Also traded in my Honda CRV and bought a used BMW (2006); another 'divorce' present to myself. And I thought the attorney was the expensive part!!! Ha!

Well, the belt-tightening has begun. Do have a question if anyone hasn't been bored to death yet... I have a friend that is super smart but has terrible ADD, and his financial ''management'' is the worst ever. His is fiscally responsible, his house is paid for and he makes great money, but he wastes a TON of money in fees and last-minute purchases because he's so distracted, disorganized, & forgetful due to his ADD. He's always borrowing money from me and (eventually) repaying me. How do I keep track of what he owes & repays? I've set up a tab in the register for him, but I want to make sure it doesn't mess up my budget. It's real outflow & inflow so I have to account for it somehow. Any ideas?

Thanks again to you great folks. I'm signed up for the seminar tonight, so maybe I'll get some there.

Heidi

[WairereRose]

Have your ADD friend see if he can use some of the systems that Flylady uses - they are great for ADD folks. (http://www.flylady.net)

For you, the register is good, but you also need a budget category with its own little 'buffer' of the maximum you would lend to him at any given time. Budget to that category what you know he owes you at the moment, and when he repays you enter the money as an inflow to that category. The balance will go up and down as you lend and he repays, but this will float that lending and it should impact your budget less.

[macduncan]

Hi Heidi....wow it sounds like you have been through the ringer. I don't have a specific answere to your question re: ADD friend unfortunately. Not to get to personal but it sounds like lending him more money won't necessarily help your debt situation (having a kind heart can cause some challenges too!).

A suggestion if you don't mind...if you haven't read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover", you may any to pick it up. It has helped us tremendously and YNAB is the perfect tool in my mind to help with it!

Again I hope you don't mind the suggestion...it has made all the difference and I wished I started using YNAB when I started followig Dave's plan!

Take care and best of luck!!

Bill

[Hwynette]

Thanks Bill & Rose. I'll check out the book and I've gone to the Fly lady website.. will follow up.

Mr. ADD and I are looking at buying a house. YIKE. I don't know what to do with his chaotic way of living. I'm going to end up a 200 lb. alcoholic. Talk about stress...

I purchased YNAB3, spent ALL DAY tweaking, etc., only to find the next time I opened it none of the new information is to be found.

Well, as they say in Finding Nemo, "just keep swimming"....

[Hwynette]

Mac & Rose,

Just wanted to give you an update. I went to both web sites. Bought Dave's Total Money Makeover book; LOVE IT.

Really liked the fly lady site too, although the web page is a little over-whelming! I did clean my sink!!

I was able to open my last saved version/model and it still had all my most recent entries. WHEW.

I'm on the road again....

Thanks again for your support, both of you. It really helped.

[WairereRose]

Most welcome. Great to hear back. Keep us posted - have you thought about starting a journal?

[macduncan]

Great to hear and glad to help! The Total Money Makeover stuff has been huge for us! Good luck on your journey and keep us posted. Feel free to PM if any questions anytime!

Bill