YNAB You Need A Budget

[hilltowner]

How do I include ATM withdrawls in the checking account as they aren't a "budgeted" item. I'm just moving the money into cash, where I put what it is budgeted for.

Thanks!

Marla

[ginger]

Marla:

Just do a transfer from your Checking account register to your Cash account and do not use any category on the transfer. When you spend the cash, put an entry in the Cash account register with the correct category.

[CrazyIvan]

You can create a Cash category and budget the amount you withdraw. That's how I do it. It is personal preference. Many here do keep a separate Cash account and keep track of every cent. I withdraw the money, budget that amount as if it were already spent and then use it however I please without keeping a detailed record. There is a tutorial that explains both methods. YNAB is flexible.

[xraymd]

Greetings, CrazyIvan, this is off-topic but I just HAVE to ask - what is the snapshot of in your avatar? It sorta looks like a dragonfly to me and I have been wondering now for over a month what it *really* is!

xraymd

[CrazyIvan]

Greetings, CrazyIvan, this is off-topic but I just HAVE to ask - what is the snapshot of in your avatar? It sorta looks like a dragonfly to me and I have been wondering now for over a month what it *really* is!

xraymd

xraymd, that is a P-38 Lightning driven by Maj. Tommy McGuire named "Pudgy", after his wife (who wasn't pudgy). He was America's second highest scoring ace in WWII and was posthumously awarded the medal of honor. If you would like to see a larger picture, click here: http://www.aviationarthangar.com/avarthaweweb1.html

Now, I have to ask. Are you an X-Ray tech or a doctor? Or, both?

[xraymd]

::sharp intake of breath:: - Wow, is that ever AMAZING and I am so glad I asked and so glad you put up the link to the larger photo.

To answer your question, I am a physician who is not a radiologist! I am in primary care but about a decade ago had briefly been in a radiology residency, hence the handle. I have been posting on The Motley Fool for over a decade under that userid and I am so used to it, I have just hung onto it. Radiology certainly was on its way to being very interesting but wanting to move back to the desert southwest from Michigan was utterly compelling and I could not land a radiology residency slot so I decided to go where I wanted to go, which came in front of doing what I thought I wanted to do (medicine is a second career so I cared more about where I lived than what I did for a living). I completed my training in internal medicine and am happy in primary care (I mainly do hospital work and no longer office work) and still use my brief exposure to radiology training when I talk in depth to the radiologists about my patients' studies and look at the results of their scans.

It would be a lot of fun to find a place on this forum to say more about what we each do - I know that the journal area might be such a place but I haven't yet thought of beginning a journal so this was at least a start. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. And, by the way, I happen to think you are a tremendously enjoyable poster to read - I don't think of you as Crazy nearly so much as I think of you as Funny and always in a Good Mood (but CrazyIvan sounds better ). One great feature The Motley Fool has that I think is not available the same way on this style of forum is that it is possible to recommend a post and to make a poster a favorite. So consider this both my thumb's up on your posts and that you are one of my favorites already!

xraymd

[CrazyIvan]

::sharp intake of breath:: - Wow, is that ever AMAZING and I am so glad I asked and so glad you put up the link to the larger photo.

It was very kind of you to ask. I could have gone on, and on, and on........about the exploits of said pilot and the machine he flew but I thought I would spare you.

To answer your question, I am a physician who is not a radiologist! I am in primary care but about a decade ago had briefly been in a radiology residency, hence the handle. I have been posting on The Motley Fool for over a decade under that userid and I am so used to it, I have just hung onto it. Radiology certainly was on its way to being very interesting but wanting to move back to the desert southwest from Michigan was utterly compelling and I could not land a radiology residency slot so I decided to go where I wanted to go, which came in front of doing what I thought I wanted to do (medicine is a second career so I cared more about where I lived than what I did for a living). I completed my training in internal medicine and am happy in primary care (I mainly do hospital work and no longer office work) and still use my brief exposure to radiology training when I talk in depth to the radiologists about my patients' studies and look at the results of their scans.

I've always felt that doctors who have experience in more than one area of medicine have a much better perspective on a number of fronts. Being happy with your life in general is good for your patients, not to mention, your well being. It says a lot about you that you place a higher premium on personal satisfaction rather than prestige or perhaps even money.

It would be a lot of fun to find a place on this forum to say more about what we each do - I know that the journal area might be such a place but I haven't yet thought of beginning a journal so this was at least a start. Thank you for satisfying my curiosity. And, by the way, I happen to think you are a tremendously enjoyable poster to read - I don't think of you as Crazy nearly so much as I think of you as Funny and always in a Good Mood (but CrazyIvan sounds better ). One great feature The Motley Fool has that I think is not available the same way on this style of forum is that it is possible to recommend a post and to make a poster a favorite. So consider this both my thumb's up on your posts and that you are one of my favorites already!

xraymd

I don't think it would be an unwelcome or unreasonable request to ask the owner of this forum to create a new area solely for the purpose of your suggestion. From what I've seen around here we are all one big happy family. There are lots of different opinions but none are discounted and all are welcome. A very friendly place indeed. You have some good ideas. I don't know if they can be implemented since I know nothing about the workings of these forums but worth bringing up. That you would consider me a favorite poster of yours is very humbling. After reading your comments I had to widen all of the doors in my house since I could no longer fit my head through them. I also sprained my shoulder from patting myself on the back. Do you take long distance appointments?

[xraymd]

CrazyIvan, that's just great! One of the good things I am discovering about this forum is that I am reminded of the general civility I have found on The Motley Fool when I stick to certain boards that have a culture of respect and taking new posters at their word. I am dimly aware of the Internet message board jungle out there in which one-upmanship and parting shots appear to be the rule but I never had any reason to participate on boards like that - only boards like these, with generous, well-intended posters who have something worthwhile to say, and my financial wherewithal is way the better for it.

Indeed, entering primary care was NOT going to earn the same kind of income stream that entering radiology would have, but I definitely went into it with my eyes wide open and satisfaction with what I do has made an enormous difference in my contentment quotient that could not be matched with quadruple the salary (with quadruple the stress). I entered medical school at age 38 so I'd already been around the block with an earlier career in pharmaceutical software development (great fun but at risk for outsourcing and I made the leap just in time) and knew that smart money management, where you figure out how to KEEP as much as possible of what you earn, can lead to enough of a feathered nest to make up for earning less. I am plenty busy but am working within my best fit and am all around happy about it, even as I am striving for financial solidity.

I'll refrain from further off topic posting here but would love to see how to get a thread started on a more appropriate board where everybody could jump into this or a similar conversation if desired. If I can find out more about where and how, I don't mind starting a new thread. Thanks for all your nice comments so far.

xraymd

[WairereRose]

It's fascinating reading all right - and there is a forum we could have this discussion. It's right at the bottom of the page, and Jesse cleverly named it 'Off Topic Chat'

I look forward to seeing the thread there to post in

[iandennismiller]

I would like to keep a separate cash account, but I do not understand the structure of the register entries that will make this work.

It seems to me like this needs to be two entries in the register: one debiting my checking account for the withdrawal, and one crediting my cash account in the same amount. I am running into trouble with the categories; I cannot seem to get the balance of the cash account to increase if I categorize the cash credit as a transfer. Likewise, it doesn't seem to matter if the checking debit is uncategorized, or if it is categorized as a transfer.

Can someone explain what the "Transfer" category does?
Why does my overview Cash account balance not increase to reflect the transaction that credited the account?
Is there any way to reflect transfers using a single register entry?

Thanks!

[malisab]

Is there any way to reflect transfers using a single register entry?

Thanks!

Not in Basic. You are correct, you need two entries.

I think that the name 'Transfer' IS misleading. It's really just a one-sided entry...not a transfer. It just either adds the inflow or subtracts the outflow. It doesn't do both halves. You do need to do the other half of the transfer yourself.

(At least that's the way I understand it.)