YNAB You Need A Budget

[minnie77]

hello
i have a sep savings account w/ ING.
currently i've been tracking my $$ that goes there as an Outflow...but i'm getting the idea that it's not the best way to handle that.
how do i handle this?
(i use the basic version).

[minnie77]

i'm still trying to figure this out this morning!
here's a little more info.
since i have been using YNAB, i've really only utilized the checking fxn.
so each time i got a paycheck, i'd budget w/ supplemental, including putting money towards my savings acct....which i marked in as an "outflow".
i want to change how i'm handling that so my savings show in overview sheet.
i'd like to go back to change my entries to reflect this so when YNAB 3 comes out i can transfer everything over properly.

what i dont understand is:
when i get a check and i mark it as an INFLOW to checking...how do i account for what i am putting in savings? do i keep the acct as checking and category as savings, record an inflow...?
or do i do a acct as checking and do a transfer for category?
or list the acct as savings and do a transfer? so confused about how to deal with this.

[malisab]

i'm still trying to figure this out this morning!
here's a little more info.
since i have been using YNAB, i've really only utilized the checking fxn.
so each time i got a paycheck, i'd budget w/ supplemental, including putting money towards my savings acct....which i marked in as an "outflow".
i want to change how i'm handling that so my savings show in overview sheet.
i'd like to go back to change my entries to reflect this so when YNAB 3 comes out i can transfer everything over properly.

You said in the earlier post that you thought the way that you were handling it wasn't the best way. It's a matter of choice. Above, you get to the real point, you've decided that you want to see your savings balance on the overview sheet. Okay.

what i dont understand is:
when i get a check and i mark it as an INFLOW to checking...how do i account for what i am putting in savings? do i keep the acct as checking and category as savings, record an inflow...?
or do i do a acct as checking and do a transfer for category?
or list the acct as savings and do a transfer? so confused about how to deal with this.

I would do whatever mimics what you do with your accounts as closely as possible.

I'm going to assume that money is deposited into your checking account and that you do a transfer online between linked accounts from checking to your ING saving. The way that this would be reflected in YNAB going forward is to do one entry as an inflow to checking for the amount that actually went into your checking account and then a transfer (which is a two step process in Basic) which is (1) an outflow from checking and (2) an inflow to savings.

If your actual actions are different than I assumed, you may want to do it differently.

You mention wanting to go back and change your entries. You could do that. If you've just been using it a month or two, that would make sense. But if you've got to go back several months, you might just want to enter an inflow to savings for your 'starting balance' in your savings account and then move forward as suggested.

I'm a Basic person and an ING person, so if you've got questions, post back.

[minnie77]

perfect! just fixed my entries and it all lined up.
that's exactly what i do...transfer online from checking acct to ING.
because you answered my question so nicely i have another for ya.

do you budget what you are going to put into savings?
i have been adjusting my budgeted amount each time i send something to savings...
dont like doing it this way either because when i have a lot of extra to throw at savings, it makes my monthly budget look high. (ie, includes all of my extra cc payments i'm able to make and my savings $$ instead of just being the bare bones of my monthly budget.)

or with this new transfer fxn i just learned, can i just transfer it w/ out budgeting for it? or will i be in the red then?

make sense?

i also dont use that credit card fxn on the overview page...dont really get that. each time i use my credit card, i put it as an outflow on my checking acct and pay it right away.
which is new for me ...to be able to pay it right away. is that for more if i was accruing new balances on my cards?