Another YNAB question...

[Methenyouplus4]

I've set up initial budiet of how much we need to budget for true expenses etc. I'm in UK so can't link to bank account and while i can work out how to update direct debits etc, I can't work out how to actually 'allocate'each £ to a specific area.

Is there a video/workshop on this? I've watched a few tutorial videis but none seem to cover this. Is it worth a search round youtube?

Do you mean once you have spent the money? If so you have to add a transaction, you say what category the transaction was from when you enter it

II think i've done something wrong as every category is green and money is classed as available? That's not the case at all as only have about £400 in account at the minute (and about £3000 outgoings this month) so how do I adjust that to show that I only have a small amount? Then to be able to prioritise/a locate what we do have?

Did you allocate only the money you have available? Or did you go back and allocate the money from your last paycheque? The main premise of YNAB is that you only depend on money you actually have.

If you have allocated from your last paycheque, then you can either start again or enter all the transactions you have made since then as well. I would start again, put in the money you have and allocate all your expected expenses until you get paid again.

I put the money in the bank account but somehow all of the bus get areas are green and +£xxx (however much monthly or annual budget is)? It's as if I have missed a stage where you actually allocate what you have? Feeling pretty confused.

It's first time I've done it so defo isn't confusion with a previous month.

So when you first entered the amount to be budgeted you put the amount of money you actually had in credit in your account? And you then allocated that to various categories?

Have you been entering the money you have spent since then as transactions? The figure in green is what you have available to spend and reduces as you enter transactions

Have you watched the help videos, they do help

I watched the videos but they all assume you can conext your bank account (can't do that as in UK).

I think the mistake I may have made is in the 'budget'section I put the amount I 'need' for each category, not what I actually currently have e.g. £480 for food for month but only have £120 for first week.

If I've done that wrong (and if I have I'm guessing I need to start from scratch?) where do you keep a tally of what you need for that month (e g. need £350 for petrol, currently have £70 saved towards it)? Think I might need to start again?

You can start from scratch. Enter the amount that's in your account now and it will tell your you have that amount to budget. You then need to assign it to the categories you have left for the month. When you get paid you do it again. You set out how much you are budgeting for the different categories and then when they come out you put it in as a transaction against that category.

You can set goals for different categories, should be on the right hand side of the screen when you click the category.

Me you could use that budget as a guide. Call it ideal monthly budget then do a fresh start & call this our budget. Put it the accounts you have eg current & the balance, cash & the balance cc and the balance. Then decide what this money is going to do for you until you get paid again. I'll attach screenshots of mine if it helps?

On names of categories of things I need to save a particular amount each pay I put that amount in the name of category eg property tax €16.25 weekly. Categories that get paid monthly I have in order of date and I move them down to bottom of list as they are paid eg phone 5th, insurance 12th, contact lenses 17th and I set a monthly goal of the amount of the direct debit.

It takes a bit of setting up initially but you get to know your expenses & spending patterns until within a few weeks/months budgeting only takes minutes

I followed the videos actually on ynab don't know about any others

Are you on a computer or the app? On a computer if you click on your named bank account on the left side then you should see an option to add a transaction. You can set up recurring transactions for direct debits etc by choosing options under the date calendar

It is difficult to say without seeing what you are actually doing. I don't automatically link bank accounts either. I just added them with their current balances and the budgeted that money for the rest of the month.

Does your To Be Budgeted amount say zero? It should always be zero

Sign up for some of the free webinars - they are good. Or go on YouTube and watch how people set theirs up (not official YNAB people) but just Joe public.

They were the most helpful I found.

A you tuber called Holly McKenzie made it clearer for me! Have a look at her videos!