YNAB support thread (2)

[HouseofHolbein]

Just a continuation of the previous one before it fills up!

We have an "annuals" category for non-monthly items so everything from annual insurance renewals to our DD's termly music fees etc.

"Goals" is a generic holiday fund, one trip-specific fund (Japan) and then house projects, retirement savings, new car etc.

YNAB have changed the methodology—no longer “4 Rules”, now “spendfulness”. Details on the ne methodology are here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345?i=1000682639205

YNAB win: one of my pets needed an emergency trip to the vet this week, which was £104. All funded with my pets category. I’ll need to keep an eye on the balance, as vaccinations are due in late spring, but looking at it now, I should be okay based on my usual monthly contribution to the category. I 💙 YNAB!

I was starting to feel quite down over the last couple of months, thinking I had gone backwards.
I've just done a sense check, coming up to my year anniversary with YNAB.

Christmas costs definitely caught me off guard and I had underestimated the true cost - but since I'd not done Christmas and YNAB together before I'm just going to take the learning!

I am in a better place than when I started last year, and while I have spend more than I budgeted over the last two months - I've borrowed from myself not from the bank. So that is an improvement on previous years.

Now to get my categories back up to where they were and plan properly for Christmas 2026.

@flipent it's definitely a learning curve isn't it? I adjust amounts all the time for my savings pots also my spending pots. But like you I am only borrowing from myself and I know I have budgeted for what's important to me.

@HouseofHolbein It really is. I wish I had started years ago.

I can now see how I ended up with some debt (nothing unmanageable, but nothing to show for it either).

Before I started YNAB, it was only going up. It may not be coming down as quickly as I would have hoped, but it is now only going down. Before YNAB, I must have been spending 15% more than I really had with a 'I'll pay that next month' attitude. Recovering from that is a slow process and a big mental shift.

I feel like I've suddenly reached a point of wanting not to run out of money rather than wanting to buy things. A couple of times this month I've wanted (a dress in the sale that suddenly came back into stock in my size) or needed (a couple of things for the house that would make things much easier) something, and have looked at where I could juggle some money from, and then just decided not to - I have enough dresses, and I can get the house things when I can comfortably afford them. This is a whole new mindset for me. I think going through 1 year of YNAB might have actually changed my attitude to money, and it's just become apparent.

@flipent definitely take the learning: Christmas 2024 was my second Christmas since starting YNAB and I budgeted for it eerily accurately this time.

And @WouldBeMrMicawber yes, I have the same now. Getting a takeaway (or whatever) is an informed decision rather than an unthinking habit and it doesn't feel boring, it feels good!

I started this thread YEARS ago and I am still in debt 😁 so don't feel bad. I am in a better position but it's slow.
I read an article recently saying that if you are freelance in Spain and billing less than €2500 a month you would be better off working in a supermarket on minimum wage because of the tax burden on freelancers here. I hardly ever managed to bill €2500 so overall I was just not making enough. It was just hidden by irregular income. YNAB let me realise that but I still had to resolve it.
Now a year into a salaried job and slowly getting things under control.
So, don't feel bad. I think it's hard to feel you are doing well sometimes if you don't have much money, but it just means we need Ynab even more.

How's everyone doing in the post Christmas month? Just seen a post where people are struggling and I think 2 of us have popped on to recommend YNAB.

I had an unexpected night away last week due to my mom being very poorly. I have some money in a pot to cover that so I was able to book a night and pay for food without getting into debt for it. Pre YNAB that would have been a financial worry as well as an emotional one.

Hope everyone is budgeting nicely into the new year 👍

@HouseofHolbein Post Christmas feels very in control at the moment - but still two weeks until pay day!

Sorry to hear about your mum. I agree that the financial stress in all areas is less with YNAB.

Even with unexpected costs - I know where I stand, rather than burying my head in the sand like I was for years!

Thank you @flipent. She's 95 and currently in quite poor health. Issue is we live 200 miles away so it's either a really long day or a stop over.

Back up this week on a preplanned visit to meet with friends and see a couple of bands as well as visiting mom.

Sorry to hear about your mum @HouseofHolbein. It is tricky when they are so far away. My dps are in their late 70s. Luckily pretty spry so far but they live 3 hours away and I'm becoming more aware of the distance as they get older.

We are going to have to do a lot of wamming. Our front door is broken and the "temporary" door (15 years old now) from the utility room to the garage lets in so much draft it might as well not be there. New thermal composite door there plus new front door and porch door will set us back just over £6k. We've currently have about £1500 in our house projects sinking fund.

We are very lucky that we have capital elsewhere to draw from (tracking account so not on budget) but the YNAB mindset is strong and it hurts to spend the money!

Final point. Do any of you have premium bonds? If so, do you keep them on budget or off budget?

I did have premium bonds when I did YNAB before but I think I sort of just tracked them? I currently have a couple of accounts where the money was tied up for 2 years so they are just there not allocated funds because I can't touch them if that makes sense.

In march when they mature I will stick them into savings and then allocate them to my longer term savings goals because at that point I can access them.

Actually not sure if that's what you are asking 🤣🤣 although premium bonds can be accessed with a few days notice so maybe the money could be allocated as longer term saving categories?

We have premium bonds, ISAs and SIPPs which are currently on budget (on old YNAB) as we were adding to them from income. Now we have no income (apart from a small pension of mine) as we have retired, I am going to take them off budget as they will now BE our income, if that makes sense!

I'm going to bite the bullet and move onto new YNAB later this month as the PC my old version is installed on is on it's last legs, so that's when I plan to take them off budget when I start afresh.

As a newbie, January is a lot easier with ynab.

Ain't that the truth 🙌

Hi all
I'm a long time user (over a decade) and oscillated between "new" YNAB and YNAB 4 for a bit until two years ago when YNAB 4 packed up on my laptop! Still a few things I miss about it but new YNAB is better overall I think.
My DH is naturally frugal and doesn't use YNAB but I use it for both of us. I mooted that I wanted a heated throw like his and he shot back at me (gently!) that I've had quite a lot of vet bills this month and which category would it come from? fair!
Re premium bonds, mine are on budget for long term savings; sinking funds (replacement car, next pony), self insurance for the horses, Florida trip in a few years, new kitchen. I try not to raid them as my original ones were bought by my late nan and I don't cash those in and it's a pain getting newer ones out!

If I have my premium bonds off budget in a tracking account, can I move them on budget easily?

I couldn't swap tracking to budget, had to close and create a new account

I've just had a hissy fit with YNAB because every time I reconcile it's wrong. So I've just done a fresh start and recategorised stuff. I think I was getting ahead of myself and making it too complicated.

Just need to finish funding February now because I've put additional money into my savings categories. February will be funded by the end of the week and then I'll get paid and can start to fund march.

Hope everyone is doing ok 😊

Well I did download new YNAB and tinkered around with it for a few days. Sadly, it does not work with the credit card I run most of my spending through, which is a shame (it isn't an obscure one, it's the John Lewis Partnership card).
I have to say I did not find it as simple to use as the old version, especially as I like being able to plan well into the future.

Fortunately, I found a hack on Reddit that has enabled me to get old YNAB onto my MacBook so now I have it on PC and laptop. I still had my original activation key and it was up and running in minutes. I'll keep going with the old version for now and maybe look at new YNAB if they do add my credit card eventually, to see if I can learn to love it!

@Chatonette this post really resonates with me. I get paid on 25th and find the pots are bare by then so I end up borrowing to get to the end of the month. 35 years of working from payday to payday is a hard habit to break.

I wonder if I should just allocate everything on payday, let it tip over to the next month (most bills are on 1st of the month) and stop fighting against my natural instinct 🤔

"What does my.money need to do before I get paid again?' doesn't necessarily mean 1st to 1st. It could be 25th to 25th.

And 'borrow' means from other categories not debt.

I tried something different this month - I allocated everything, before I had the funds to cover it.
Seeing myself technically in the red has stopped the feeling that 'I've just been paid so I've got money'.
Psychologically it seems to have had an impact -even though it doesn't totally make sense and isn't the way YNAB is designed.

Knowing that everything coming in was already destined for a pot seems to has tricked me into thinking I don't have any money to spend.