YNAB support thread (2)

[HouseofHolbein]

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

I've had a good review of the budget for 2026 as I have two jobs with one ending in the spring. The plan is to save my salary through Jan-Apr then I'll have an emergency pot and a better understanding of whether we can manage on a reduced income. Ideally I'd like to drop the second job. It's definitely manageable but the impact will be on leisure, holidays etc.

Can I join?

I trialled ynab for a month about 4 years ago but didn’t stick with it. We’re half way through a new 34-day trial and embracing it so far! In the intervening years life has become expensive and we’ve got ourselves into a small pile of cc debt (circa £13k). Determined to get out of it but also to stop the endless cycle of using all available money to pay off debt only to go straight back into it when life happens and something needs replacing. So really trying to focus on building up an emergency fund and stop using cc debt, then will move towards paying off more than minimum amounts on ccs.

This has already meant that the tumble drier suddenly needing replacing this week can be done with cash rather than ccs, which feels a huge step in itself!

YNAB has been eye opening in really being able to see where our money goes (got ynab together so it can be on both phones), and has definitely made us more aware of the small things which is normally forget about (car parking charge, coffee out, few little things from co op) which are what have been throwing my budget spreadsheet out by mid-month.

Here’s to 2026!

Welcome @YnabNewbie!

So I've just learnt that HMRC have changed my tax code resulting in me being paid £200 less than usual. A little heads up would've been nice in December but hey ho.

Thankfully I've had a big push to get a month ahead so it's easily manageable.

@IKnowAristotle if you go onto your government gateway app you can change correspondence so you get an email telling you about a change to your tax code.

Since I retired and started a new part time job in October my tax code has changed 4 times, it's very annoying.

So....they did email me at the end of November. Obviously I missed it - apologies to HMRC.

Feeling a bit of a ynab failure in that I have been using it for YEARS (current budget started in September 2023) and I am STILL not a month ahead.
Admittedly in a better position now two years into a steady job (had about three catastrophic years as a freelancer from 2020 ish and got into debt).
I would have been almost a month ahead with my extra Christmas pay but I'd already budgeted that for aircon in the kids bedrooms. That's not an indulgence, we live in southern Spain and the summers are 40°C and above for weeks at a time. Each year is hotter than the last.
There always seems to be something.
Things are getting better, but glacially slowly.

@OrangeBlossomsinthesun just think of what state your finances might be in without YNAB, I bet you're much better off than you would be without it

Yes, that's true. I can't really imagine not using it if you need to be careful, it's almost imposible to track everything otherwise. I have managed to get things on a more even keel, paid off a credit card, finished paying the kids' braces. There's just always something. We are both pretty low earners too with very little scope to improve (it's quite different to the UK and we are both 50.)

Going to do as much overtime as I can (capped to 80 hours a year in Spain) and apply for any promotions (very few come up) and hopefully DS will get a grant for some of his travel costs retroactively.

Just done my first of this year YNAB update. No 'fresh starts' necessary although I still feel a bit confused about how some things work.
Very, very pleased and surprised to find that I have started this year in good order. I can pay the amount necessary on the credit cards without incurring any more interest costs and am not scratching around for cash. It is astonishing to me how quickly things have sorted themselves out since I re-started on YNAB and doing it properly. In August 2025 I said "My goal is to start 2026 with a clean slate and a plan." And that seems to have happened.

I feel haunted by the idea that I have forgotten something extremely important and things are not as they now seem but the money is there in the accounts and I really can't think of anything I have missed.

February and March are "free" months for Council tax payments as I pay over 10 months so I have a plan to put the surplus against things like the boiler service and saving for next year's house insurance. Not just keeping ahead of the credit card payments.

This thread has really helped. Thank you everyone and good luck for 2026.

Happy 2026 everyone! I’ve just assigned my money for the month which always makes me happy seeing the nice fresh categories filled and ready to spend! I’m fortunate enough to be getting some extra shifts in over the next couple of months which I will be adding to my going away category as we have a lot on over the summer.

positive vibes everyone that we are going from strength to strength helped by YNAB 😁

I have found the thing I was missing. Back in May the Council changed the DD reference for the monthly payment, making it look like a scam payment. So I panicked and cancelled the DD. It was chaos at the Council as lots of people got very confused and the Council had to sort out the reference for their payments. I paid manually for a few months before I got the new DD sorted but now realise I missed June. So I will only have one 'free' month. Boo, hoo. The good news is that the money is there, I just won't have the surplus I was expecting for February/March.

How’s January going? I’ve just sat down with a pen and paper and written down everything that’s coming in during January and everything that’s due to go out in February and it looks like I can easily cover it and have a bit over to add extra to some sinking funds. I know YNAB was telling me I was ok but I think better when I use a pen and paper.

I also have a bit put back which I might need as my mom is being put on end of life care and so I’ll have some time off in the next few weeks I expect. Nice to know that I won’t have to worry about money at that point.

I try to have a cull of my herbs and spices and things like packets of seeds, nuts, baking stuff and so on in January each year. It is so depressing. I still have unopened packs of stuff some of which is more than a year out of date. How does this happen? Not to mention the opened but half full packets.

A few years ago I moved house twice in six months. At the second move I still had packets of stuff more than a year out of date. It is baffling.

I think it happens because I like the idea of having everything I might want to hand in case I want to make a particular recipe and also fall for the bogoff offers. Holland & Barrett is a terrible trap for this.

So much money wasted. I am going to try and work through existing stock before buying anything else and only buy new stuff if I will use it immediately.

@EastCoastDweller interested in why you throw it out.
I know some will lose their potency, but nothing like that will do any harm if it’s old.

@EastCoastDweller interested in why you throw it out.
I know some will lose their potency, but nothing like that will do any harm if it’s old.

I think that is why they accumulate. I don't throw them out immediately. A lot will keep for a long time but others get stale, lose potency and so on. There were quite a lot this time and I decided to be ruthless this year. I've still kept a few things which were only just out of date and won't spoil.

Sorry to hear about your mother @WorthySloth, that must be very difficult.

How’s January going now we are almost halfway through? It’s definitely easier with YNAB 👍

I’m having a really tough January. I’m traveling significantly more than usual with work and having to eat out far more than usual.
everything will come back in expenses, but seeing the ‘Red’ at the top is unnerving!

I’m spending a small fortune in fuel and food visiting mom. I have it but it’s being removed from other pots. It has to be spent tho.

@WorthySloth I had this problem many years ago. It’s hard. I don’t have anything useful to say, just offering empathy.

It’s very quiet on here! My mom died at the end of January so still getting my head round that but back at work and keeping on top of my finances so that’s something

Meant to ask how everyone is doing?

Feeling on top of things here, just paid my annual YNAB subs at the weekend.

Very sorry for your loss, @WorthySloth xx

Thank you @HarpQuartet 💕 I just paid my annual subscription as well. Worth every penny to me 😊