YNAB support thread (2)

[HouseofHolbein]

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

Now. Your income will be all over the place. Even more reason to be focussed on your spending in a conscious manner.

I'm really confused by this system. I've allocated all my money and it shows everything as fully funded (no overspends). However the money I actually have in my account is much lower than amount I have funded so it won't cover it. I don't understand where I've gone wrong here.

Add up everything under “All Accounts” and add up all of your categories. What is the total in each?

Accounts is £20026

Then categories I have
Assigned: 21447
Available: 19063

So I don't understand how I have assigned more money than I have (possibly because I am expecting more money before the end of the month?)

I don't understand why the 3 figures are different. Shouldn't they balance somewhere?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I think I've cracked it. I've overspent in the month but because I have savings that overspend is showing as red next month.

Okay. Assigned and Available should not match. Assigned is what you assigned this month to your categories. Available is how much you have left to spend. Have you spent £2384?

The total in the Available column should match the total in All Accounts.

Yes the amount I've spent is about right but I still don't understand how the total assigned is higher than my actual available. I thought the intention was you can't budget for money until you have it.

I'm hoping over the weekend I'll have the chance to read some guides and perhaps I need to relook at how I've input my budget.

Thank you for your help@Chatonette

You assigned it in the past to that category, then you spent it. So it’s no longer “available” because you already spent it.

And you’re right…”available” money is current money that you’ve already earned, which is in your bank account(s) today.

I understand that about available (I think) but assigned is confusing me. So is assigned money that I want to spend but don't necessarily have it right now. So this month I'll receive an additional 5k and so my "assigned" for the month can be higher than then actual amount of money I have right now. Assigned is an envelope I haven't filled yet, is that right?

Assigned is money that you have literally assigned to something. It may have been assigned to a category and spent or might have been assigned to a category and is still sitting there waiting to be spent, but it is money that has entered Ready to Assign and subsequently been given a job.

No, assigned money is not future money. It was money that you did have at one point. You assigned it to your categories when you got paid. But you’ve spent some of it now, so you no longer have it all. All you have left is “available”. “Assigned” was always real money that you had; it’s not future money.

For example, on Sep 1 say you assigned £600 to your mortgage payment. Then your payment came out of your account on the 3rd. You assigned £600 and none of that money is available any longer as it's been spent.

You also assigned £500 to groceries, but have only spent £100 so far. So you've assigned £500, but only £400 is available, because you've spent £100 of it.

Also beware of stealing from the future. If you assign money in a future month and then overspend in current month, it can take money from the future month and you don't realise. A lot of people solve this by keeping next month's money in a holding category and only filling it when the month rolls over. Make sure nothing is red in any of your funded months.

I'd recommend watching Nick True's tutorial video on YouTube. It really unlocked how it works for me,

Sorry, now you've both explained that I feel daft but it makes complete sense. Thank you @Chatonette and @moppety

Example: I got paid £1000. This is actual money that I have in my bank account today, not future money. I split it up into my categories—“assigned” £200 to groceries, £600 to mortgage, £100 to takeaways, and £100 for pets.

If I spend £40 on a takeaway, my “available” takeaway money is now “available” at £60, even though my takeaway “assigned” is £100. I’ve spent some of it, so “available” is what I have left. None of this is “future” money.

Cross posted! 😂

@Chatonette 🤝

YNAB is one of those things that seems incomprehensible and then it clicks and you're like OHHHH THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE. I tried it once and thought it was rubbish, then ended up on a YouTube rabbit hole where I saw the Nick True video and tried it again and it was a lightbulb moment.

The Nick True videos are really good, especially when you start.

Morning all, I have got really behind with YNAB due to various things, about one year 🤨 I have a massive pile of receipts and wondering whether I should just get on with it and get caught up or start a new budget. Any advice please?

12 months out? I’d be tempted to click the “Fresh Start” feature.

@Chatonette yes, 12 months 🫣 I,ve been doing a Masters and it completely took over every aspect of my life 😳 🫤
Will Fresh Start enable me to retain my categories?

I think it does keep your categories (although I’ve never used it). I think it makes a new budget with the same categories, and keeps the old budget too.

Definitely a fresh start