Does anybody use YNAB manually (vs importing automatically from the bank)? Could you share your process of keeping it updated? Trying to decide if it’s worth dealing with the Israeli workaround but posting it here in case there are other reasons to manually update. Thanks!

Ok... So I starting basics of setting up budget in January, a little more in February and then started categorizing purchases properly in March. But since I wasn't fully doing it, it seems like things aren't adding up. 1. When I'm in January budget, it says "all money assigned" 2. When I go to February budget, it says that there is lots of money to assign but when I click on it seems to say that I have all this money leftover from January to assign, plus February inflow. How does this make sense?

I started using ynab. I just paid of my credit card on the first and 1. It's coming in as inflow? And 2. I already 'paid it off' with each transition?

Just figured out how to deal with credit cards, and when going through my checking transactions realized that I hadn't added my husband's credit cards. Just added them now and assigned money to each one to cover the initial balance on those cards. But here's where I'm stuck... The payments for each of his credits cards were made out of the checking account before I brought those cards into ynab so I don't know how to categorize them

I'm switching from Every Dollar to YNAB and I have to say it's way better. I'm just one week in and I already have a whole list of things YNAB is better at and just two that Every Dollar is better at.

Thanks for sharing! Do you mind listing the pros of each ? I’ve been curious to know how they stack up, but didn’t want to put in the work of trying both

As a basic budgeting approach, they both seem to utilize the same “envelope budgeting” ( categorize money that’s actually in your account) approach, which seems way more intuitive than the traditional “forecast budgeting” (predict your expected earnings and expenses in a month and assign future earnings to future expenses) approach.

In YNAB, when the new month starts and there's available money left in a category, it gets rolled over to the new month. But it doesn't count as a partial funded category, I still need to fund it full amount to reach my target.. For example I have a monthly target of 250 for gas, let's say remaining money from last month is $50 and comes the new month I need to assign full $250 and my total available to spend is now $300. My question is, if I wanna use that extra $50 for a diff category why is the gas category showing yellow as underfunded?

Another question, what's best way to handle fluctuating categories? For example dining out, I can go few months spending almost nothing then comes one month we go to a steakhouse for $300 etc. Is the strategy to set a yearly target of I need 1k for the year, and each month I'll assign according to this target. And when I spend small amounts it'll deduct from the available threshold and when spending more it should do the same. Is that a good way of budgeting for this? Or is there other ways

Does anyone have any good techniques to categorize purchases from Amazon etc? The easiest I can think of is use some sort of Amazon api scraper to extract the transaction, totals and items, then use that info to create memos or categorize transactions, but that’s a lot of work

Stop Budgeting Dollars You Don't Have YNAB only asks that you follow one rule with your money, the golden rule of money, if you will -- give every dollar a job. And within that statement is implied that you must give every dollar you have a job. Many people get in trouble when they start planning for money they expect to come but don't have yet. There be dragons!   Looking at the money you have right now, and asking yourself "what does this money need to do between now and when I get paid again?" focused you on reality, and...

How does YNAB compare with Rocket Money? I really liked Mint

I added up the categories on the left "$x needed this month". It doesn't add up to the "underfunded" amount on the right, so I think "underfunded" must be counting snoozed categories. Is that right? Any way to see the underfunded minus snoozed?

Has anyone ever paused / quit using credit cards and could share their experience? I'm mainly hoping it will simplify things and shave some time off from budgeting. But also interested if people found they spent less when they went off credit cards.

Are Your Savings Making You Stingy? All money is meant to be spent, it's just a matter of when. Some people get caught in a cycle of amassing savings with no clear goal of how it is to be spent. Jesse shares an example from his wedding of how the desire to save money can backfire, and demonstrates how having a plan for your money, whether it's in the near future or distant future, is the most important thing.   As we say at YNAB, give every dollar job.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube: <a...

buying someone else groceries for Pesach - how to categorize? gifts? groceries? tzedkah (even though not using maaser $)?

Delete Your Emergency Fund On the surface, emergency funds sound like a very prudent idea. You set aside cash for unknowable, unforseeable events so that you aren't strapped when you really need it. We're not disagreeing with the idea, but an emergency fund is somewhat counter to the core principle of YNAB: giving every dollar a job. In an emergency fund, dollars are given a job, but it's a vague one.   Jesse likens it to a football coach yelling at his defense to "just stop the other team from scoring!" The coach is...

Where should I reassign activity from categories that are no longer needed? The closest thing I can think of is stuff I forgot to budget for since that seems like a catch all, but I wonder if there's a better method

What’s the most practical way to handle installments in YNAB? Specifically, I’m asking how to input each month’s payment into the account. There’s an article on this, but it doesn’t seem practical to create a new category for every purchase I put on installments—I regularly split expenses into 3 or more payments. Until now, I’ve just matched the monthly payment to the appropriate category. For example, if I spent 1000 on clothes and split it into 4 payments, I’d enter a 250 payment each month under the “Clothes” category. The issue is that, typically, for credit card charges, you record the date as the actual purchase date, and the money moves from that category to the credit card category to be paid off on the due date. But with installment purchases, the original purchase date is several months ago, and each month there's a new charge on the card that needs to be budgeted for and paid off, even though it's part of a single past purchase.

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How to Be Spendful When the World Is on Fire If the world seems like it's on fire right now... it may be true. But then again, the world always seems like it's on fire, at least depending on who you ask. If you ask the news, it certainly is! Fortunately, the YNAB method -- giving every dollar a job and working through the 5 Questions -- can bring peace and calm to your finances.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for...

Is it crazy to have a category for "unassigned cash"? I don't want to accidentally apply my cash to bills that are going to hit my checking account, and then I would think I'm covered but I'm not.

I know the oilam here is pretty committed to YNAB, but in terms of reducing manual labor, Monarch just released a beta feature that auto categorizes Amazon purchases (and potentially other big retailers in the future)

That's pretty cool, do they use the envelope method?

What I've Learned from Years of Experimenting with Money Jesse has a long history experimenting with money. From rating every meal he and the family ate out, to "hyperbudgeting," to not budgeting at all... he's run an experiment almost every year for the last several years to see how his habits affect his financial planning. In today's episode Jesse recaps the experiments he's done, how they went (good and bad), and reminds us that personal finance is, well, personal.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube: <a...

I'm new here: Has anyone ever tried making an Amazon category in Ynab, for ex: assign 300$ target to Amazon purchases. Big purchases would be manually assigned to their category, but common Amazon purchases will just be assigned to the Amazon category. Is this a good idea?

i've done something similar, but it's really the lazy way and doesn't really help with your budgeting. Most people aren't "overspending" on their rent or mortgage, it's the lack of clarity in their groceries, amazon etc where they can be more strategic.

Can anyone share of monthly budget template?

For those into AI Agents… https://smithery.ai/server/@calebl/ynab-mcp-server

Spendfulness: An Origin Story Spendfulness is the new word around YNAB, but the concept goes back to the beginning of the company... and even before the company itself. In today's episode, Jesse recounts the very early days of YNAB, when the budgeting method was just a spreadsheet. Jesse realized that the spreadsheet was enforcing a set of behaviors, or "rules," around money and that those rules were the foundation of what is now referred to as the YNAB method. YNAB is more than a spreadsheet, and more than a software...