You need a budget (YNAB) advice thread

Orange_Ena

Hi merlin. I believe students can get a free copy but whether you'd still qualify, it maybe worth a try. I won a copy at my 2nd webinar :T

Thistlewhistle

One of YNAB's own strap lines is:

"Not budgeting got you into debt, but budgeting will definitely get you out of it"

Bag a free download and see how much you save in a month. As has been said, sign up for the webinars and you may bag a freebie!!! Worth a shot!!

I paid for mine because I realised after 30 days, I couldn't do without it.
Best decision ever.

Thistle

merlin1

Thanks thistlewhistle and orange ena.... I am downloading it as I type

The Law of sod has struck though and Natwests mobile and online service is currently saying service unavailable... tut. typical when you want to get with it! :rotfl:

merlin1

Well, I have finally got into my online banking and started my ynab journey, (sooo much red ...)

Im currently inputting the figures for my outgoings and after watching the six video tutorials I still have a question if someone could help please?

is there a way to include available credit in the budget, eg, the acccount in the red still has a hundred quid I can use, and my CC has a couple of hundred..... I know I shouldnt be using this but needs must and the bills are going out on DD from the overdraft?

hope that makes sense

Thistlewhistle

merlin1 wrote: »

Well, I have finally got into my online banking and started my ynab journey, (sooo much red ...)

Im currently inputting the figures for my outgoings and after watching the six video tutorials I still have a question if someone could help please?

is there a way to include available credit in the budget, eg, the acccount in the red still has a hundred quid I can use, and my CC has a couple of hundred..... I know I shouldnt be using this but needs must and the bills are going out on DD from the overdraft?

hope that makes sense

Hi merlin,

You don't really want to be including the extra credit because it's not money that you have. It belongs to someone else.

Don't worry about having lots of red - YNAB will help you lessen the red over time, but it's important to really live by the four rules.

Start with Number 1: give every pound a job

When you get income, record it, and budget it to essentials - stuff you need to spend before you get paid again. If you can, squirrel a little away towards offsetting the red numbers. That's how budgeting gets you out of the debt you have.

There is a YouToobe video on YNAB starting in overdraft. It'll explain it much better than I have.

Eg
say you've an overdraft of £100

You get paid £100
But you need food and fuel
Budget £50 to food, £40 to fuel and the last £10 towards the overdraft.
You're still eating and still driving, but now budgeting has reduced your overdraft by £10. Eventually you'll budget yourself out of the red.

Hope that makes sense

Thistle

merlin1

Hi Thistle, thanks for your reply, yes I think I understand now, its just that my next DD's are coming out of that overdraft, so I guess i just take it out of that account so it shows an increase in the debt?

ye gods n nanny goats I hope I get a job soon

Thistlewhistle

merlin1 wrote: »

Hi Thistle, thanks for your reply, yes I think I understand now, its just that my next DD's are coming out of that overdraft, so I guess i just take it out of that account so it shows an increase in the debt?

ye gods n nanny goats I hope I get a job soon

Hi Merlin,

Two ways to do it really,

Best way is to categorise it correctly ie if it's a DD for council tax, categorise it as council tax. If you've not budgeted enough, YNAB will show a red figure against council tax which is correct since you under budgeted for council tax! When you next get income, you can budget enough to bring it back to 0, ie pay yourself back, or "borrow" from another category (YNAB Rule 3: roll with the punches) that is not needed quite so imminently.

If the red number is still red at the end of the month, if you do nothing, YNAB will automatically deduct it from the Available to Budget number in the following month, thereby forcing you to deal with the debt because any income you get in the next month will pay back the overspend before you have anything left to budget.

However, if you click on the red number and select the "keep debt in this category" option, YNAB carries the debt across within the category so you can deal with each overspend individually. This is sometimes better as it allows you to prioritise your debts.

Hope that makes sense - I think this covered in the starting in overdraft video

T::p

andyfromotley

Hi,

I have got into a bit of a pickle with my Halifax Christmas Savings account. I keep this account on budget.

i paid money into this but then took some out to cover WAM months and didn't record it!! (i know).

I have created a transaction so that the savings account now shows the correct balance of £113 (and appears in the list on the left hand side showing this amount)

However the category for this on my budget now show a balance of £63.62?? Where am i going wrong? Is the category supposed to show £113 or £0. I'm disappearing up back side with this now! Arghh!!

Any help much appreciated. (i can post a screen shot if someone tells me how to)

Andy.

Minty123

Andy

I presume you must have spent this money at some point?

Presumably from your current account, so is the issue that your category and the account balance don't match up?

If so, have you recorded your transaction as a transfer or a payment?

Would it be easier to reconcile your savings account, accept YNABs adjustment and assign that adjustment to the appropriate category?

Minty

MoneyMission2015

andyfromotley wrote: »

Hi,

I have got into a bit of a pickle with my Halifax Christmas Savings account. I keep this account on budget.

i paid money into this but then took some out to cover WAM months and didn't record it!! (i know).

I have created a transaction so that the savings account now shows the correct balance of £113 (and appears in the list on the left hand side showing this amount)

However the category for this on my budget now show a balance of £63.62?? Where am i going wrong? Is the category supposed to show £113 or £0. I'm disappearing up back side with this now! Arghh!!

Any help much appreciated. (i can post a screen shot if someone tells me how to)

Andy.

Do you mean you have an account called Christmas savings which is on budget but also a category? Sorry, I'm finding it difficult to picture it at the minute.