A good budgeting app???

Toomuchdebt

jadlgw wrote: »

Thank you so much Toomuchdebt, can I just ask a question please, in my monthly bills the first payment is my mortgage, is there a way I can put in the balance owing on my mortgage in the balance column so that the balance reduces when I make a payment and also can I put the balance of my savings in the balance column so that when I make a payment that balance increases?

I think you have to put the total balance as pre ynab debt but I would ask on the forums as I don't have a mortgage so I'm not sure how they work.

SeduLOUs

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I think you have to put the total balance as pre ynab debt but I would ask on the forums as I don't have a mortgage so I'm not sure how they work.

To do that the mortgage would have to be on budget, which doesn't make much sense as it's not an account you can spend from.

You can put the value of the mortgage as an off budget account, and when you pay you do a transfer to it, so that the balance of the mortgage comes down each month and will show in the accounts section on the left hand side.

You would have to post any added interest to that account aswell to get an accurate running balance, and those interest transactions wouldn't be labelled with a category or come out of your available to spend as no money is actually leaving your spending budget.

jadlgw

Toomuchdebt wrote: »

I think you have to put the total balance as pre ynab debt but I would ask on the forums as I don't have a mortgage so I'm not sure how they work.

SeduLOUs wrote: »

To do that the mortgage would have to be on budget, which doesn't make much sense as it's not an account you can spend from.

You can put the value of the mortgage as an off budget account, and when you pay you do a transfer to it, so that the balance of the mortgage comes down each month and will show in the accounts section on the left hand side.

You would have to post any added interest to that account aswell to get an accurate running balance, and those interest transactions wouldn't be labelled with a category or come out of your available to spend as no money is actually leaving your spending budget.

Thank you both

moneypanicker

If you watch the online tutorials it makes a lot more sense :j

jadlgw

moneypanicker wrote: »

If you watch the online tutorials it makes a lot more sense :j

I've been doing that very thing this afternoon moneypanicker. I seemed to have a bit of a lightbulb moment and have happily completely set up YNAB exactly how I wanted it, I love it

YORKSHIRELASS

I am gutted that I missed the £7.49 offer but still went ahead and bought it after having a play with the trial. In fact I have spent most of the day playing with it!

I have spreadsheets which work in a similar way to YNAB but the difference is that I fill the spreadsheets in after the money has been spent - not before. I now see why this is all wrong.

This is going to make so much of a difference to me, I actually thought I was going to be better off in January than I really am so I am already juggling categories to make it all work.

I love the layout and cant wait to post some spending now!

alb1

FireWyrm wrote: »

This means you probably should be using YNAB yes. It will eventually even out your year into something less like a rollercoaster and you can then make future plans more effectively. If you are in doubt, YNAB give you 34 days to try it out for free....or just plain grab it at the discounted price now and see how you go. As with most things, this sort of budgeting requires discipline and rigorous honesty in your accounting, but I have found it utterly invaluable. Given that most of the philosophy behind it is to spend only money you have and given your scenario, I would think that it would work especially well for you if only to ensure that you are spending money efficiently.

It's not so much for making future plans, as I don't know what my income will be from one month to the next. I have to live off my basic and any treats/saving etc are paid for using bonus whenever I get it. I have however bought it on in the sale and it seems like it will work for me, as it appears to be really flexible. Thanks all for the recommendation.

moments_of_sanity

I think my brain is fried!!!!!!!

I have done all my budget for this month with money I already had for DD's, what was in the savings account and a payment that I received today. After I have put everything into YNAB, I then marked a couple of DD's as paid because they went out this morning, I put my food budget in for the next 2 weeks and have taken the money I have spent back out on the 'Outflow tab' but even though all my figures are correct on the left hand side regarding where the money is in my accounts, it still says I have £168.71 left to budget!? How can this be as I have listed everything exactly as it should be and don't have £168.71 in physical cash not accounted for.

I have searched through the accounts listed, checked them several times with my bank account and all amounts in the account tally with YNAB but I can't fathom out why it is telling me I have an additional £168.71 left to budget!!!!!! :mad:

Toomuchdebt

Did you do a proper transaction for the ones that were paid?ie go into the account they came from, type in payee ,category, amount as outflow and save? Also I'm a bit confused by what you mean by taking the money out on the outflow tab? Again if you spend £50 in tesco you have to do it as a transaction from the account you paid it from.

greensalad

OK after some help from people I've managed to get YNAB sort of working for me. I am still not entirely sure how to handle my overdraft though. Unless i just "lie" and boost my income every month by £500 to cover my £500 overdraft.

Wish this program would make allowances for overdrafts though...

At the moment I have created an off-budget account with £500 in. I have then transferred the £500 as "income for January" to my current account, so my balance and budget appears £500 better off in my current account.