Better Budgeting with YNAB

es5595

So for a long time I’ve been bumbling along “ok”. I generally thought I’d got a good grasp of my finances, but I’m also easily distracted by nice shiny things. Part of the problem was I knew I was eventually going to have a job that paid well, but I was already starting to spend at that level without actually earning it. 

At the beginning of last year I took a hard look at myself and decided I needed to loose the credit card debts I’d built up and moved from 0% to 0%. I had just over £21k, and I gave myself two years to clear them. Part of the spending is lifestyle, but some are tuition fees as I’m doing a degree with the OU, and it made more sense to use a 0% credit card than the SLC. 

I started off using a numbers spreadsheet, and I’ll share that below, as until this month, that’s what I’ve been using to budget. I had a bills account for most of my DD, an account for my salary, another for my monthly allowance, and a Starling account for all my spends, since they make it very easy to track. 

By the start of this month I now had £10.7k left, but that included adding on my tuition fees for 20/21. I’ve been on MSE for quite a while, but after reading a couple of diaries I realised I really needed to get on top of my budgeting, so I’ve now signed up to YNAB and I thought I’d share my journey. 

Aims 

2021 - pay off the credit cards completely 

2022 - save a deposit for a new car and build up a decent emergency fund (EF)

joedenise

You'll find YNAB a great help if you can get your head round it.  Have you signed up for the 34 day Free trial?  You can also get it Free for a year as a student as you're doing a degree, I think you just need a Student Union card but not certain about that.

It's definitely worth watching the videos on line.  They have live classes but because they are in US you probably won't be able to find any at times you could watch them live and be able to ask questions.

Good luck with using YNAB and getting rid of that debt.

es5595

Yes, I’m on the free trial at the moment and I’ve already been given the link for a free student year, but I’m waiting to the end of my trial to activate it. 

I’m slowly getting my head around it! I had four different current accounts, plus two instant/e savers, and a few savings pots in Starling, so I’m streamlining them all, as I don’t need them with YNAB. Or, that’s my thought process! I’ve joined the two fb groups and my plan this week is to watch some more of the videos! 

FootyFanDan

Good luck, my advice is try stick with YNAB I struggled to get to grips with it at first as I didn't watch a lot of the vids about it. Once I fully committed to it and learned how to get the best out of it I loved it.

Sarahwithlove

If you activate the student year now it just adds it to the end of the free trial anyway so you don't need to wait to do it. 

mej24

Check out Nick True on YouTube, he does some amazing videos explaining the various concepts of YNAB.  He really should be on their payroll, his 'YNAB for Beginners' then his 'YNAB Credit Card Guide' will probably be very helpful to you

FootyFanDan

mej24 said:

Check out Nick True on YouTube, he does some amazing videos explaining the various concepts of YNAB.  He really should be on their payroll, his 'YNAB for Beginners' then his 'YNAB Credit Card Guide' will probably be very helpful to you

I 100% echo this - he was the first person I really invested in regards YNAB. I also now like the YNAB youtube videos - the ones with Hannah are both informative and fun to watch.

es5595

Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. After reading some other diaries that are maturing (thanks @Sarahwithlove and @SuperFrank88) I'm reminding myself that this is a marathon/lifestyle change, not a sprint or a fad. 

I've really got into YNAB and got to grips with is. I've also tried syncforynab and I've signed up for a years subscription, I figure since I've got the free year with YNAB its not such a problem, and I'm cautiously optimistic that in a year I'll be able to sync direct with YNAB, time will tell! 

So far I've quite enjoyed using it, and logging in and categorising my transactions, and I think its also helped keep me on top of my spending this first week. I've watched quite a few videos and I went to one of the tutorials, but I was already 'past' the level it was set at. 

What I've found most useful is (finally!) grasping the concept that despite having £££ in my bank account, thats actually all budgeted, not just 'free spends', and where I need to be looking is to my budget, to find out if I actually have £ to be spending. I have given myself quite a large 'stuff I forgot to budget for' budget, but as the months go on, I'm assuming I'll get better at allocating that or coming up with more categories, time will tell!

joedenise

I suspect you'll come up with more categories!  I know mine keep growing ; added a few more already this year and I've been using since 2014!  I still have a "Things I have forgotten" category but have to say it only has a few pounds in it and it's very rare I've forgotten to budget for something but I still do quite a lot of Rolling with the punches as both DH and I are now retired so there's less money coming in than there was 7 years ago when we were both working.

Sarahwithlove

I agree you start to redefine your catgeories as you go along. I haven't used sync for ynab I quite like doing it manually but have heard lots of positive things for it. 

es5595

Well today is half way through the month and things are going well. I get paid four weekly which is a little complicated, as I keep everything monthly to have a “free month” of pay. 

This month I’ve moved it straight across into the instant saver account, but YNAB has seen it so I’ve done my budget for March. It’s a little sooner than I’d like, but I can adjust it once I get there. 

My Nationwide account closed today. There just made no sense having lots of accounts anymore with YNAB and it wasn’t ‘giving’ me anything anymore. I’ve still (technically!) got three current accounts, so when some good account switch offers come up I can take advantage of them. 

I’ve found myself spending a little less so far this morning. Obviously lockdown has helped with that, but also just having a budget to keep to and be on top of. It’s made me far more aware of my spending. And yes, I’ve kept adding categories! I’ve got a new one for wood for the stove, and I’ve started a longer term one for my season ticket.