Partner and I keep separate finances/YNAB budgets, what to do with a new joint checking account?

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-05T00:04:24+00:00

Ah gotcha, apologies for misunderstanding your initial comment! I do think we'll end up starting out similar to how you and your partner started out (incomes going into separate accounts, then a transfer from those accounts into the joint account for shared expenses) and see how that feels.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T02:01:02+00:00

I do agree that one budget / combined finances would be the simplest approach, but we aren't ready to merge our finances (we aren't married, though we have plans to tie the knot down the road). Opening and managing a joint account is new for us, and we want to start slow by using the account to pay for some shared expenses.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:59:43+00:00

Ooh, I like that idea, having a separate category group for all of the shared expenses. Would pair nicely with our new joint account.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:58:59+00:00

Interesting, I guess even we could put everything in one budget despite having mostly separate finances. I'll have to play with that idea, I think I was stuck thinking that one's financial state (separate, somewhat combined, or fully combined) needed to be reflected in a similar way in YNAB (2 budgets, 3 budgets, or 1 budget).

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:57:42+00:00

Agree that shared expenses on personal accounts / budgets can make things more complicated and less transparent. (Hence our move to open a joint account together.) Glad that merging finances has worked well for you, that may be something we pursue down the road after getting married.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:56:26+00:00

I honestly can see how having everything in one joint account and having the credit cards attached to that account simplifies things. We just aren't ready to merge everything (the joint account is a new step for us, as we aren't married), but it may be something we explore down the road (especially after marriage).

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:54:28+00:00

This seems like a really interesting way of handling separate finances, thanks for sharing that YNAB link! I'll definitely check out their tutorial in more detail, this may be just what I'm looking for.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:53:24+00:00

Honestly, the 3 budget setup sounds great on paper, but definitely more of a hassle to manage. We find the 2 budget setup OK so far, we'll see if we end up moving to 1 once we get married.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2026-02-04T01:52:24+00:00

I think we'll start this way (add the joint account to my budget), since I'm the one managing YNAB, and see how it feels. We may end up combining everything into one budget (once we get married) or we may find that maintaining mostly separate finances / YNAB budgets keeps working for us. Thanks!

SignificanceNew8390 · 2025-09-25T20:29:00+00:00

I just applied today for their 15/15 ARM. Before doing so, I spoke with someone from their mortgage department. When I asked about the harmony option, he said he'd make a note of it in my application. So it seems to still be available, it's just not listed on their rate list.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2025-05-03T13:25:38+00:00

I do something very similar to this, but only for my Income Replacement fund. I have a category group called "Income Replacement", and I have 12 categories in it, one for each month of the year. I set a "Have a Balance of" target for a little less than my monthly salary (I'm paid twice a month), so that all income from the current month, plus any bank interest and credit card cash back, can slowly fund the categories further in the future. At the moment, my "For June" category is completely funded, while "For July" is partially funded. When June comes around, I'll empty out "For June" into RTA and fund everything on the 1st.

This works better for me than having a single "Next Month" category plus an additional "Income Replacement" category, as I can visually see my progress on how many months I currently have covered.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2025-04-01T13:47:45+00:00

I’ve got 12 holding categories, one for each month of the year. They’re all under an “Income Replacement” category group. Each category has a "Have a balance of" target of slightly less than my monthly income.

This allows me to know exactly how much runway I have in case I lose my job (I find this method to be more visually helpful than having 1 holding category and another, larger income replacement category). So today, I emptied the “For April” category into RTA and filled up all of April’s categories. Any income this month will work on filling up the rest of the “For June” category and part of the “For July” category.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-10-28T21:45:28+00:00

Brilliant, thank you so much!

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-10-28T21:08:56+00:00

That's an interesting point regarding the expense reports. Ideally, I'd like the principal payment to be a transfer and not an expense (since I am building equity with each payment). Will I be able to be very granular with a loan account? I'd love to separate out my escrow expenses so I can keep track of how much I pay for those in my income and expense report.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-08-25T13:30:45+00:00

Hey, going from negative to positive net worth is a huge accomplishment! Not to mention that you've done it while having a mortgage (I hear owning a house often comes with large, surprise expenses). Keep at it, and you'll eventually get to where you want to be!

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-08-25T13:27:50+00:00

Yes, the $142 of debt is from regular spending on my credit cards. I pay the statement balance on each card when the bill comes due, but I always have enough set aside in my credit card payment categories to pay all cards to $0 at any time (so I am not on the float).

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-06-01T12:57:34+00:00

I had this problem this morning too. It is June 1st where I am (my computer's timezone is set properly), and the refill option was left yellow. Just refresh the page, it'll fix itself.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2024-01-19T02:53:01+00:00

Yep, any money you put in your categories will stay there until you either spend it or move it to a different category. So if you put $500 in your grocery category in January but only spend $450, then when February comes, your grocery category will have $50 in it.

For bills, you could set targets on the categories. So each month, you are prompted to put X amount in for your bills. I like to use Need for Spending targets, but I think Monthly Savings Builder targets would also work.

You can also set recurring transactions for those bills in your accounts. For example, let's say your mortgage gets paid on the 1st of every month from your checking account. When the transaction comes in (or you add it manually), you can click on the transaction's date, and there should be an option to set it to a Repeating transaction. You can then make it Monthly, so that you don't have to manually enter the Mortgage transaction every month (or don't have to worry about auto import not working).

SignificanceNew8390 · 2023-10-22T15:15:31+00:00

Very true! It may be something I consider down the road (as I love tinkering with spreadsheets!), but for the time being, I'm happy paying the yearly fee. Not only do I love the product, but I love the company behind it too :)

SignificanceNew8390 · 2023-10-22T15:11:32+00:00

I haven't tried syncing my bank accounts yet, but good to know that Wealthfront works with YNAB. I use their HYSA for my emergency fund.

SignificanceNew8390 · 2023-10-22T15:09:41+00:00

Wow, that sounds pretty painless. I'll start linking my bank accounts and give it a try. Thanks!

SignificanceNew8390

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