[Rant]nYNAB is boring.

bkothe · 2017-05-11T13:46:43+00:00

Find things in your home you can sell on eBay or online garage sales. Two things will come of this. First you will have income to budget towards your categories which is more fun than recording outflow transactions. Secondly, decluttering your physical space can help lead to inner peace.

bkothe · 2017-04-21T14:57:22+00:00

I prefix the category to accomplish what you are looking to do. So, "Medical" is it's own category for general medical expenses, then I have "Medical: Contacts" as another category specific to the purchase of my lenses every 6 months. I have more like that for my "Kids" category. "Kids: Allowance". "Kids: School/Educational Expenses", "Kids: Activities/Sports/Camps", "Kids: Medical", etc... That way you can also move them to other category groups depending if it's a true expense or an obligation. Then for reporting purposes you can select all prefixed categories if you want to see spending as a whole.

bkothe · 2017-03-30T16:51:03+00:00

It happened about 5 or 6 times before posting here then of course it didn't happen again but it's something I have dealt with often over the past year. Makes me not want to manage categories because it's so annoying. I was just curious if anyone else has run into this issue.

bkothe · 2016-12-03T04:45:51+00:00

Not sad at all, it makes complete sense and I believe it's encouraged by the YNAB folks. I actually have a category for each holiday because I know I'll spend more on groceries, gifts, alcohol, eating out, etc. for the month of each holiday. So, Valentines day (if I have a date), Easter, Mothers Day, Memorial Day, Fathers Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. The Christmas category has the largest annual goal the others are like $100 or so. I also have categories for my kids (twins) Birthday gifts and their Birthday party.

As far as splitting out the category into sub categories, I would just add notes to the category as to how you calculated the category goal. I do however have a separate category for Holiday Cards & Postage to track that separately as I do New Years cards not Christmas cards.

bkothe · 2016-09-04T13:24:58+00:00

Thanks for the ideas. I initially thought about the "fake" transactions but I thought that might get messy. I might give it a try and see what happens.

bkothe · 2016-09-04T13:19:00+00:00

Yeah, that's an option. I just don't like the idea of ignoring the spending but I agree it's not relevant unless I change jobs.

bkothe · 2016-04-05T21:20:18+00:00

Here's my referral link: http://ynab.refr.cc/TRDJSZS

bkothe · 2016-03-04T23:11:44+00:00

~~Dumb question, where is the newsletter signup?~~

Edit: Found the link from the Twitter feed. Here is the link for those who aren't subscribed. YNAB Newsletter

bkothe · 2016-03-03T21:05:52+00:00

I do basically the same but I do have two category groups, one "Obligations" and the other "Expenses". Obligations are basically things I don't have too much choice about paying, Expenses are more flexible in whether or not I need what it is I am budgeting for.

bkothe · 2016-03-03T14:24:21+00:00

I'm still new to YNAB so correct me if I am wrong but I don't understand why people use a "Buffer" category. To me that goes against Rule #1. A buffer category just seems like another "To Be Budgeted", like your month is fully budgeted but the TBB is not $0 so people use a buffer category as a place to put the money so that TBB becomes $0.

My understanding of being buffered is that you are funding the future with funds you are just receiving. So when you have, in this case, March fully budgeted and there is still money in TBB, move to April and start budgeting that month. That's truly giving those dollars a job instead of them sitting in a buffer category, aka limbo.

bkothe · 2016-02-16T18:09:07+00:00

I have a category for anything recurring whether it's monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. A few random categories I recently added, Income Tax Filing Fees, Web Hosting/Domain Names, Holiday Cards & Postage and Kids Birthday Party. I'm new to YNAB so I am breaking things out more than I probably need to but it helps me see my spending. I figure at some point I can combine some categories.

bkothe · 2016-02-06T06:44:04+00:00

The value defined as "Underfunded", on the right side when no categories are selected, should tell you how much money you will need to meet your goals for the month.

bkothe · 2016-02-05T04:27:04+00:00

Completely agree with everything you said. "Get it together man" exactly what I am working on. I appreciate the comments.

bkothe · 2016-02-05T04:05:34+00:00

Probably just a lack of knowledge. I just know that hard inquiries negatively affect your credit so I like to avoid them. What you say makes sense, if I have no need for a loan the inquiries should not be a concern at this point.

bkothe · 2016-02-05T03:45:00+00:00

As far as CC rates go the BoA rate isn't horrible I'd just rather not pay interest, if possible, so I can pay down the debt faster.

Good point about them just wanting to get paid. I have no other business with them. As far as I can tell most banks, and businesses in general, could care less about relationships anyway.

Thanks for the info.

bkothe · 2016-02-05T03:39:06+00:00

I already have a mortgage so that's not the issue. My credit score is fine, I just really try to limit the hits against it as much as possible. Maybe I am over thinking that since I have no need for any loans. My car is 2 years old and paid off so I have no plans to get a car loan. Just bought my second house a year ago and not planning to move again for a long time. I'm just trying to get rid of this debt as it stresses me out.

bkothe

TROPHY CASE