YNAB has long espoused the benefits of aging your money and getting a month ahead in your budget. With the recent revamp of the YNAB method, the Resilience question, “What can I set aside for next month’s spending?” replaced Rule 4: Age Your Money. The message and goal are unchanged: You want to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and pay this month’s bills with money you earned last month.
But how is that measured? It’s something that’s been debated in the YNAB fan universe and, I think, among YNAB staff. On a recent Zoom for YNAB coaches I heard the phrase, “fully funded on the first” when applied to “get a month ahead.” The concept clicked right in place in my head. I realize that’s how I’ve always measured getting a month ahead for myself.
If I can fund all my targets on the first day of the month, then I’m a month ahead. It doesn’t matter to me when the last bit of that money came in. I just want to have a full month set aside either in a separate category that I move to Ready to Assign on the first of the month (my preference) or by flipping to next month and funding each category.
If on the first day of the month all my targets are funded, I’ve met the goal. And I can rest easier.
I’m happy to report that by this definition I’m a month ahead in my personal budget. That’s not the case for my business budget whose income is highly variable. But I did fully fund all my targets this month by the 16th. So I guess I’m half a month ahead. Getting back to a being fully funded by the first shouldn’t be too difficult.
If “Age Your Money” felt a little too nebulous for you, perhaps “Fully Funded by the First” will feel more concrete and achievable for you. It’s definitely something to shoot for!
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