The YNAB Blog

  • New Snooze a Target feature

    New Snooze a Target feature

    As a coach, I get to see new features as soon as they’ve started rolling out, so it’s possible that you haven’t seen this in your own budget yet. But a new feature I’m excited about that showed up in my budget yesterday is Snooze a Target. You can now elect to disable a target…

  • Some places to trim the budget

    Some places to trim the budget

    When I work with clients to set up a new budget, we start with their budget template, deciding on the categories and category groups for their new budget. Then we add targets (sometimes we add categories and targets at the same time). The last step is to link their accounts and assign the money they…

  • My daily YNAB routine

    My daily YNAB routine

    I think that a key to being a successful YNABer is to set up a routine for interacting with YNAB on a regular basis. If you let transactions build up, they can easily become overwhelming. And the longer you wait to categorize a transaction the harder it is to remember what you spent money on.…

  • Do you have a holiday gifts category?

    Do you have a holiday gifts category?

    It’s the end of October and the December gift-giving season is just around the corner. Let’s face it: giving gifts is a lot more enjoyable when you feel you can afford them. If you don’t already have a Gifts category in your budget, I encourage you to create one. Then set a Monthly Savings Builder…

  • How to deal with an inheritance in YNAB

    How to deal with an inheritance in YNAB

    One of the worries people have when they get a windfall is that they are going to blow it with nothing to show for it. I know I felt that way last year when my father passed away and left my brothers and me some money. Thankfully, I was well versed in YNAB so I…

  • Looking for an elusive transaction?

    Looking for an elusive transaction?

    Sometimes things come up in YNAB that cause me to scratch my head in puzzlement. That happened today and I came up with an easy way to figure it out, so I thought I’d share it with you. When I logged into YNAB this morning there was $54.38 in Ready to Assign in my business…

  • Quick tip: The symbols in your account list

    Quick tip: The symbols in your account list

    There are a few symbols in your account list in the sidebar that can be helpful to pay attention to. Here’s a little primer: I like to check my budget each morning and I always scan for the white dots and other symbols. It’s a quick way to keep my budget up to date without…

  • Entering a credit card payment in YNAB

    Entering a credit card payment in YNAB

    The way YNAB handles credit cards is part of its magic. But for people just getting started actually entering the payment can be a little confusing. I made a little video to show how to do it. The easiest way is to use Record Payment in the credit card account. It will automatically populate the…

  • Is YNAB worth it?

    Is YNAB worth it?

    It won’t surprise you to know that my answer to that question is a resounding “Yes!”. YNAB costs under $100 a year when paid annually. There’s a bit of effort required in getting past the learning curve (I can help you with that), and you have to spend some time on a regular basis with…


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