I guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know a method to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid forgot the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me
As soon as I saw this update, I immediately thought "oh gosh, I really hope Nick does a video on this soon..." And you did not disappoint! Many thanks, Nick :)
Weekly goals is a time saver for allowances. My kids get a weekly allowance, paid on Friday. June had 4 Fridays, July had 5. Not having to change the goal for multiple months = Awesome.
Exactly... started doing this today in fact. I use a separate budget for my daughter to track her allowance and spending. But in my budget I have a category that matches her balance to I can ensure I have enough cash to cover her usage. I used to move items between a categories weekly and use a dummy transaction to make sure he allowance category always matched but now I'm using the weekly spending and it all lines up at the end of the month. Much easier.
I wish they did this for Bi-Weekly. We get paid Bi-Weekly and the goals would be easier if I could do it Bi-Weekly by our checks. Thanks for these videos. They are great and alot of help.
Totally hear that Katie. Maybe they will in the future. Just keep pushing for that one-month ahead, and then it won't be as big of a deal (But i know - easier said than done). Glad the videos have helped!
I'm getting ready to introduce YNAB to my girlfriend and I absolutely LOVE the ability to make goals by date repeat. She has a doctor's checkup every three months for blood work and her insurance doesn't cover it, so she has to have $350 saved 4 times a year. The repeating spending by date goal is going to be perfect for that! These new goal types have just gotten me excited about YNAB all over again
Thank you, Nick! My wife and I MAY be embarrassed by the number of times we've watched videos on the 3 target types trying to figure this out but regardless.... your decision tree was exactly what we were looking for! 🙏 Keep up the great work! 👊
I’ve been using YNAB since 2013, starting on YNAB 4. I knew that software backwards and forwards. Ever since the web version, I’ve struggled a little to keep up with the new features. YNAB still worked well for me, but I knew I wasn’t taking full advantage of it. Thank you so much for this breakdown (and all your other videos). I’m so glad YNAB updated the goals feature and you have given me the tools to use it to its full potential. Your flow chart is so helpful!
Your flow chart is MONEY! I have personally adopted this, so glad I stumbled onto your channel! I have sent a few friends your channel links! Keep up the amazing content!
We need a "Cap" on the Monthly saving builder goal. Example: I set aside $100/mo for auto maintenance. After 10 months the car has been good to me, no breakdowns. I now have a whole $1000 in the category. I don't want to save forever in that category, $1000 is enough for a 1-time repair no matter what "assuming the car is relatively new, so no transmission will be replaced!". A cap of $1000 in that options would be nice, something like: Save $100 monthly with a cap of $1000. Once I hit $1000 YNAB tells me to not save here anymore. Now if I spend down from that category, say I spend down from that $1000, the goal is back alive telling me I need I to save $100/mo again.
While it's not quite perfect, I actually use Targeted Balance (no date) for this. I set my Auto Maintenance category target to $2000 (we have two cars), and deposit $100 a month to it. Once we reach $2000, I won't budget any more to it until we use some, and we don't get any prompts that we're not funding it. The downside to this is that you can't use the quick budget "underfunded" button to quickly fund it, but you can use the "budgeted last month" button instead, so it works well otherwise. :)
Requires some manual work on your part, but basically while you are building it up, use the monthly saving builder goal or possibly just an undated target saving balance goal. When you reach your $1000 then switch it to a $1000 Monthly spending goal. If you spend nothing it will no longer prompt you to add more. If you spend some it will not prompt you to add more until the next month. If you have.a large expense (e.g. $600) then you might want to switch back to monthly saving builder to build it back up.
@@DaleKingProfile Good idea, the only problem would be when I want to take a look at "next" month total underfunded amount. It would be skyrocket amount till the calendar day is the 1st of the next month
Your videos are fantastic. I attempted YNAB on my own, got immediately lost. I then stumbled upon your YNAB intro video and would pause it regularly to get set up a new budget the way you explained and things instantly made sense. Thank you very much for making what would have been a very steep learning curve much more manageable.
Great video Nick. I have been using YNAB for five years, but since starting to watch your videos over the last 7 months my YNAB effectiveness has been significantly improved. Thanks for putting out such great content.
Your videos have helped me understand YNAB better than YNAB's videos lol. The decision tree is very clever and I have used it to understand the goals and get everything set up. Thank you!!!
wow this explanation and the the decision tree actually saved my faith in ynab... I just started about a week ago and so far I understand everything except these targets! Just went through all my categories according to your tree and had to change a couple because your approach made more sense than what I thought in my brain.
Unfortunately idk if you will ever get to 1M subs just on YNAB videos because nobody budgets but let me just say you deserve the whole world watching you!
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I'm trying to get my budget wrangled and your videos have been sooooo helpful! I've been going back and watching your older videos and I am so grateful for them!
Hi Nick, been using ynab for 3 years and still learning more about it. Just found your channel from a FB link, your explanations are clear and easy to follow, don't think I've really understood goals in ynab before. Have to have a weekend binge on your other videos! Keep up the great work 👍
the biggest thing I've gotten from these videos is shock at how much everyone else spends on their bills haha. I am living off $800 a month right now thanks to the book "set for life" which I learned about thanks to biggerpockets podcast. Cutting expenses down and now I can choose a different career path. Great video!
I just joined YNAB and was quickly confused by which goals to use for each category but this was extremely helpful! As a visual learner, the decision tree was a fantastic addition and will help me figure out which goal to use. Thank you!
Thanks so much for explaining the way that the transition for the next month for needed for spending goals doesn't happen until the next month. That is explained nowhere by YNAB folks. Without that piece of information I couldn't see the difference between a monthly needed for spending goal and a monthly savings builder goal. And just looking at next months budget doesn't provide a clue.
Much like others have mentioned already - I was hoping you would do a video on the new goals & you did not disappoint. Thanks Nick, this is very much appreciated
I found that a good way to ballpark how many months it'll take to get 1 month ahead is to compare your total monthly goals to your monthly net income. Are your goals 90% of your income? That means every month earned 1/10th of a month more than you spent so it'll take you about 10 months assuming you stick to the budget. Can you widen that gap to 80%? Awesome, expect about 5 months. Mechanically in YNAB that translates to overfunding the categories by that 10%, 20% or whatever you can do. A good way to find that 10/20% is to hold off a moment on the aggressive debt snowballing, retirement savings, etc for a few months. Get your monthly cash flow solid with some breathing room so you can roll with the punches. Then you can snowball that 10%, 20% or whatever it was into those things by adding those goals moving forward. Note if you're living in credit card float, you'll need to correct that first before those estimates will work. See YNAB help for info on the float and how to get off of it. I guess some people might find that discouraging but I think plenty more will find it motivating to check their expectations, and then you can have fun with it. Get fired up to see how much you can beat your initial estimate by! :)
Hey Nick! Still using pencil and paper but I’m sure this would really help anyone using YNAB. Plus you can use the savings goals no matter how you budget. Good to see you and stay safe.
There is an issue with the monthly spending goals if you budget forward more than a month. Say you have a spending goal of $100/mo and you didn't spend out of it for the last two months. You'll have $300 for the current month but it will still suggest you budget $100 for next month even though you have more than enough to cover it. I do have a few categories where this could potentially happen too. Hopefully they address that at some point.
Hey Nick I love your videos!! I was wondering if you could change the resolution or increase the font size/zoom on your videos to make it easier to see? It's a bit hard to see sometimes with everything so tiny. But other than that I LOVE your videos, thanks a lot man!!!!!!!
Thanks Nick! This was excellent, you really helped me transition my brain over to the new goals. I have a question, do you also have scheduled reoccurring transactions set up for things like monthly bills? Or is that just doing the same thing twice? I’ve always just done goals and have never wrapped my mind around why I need scheduled transactions too. Is there a video that discusses scheduled transactions. Thanks!
Oooh your chart is super helpful and your explanation makes so much sense now. In particular I was having trouble with the Monthly for Spending because the way they explained it was leftover money from the prior month carries over into the new month but it was never clear that it happens only once you're in that month (which, now makes sense). My question with that then becomes, if I'm a month ahead and I'm budgeting this month into next month, it's not going to count any leftover money at that time so does this type of goal only really help if you're not already budgeting into the next month? Or do I just de fund it on the 1st and refund it once it takes account carryover money? Hope my Q makes sense. Thanks for this video!
The repeat feature seems to be the most useful for me. As a college student trying to predict my spending on groceries or gas on a weekly basis for my wife and I is too difficult at the moment. Once we are finished with school and have a more regular income I think it would be more helpful.
Hi Nick! Nice overview of the goal types. Quick question: ever used emojis in YNAB? They REALLY help me visually categorize things and add color to budget categories and accounts. I put a red calendar next to all annual items, a little house next to mortgage, an old man face next to IRA, etc...
Many thanks Nick - very helpful. Being a relatively recent arrival to YNAB, I was also quite interested in that additional 'toolkit' that you turned on and off at different times in the video as it offered some pretty good functionality. I'll look that up as I suspect there'll be more info on this in your various videos. Cheers!
Thank you doing this update! Just started my YNAB journey but already paid a credit card :) Binging on your videos to learn more! Will you be updating the link for your Goals Decision Tree?
Yup! Somehow you found this video before I published it and updated the download link haha! But it's updated now: mappedoutmoney.com/ynabgoals When you put in your email there, you'll get all the updated checklists, decision tree, and YNAB pdfs we've made. Thanks!
Brother, i have just started YNAB, and as i am in the progress of studying How to use this Softare, the Goals are one of my Headaches as I am very much confuse on what type of goal do i use on each of my categories, and your Goal Decision Tree would really be a great help. Thank you, Nick.
Nick, your videos are always so clear and easy to understand!! Thanks so much for your amazing video explaining the new goals. I'm so excited to make some updates to some of the goals, so I don't have to update them each year! I have a question about the YNAB Toolkit at time 1:00. How did you get the dollar amount written in the "goals" column? I've looked through the whole Toolkit but can't find that setting. Thanks for your time and help!! Donna C
Thank you Nick!! EDIT: Do you have a Patreon link or something? I would want to contribute so that you can continue doing this as ad-free/affiliate-free (besides YNAB) as possible :)
Nick Great video's been using ynab for years and have gain tons of info from your videos. Have had to restart a number of times because not quite grasping stuff, but now with the goals it is starting to click. Question though, In your spending goal you showed an example about not funding the budget for one month (goal of 100, budget 50) and the next month your goal only shows that you only need to budget 50. So what happens when you fund your budget (say for gas of 100) and then at the end of month you only actually spend 90? Do you reduce your budget to $90 or leave it at $100 to carry over to the following month, and how does that impact the goal? I could see some categories taking what was not totally used and place else where but others you may want to carry over to the next month. This could be for items like entertainment where you set a goal and budget of say 100 but if not used that month you want to carry it to the next month.
Thanks for your videos. Awesome, well produced content. I hope YNAB is cutting you some fat checks because if it weren't for your videos, I'd have gone with Every Dollar. You've explained the things that I really didn't like about YNAB very well. The things I resisted the most in the app, I now think are it's best strengths.
Hi Nick - appreciate and have benefitted from your efforts - thank you. Curious why "Monthly Saving Builder" for "Nick Spending" and not "Needed for SPENDING monthly, at..."
Hi, thanks for these tutorials, they are super helpful!! I don't see how to add the "Goals" column within the budget...mine is just the side bar on the right...I'd love to have the column!
Hey Meagan! The goals column is added with an extension called "Toolkit for YNAB" Here's a video about it. ua-cam.com/video/x4-igXQLEkw/v-deo.html Let me know if that helps! Nick
Hey Nick, your vids have been a huge help with getting my head around things. How does this work with off budget spending? For example I pay out to a savings account for my kids ( marked as tracking account). I normally do a set amount each week. So would that be needed for spending weekly, or a monthly savings builder and just work the monthly payment out as 4x whatever my weekly amount is? Thanks
At 1:11 you showed the goal column turned on. I've been searching in hte Toolkit for this option to no avail! :( Are you able to help with showing which setting will allow this? Thanks for this great video though!
Thanks so much for the video! I know someone asked about bi-monthly paydays, but any thoughts on every 2 week paydays? I feel like that is a very common pay schedule. The biggest issue with that is those 2 extra paydays a year which can cause a hiccup on those 2 months. Thanks!
Great video, Nick! Question... is there a way to do a bi-monthly goal? For example, I get paid twice a month and would like to set-up a groceries spending goal for the 1st and 15th. Is that possible?
Unfortunately I don’t believe so Lisa :( One way to get around that is to have two separate groceries categories. One called “groceries 1st half” and then the other for the second half. But I don’t think there’s a way to do this with their goals.
Hey Nick, I've watched this a couple times and I am a bit confused. You say that the "needed for spending" will count any leftover money towards the next month's goal. However, then you say that for haircuts (your specific example), you can put in a weekly "needed for spending" and it will build up so you have enough for your haircuts every six weeks. This would be allowing the "needed for spending" to build up. Can you explain 😕
One follow-up question on this. Is there any way to set a different color between shortfalls that exist in a category when comparing it to the monthly goal as opposed to actual scheduled upcoming transactions? I like setting monthly spending goals for every category so I can compare it what i expect to make that month in income/cash flow. however, I would love for there to be a way to quick pinpoint those categories that are currently in a shortfall position not compared to their monthly spending goal but rather compared to upcoming scheduled transactions.
Great video. The challenge I have with YNAB is that it doesn’t do a great job of allowing you to combine regular and irregular expenses into the same category using goals. For example,e, I have 3 utility bills, two are monthly and the other is every 3 months. I don’t want to use a separate category just to track the one that occurs every 3 months. The solution is YNAB needs to allow us the ability to enter multiple goals per category. That said, is there a work around for this besides manually calculations and adjustments or using separate categories?
If I understand you, I think my solution would be to set a monthly savings goal for that category, letting it build up the three-month expense. So if I had Expense A of $25 a month, Expense B of $50 a month, and Expense C of $75 every three months, I would set my monthly savings goal to $100/month ($25 +$50+($75/3=$25). In the first month, I would have $25 of carry-over and then $50 in the second month, but then zero in the third month.
Question on Monthly spending goal (10:39). In your example, you had $50 for Gas in May in Available. When you moved to June, Gas changed $95 in Available. Why? Then when you Budgeted $50 to Gas Available dropped to $45. It's not clear to me what's happening there. I would have expected to see the move to June read $50, left over from May. Then when you funded it with $50, I would've expected to see $100 in the Available column. Can you explain what's going on there? Much thanks.
Hey Kevin! Sorry for the confusion I did go fast in that part. So in that example if you slow down the speed of the video you’ll see that when I move from May to June I actually first had $100 budgeted, and $55 spent. There was already a transaction spent for $55. So budgeted was $100 +$50 from May = $150 - $55 spend in June = $95 Then I reduced budgeted to $50 instead of $100 so that made it go $95-$50 to equal $45. Hope that makes sense! It’s all because of the $55 transaction for Gas in June already.
Hello Nick, I am using YNAB for the first time after the new updates have been in place. I have loved using the target amount for spending to track my big monthly and yearly costs. however, once the new update was in place my target amount for spending is ticked green even though the total amount is not there. this caused me to be $108.00 short when paying my car rego because I saw the green tick and didn't check the amount sitting there. I am now setting yearly goals for 2023 and the green tick is still showing even though I am nowhere near budget. can you help me fix this problem, please?
So long term user of YNAB here and maybe stuck with old habits. I let my "need to be budgeted" build up until the 1st of the month, then budget everything at once. My mind has always had YNAB defined as a monthly budgeting tool. Do you see any downfall in continuing on using YNAB in this "old" way?
Nope! I don’t at all. Nothing wrong with that if it’s working for you and you’re hitting your financial goals. Keep on keeping on. No need for change. I would just make sure you’re assessing your goals and using your reports to ensure you’re spending aligns with your values and what you care about. But totally cool to let TBB build up and then budget the month out on the 1st if that’s working for you.
When you’re using the monthly needed for spending goal, and your leftover money contributes to next months goal, how does that work when you’re funding ahead? Like, it’s June, and I have all of July fully funded. I have $50 left in groceries on June 30, but July groceries are already fully funded. Then July 1 rolls over, and...what then? Where does that $50 go? I don’t really want an extra $50 in that category. If I did, I would be using the monthly savings builder.
Hello, I don't have a Mac so would that mean my YNAB version is old? I can't set goals. Well let me rephrase that. When I first setup my budget I set some goals. But now I want to set goals for everything else. It doesn't come up on the right hand Colum. I don't have the toolkit report as well.
So, this is where I struggle... For auto maintenance, I would like to save continually, but only up to a certain amount, say $2k. I just don't see any reason to save more than that. Do you just turn off the goal? I can change it to a target balance, but it won't be by date, just kind of a target balance. Thoughts?
Hi Nick, I use the goals feature in conjunction with the buckets in my Ally savings account to save for things. However, since part of my paycheck automatically comes right into the savings account, once I budget X dollars for Y goal and allot that money to its corresponding Y bucket in Ally, there is no transaction. Does this matter? Do I need to create a transaction each month to "show" that money is correctly being squirreled away to meet that goal? Thanks!!
I've been using YNAB for a month, and I'm trying to understand the goals (not easy!). I have a goal which is to set aside (irregularly, let's say, when I have the possibility) for a possible move (not planned yet). Based on the Goals Decision Tree: "saving for a future expense". "repeat or one time: one time "along the way or lump sum: along the way Result: "Needed for spending: by date" But I don't have any specific dates! It's simply to put money aside in advance... Did I misunderstand something? Thank you for the incredibly helpful videos!
Hi Gabriel, you could consider using the savings target goal without a date. Decide how much you want to have saved for the move and set that as your goal. The only downside is that YNAB won't prompt you to budget a monthly amount and it won't show up in Underfunded. You will have to click on the goal to see your progress and remember to add $ as able. If you spend along the way, YNAB will deduct expenses and show more is needed to reach your goal. Personally, I would consider setting a goal for a move by date and plan a monthly amount that fits in the budget. Problem solved.
Question: Specifically about mortgage/rent, but could apply to any monthly bill that is recurring. When getting a month ahead, say I have the $1,000 needed in June for July's payment. When I am in July it says the goal has been met because it carried over from June. However, I want to again budget $1,000 in July for August's payment. If I budget $1,000 again, then it looks like I have budgeted $2,000. What am I doing wrong?
Nick, what I'm struggling with is what date to pick for some of my recurring bills. I get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month, and like a good YNABer, I have noted what day my various bills are due such as AmEx on the 4th, water/sewer on the 10th, electric on the 21st and so forth. I pay my bills with auto-debit. These seem well-suited to the new Needed for Spending (monthly). What I've been waffling on is the date I should assign. Should I assign the actual date the bill is removed from my account which seems most accurate? Or should I assign all of them to the date right after I get the paycheck that has to cover them? In my example, I could assign AmEx and water/sewer to the 1st of the month (right after my end-of-the-previous-month payday) and my electric to the 16th (again right after the payday). Since no more money will be coming in, those expenses have to be budgeted from those checks. Does this even matter though? Also, since I'm commenting, I placed a comment on your previous video on reimbursements but I don't think you've seen it, probably because that video was a bit long-in-the-tooth when I commented. Is there a better way to ask you a question than commenting on old videos? Thanks.
Dan, not sure it matters. The idea is that you budget for expenses BEFORE they happen and as far into the future as possible. Personally, if I knew I wasn't going to receive another paycheck before a bill was due, I would budget that amount no later than the payday prior.
*Download The YNAB Goals Decision Tree:* mappedoutmoney.com/ynabgoals
Quick Jump Sections
0:00 - Goals Update
0:25 - Why You Should Use Goals #1
2:30 - Why You Should Use Goals #2
3:40 - New Goals Overview
4:20 - Monthly Savings Builder Goal
5:18 - Target Savings Balance Goal
7:07 - Needed For Spending: By Date
9:20 - Needed For Spending: Monthly
11:50 - Needed For Spending: Weekly
14:55 - Goals Decision Tree Explainer
these quick jump sections are SO HELPFUL!! thank you!
Alicia Elnagger glad they help!
Love the decision tree tool! It really makes the goals clear. Thank you so much 😊 🙏🏽
Awesome, so glad it helped!
I guess Im randomly asking but does any of you know a method to log back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid forgot the password. I would appreciate any tips you can give me
As soon as I saw this update, I immediately thought "oh gosh, I really hope Nick does a video on this soon..."
And you did not disappoint! Many thanks, Nick :)
Hahaha well thanks!! So glad to hear that and glad the video helped. Really appreciate you.
Weekly goals is a time saver for allowances. My kids get a weekly allowance, paid on Friday. June had 4 Fridays, July had 5.
Not having to change the goal for multiple months = Awesome.
Boom! Great use case right there.
Definitely a nice time saver. Thanks for watching Christopher!
Exactly... started doing this today in fact. I use a separate budget for my daughter to track her allowance and spending. But in my budget I have a category that matches her balance to I can ensure I have enough cash to cover her usage. I used to move items between a categories weekly and use a dummy transaction to make sure he allowance category always matched but now I'm using the weekly spending and it all lines up at the end of the month. Much easier.
I wish they did this for Bi-Weekly. We get paid Bi-Weekly and the goals would be easier if I could do it Bi-Weekly by our checks. Thanks for these videos. They are great and alot of help.
Totally hear that Katie. Maybe they will in the future. Just keep pushing for that one-month ahead, and then it won't be as big of a deal (But i know - easier said than done).
Glad the videos have helped!
I'm getting ready to introduce YNAB to my girlfriend and I absolutely LOVE the ability to make goals by date repeat. She has a doctor's checkup every three months for blood work and her insurance doesn't cover it, so she has to have $350 saved 4 times a year. The repeating spending by date goal is going to be perfect for that! These new goal types have just gotten me excited about YNAB all over again
Nice! Yes I was really excited about the repeating goals as well. Glad that’s going to be helpful for you.
Appreciate you watching!
Thank you, Nick! My wife and I MAY be embarrassed by the number of times we've watched videos on the 3 target types trying to figure this out but regardless.... your decision tree was exactly what we were looking for! 🙏
Keep up the great work! 👊
Awesome! So glad that it was helpful for you. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment. Happy ynabing!
I’ve been using YNAB since 2013, starting on YNAB 4. I knew that software backwards and forwards. Ever since the web version, I’ve struggled a little to keep up with the new features. YNAB still worked well for me, but I knew I wasn’t taking full advantage of it. Thank you so much for this breakdown (and all your other videos). I’m so glad YNAB updated the goals feature and you have given me the tools to use it to its full potential. Your flow chart is so helpful!
No problem Katie!! So so glad that this was helpful for you. Really appreciate you taking the time to comment :)
YNAB needs to hire you! haha. This is by far the best explanation of goals I've seen for YNAB. THANK YOU.
haha, thanks Keegan! I appreciate that.
Yes, everybody needs a budget. Thanks for sharing about YNAB;s changes.
Thanks! Appreciate you stopping by man.
Your flow chart is MONEY! I have personally adopted this, so glad I stumbled onto your channel! I have sent a few friends your channel links! Keep up the amazing content!
Thanks Michael! Glad it helped.
We need a "Cap" on the Monthly saving builder goal. Example: I set aside $100/mo for auto maintenance. After 10 months the car has been good to me, no breakdowns. I now have a whole $1000 in the category. I don't want to save forever in that category, $1000 is enough for a 1-time repair no matter what "assuming the car is relatively new, so no transmission will be replaced!". A cap of $1000 in that options would be nice, something like: Save $100 monthly with a cap of $1000. Once I hit $1000 YNAB tells me to not save here anymore. Now if I spend down from that category, say I spend down from that $1000, the goal is back alive telling me I need I to save $100/mo again.
Agreed. I would personally LOVE to see something like this implemented in the future.
While it's not quite perfect, I actually use Targeted Balance (no date) for this. I set my Auto Maintenance category target to $2000 (we have two cars), and deposit $100 a month to it. Once we reach $2000, I won't budget any more to it until we use some, and we don't get any prompts that we're not funding it.
The downside to this is that you can't use the quick budget "underfunded" button to quickly fund it, but you can use the "budgeted last month" button instead, so it works well otherwise. :)
@@amhdx Another downside, you can't look at the "Underfunded" total for the next month, to you know your monthly budgeted amount.
Requires some manual work on your part, but basically while you are building it up, use the monthly saving builder goal or possibly just an undated target saving balance goal. When you reach your $1000 then switch it to a $1000 Monthly spending goal. If you spend nothing it will no longer prompt you to add more. If you spend some it will not prompt you to add more until the next month. If you have.a large expense (e.g. $600) then you might want to switch back to monthly saving builder to build it back up.
@@DaleKingProfile Good idea, the only problem would be when I want to take a look at "next" month total underfunded amount. It would be skyrocket amount till the calendar day is the 1st of the next month
Your videos are fantastic. I attempted YNAB on my own, got immediately lost. I then stumbled upon your YNAB intro video and would pause it regularly to get set up a new budget the way you explained and things instantly made sense. Thank you very much for making what would have been a very steep learning curve much more manageable.
Great video Nick. I have been using YNAB for five years, but since starting to watch your videos over the last 7 months my YNAB effectiveness has been significantly improved. Thanks for putting out such great content.
Awesome Darren! Really happy to hear that the videos have been helpful for you!
Incredible explanation - that decision tree MAKES IT. YNAB should hire you!!!!
Your videos have helped me understand YNAB better than YNAB's videos lol. The decision tree is very clever and I have used it to understand the goals and get everything set up. Thank you!!!
Thanks! So glad it helped!
wow this explanation and the the decision tree actually saved my faith in ynab... I just started about a week ago and so far I understand everything except these targets! Just went through all my categories according to your tree and had to change a couple because your approach made more sense than what I thought in my brain.
Just started, I was going through your beginner playlist and had to skip the goals because of the update. Glad you updated this.
No problem! Hope it helped!
Unfortunately idk if you will ever get to 1M subs just on YNAB videos because nobody budgets but let me just say you deserve the whole world watching you!
Oh wow I didn't realize that the new goals fix so many of my problems with YNAB. Thank you for the flow chart btw. very handy.
Well awesome, so glad that the update is helpful for you!
I got the update and immediately came to your channel to see if you made a video explaining the 3 savings goals types. The wait was worth it.
Haha well thanks! That means a ton to hear. Hopefully it was helpful!
Just want to say thank you. This is my go to Chanel for learning YNAB. Just got your checklists and want to say keep on keeping on!
Hey thanks Josh! So glad that the videos have been helpful for you!
This was so helpful. I did not understand the difference between Needed for spending monthly and monthly savings goal.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I'm trying to get my budget wrangled and your videos have been sooooo helpful! I've been going back and watching your older videos and I am so grateful for them!
Thanks Nick! Going to update my goals tonight. I miss the weekly class so please keep the videos coming.
Hey! Good to see you :)
And will definitely keep the videos coming!
Hi Nick, been using ynab for 3 years and still learning more about it. Just found your channel from a FB link, your explanations are clear and easy to follow, don't think I've really understood goals in ynab before. Have to have a weekend binge on your other videos! Keep up the great work 👍
Hey thanks James! Really appreciate that. Enjoy the videos!
When I saw the YNAB update I knew this video was coming. Thanks!!
Haha thanks Brodderick! Appreciate you and hopefully it helped.
I was really hoping you were going to do a video on the new "Goals" and sure enough you did not disappoint. Thanks Nick ps loving the pod casts too!
Awesome! Thanks so much Matthew. Really glad you’re enjoying the podcasts as well. That means a ton :)
the biggest thing I've gotten from these videos is shock at how much everyone else spends on their bills haha. I am living off $800 a month right now thanks to the book "set for life" which I learned about thanks to biggerpockets podcast. Cutting expenses down and now I can choose a different career path. Great video!
haha, yup! Spending is definitely all over the board. You're totally right about the lower you go, the more flexibility you have! Thanks man.
Wow! I was so confused about what kind of goals I needed for certain budgets. You helped a lot! Thanks!
I just joined YNAB and was quickly confused by which goals to use for each category but this was extremely helpful! As a visual learner, the decision tree was a fantastic addition and will help me figure out which goal to use. Thank you!
Thank you for the updated flow chart. I love having goals set but every single time I have to look at your chart so I can figure out what goal I need.
Thanks so much for explaining the way that the transition for the next month for needed for spending goals doesn't happen until the next month. That is explained nowhere by YNAB folks. Without that piece of information I couldn't see the difference between a monthly needed for spending goal and a monthly savings builder goal. And just looking at next months budget doesn't provide a clue.
Thanks for this clarification of YNAB goals, Nick. Very helpful for us new YNAB users...
No problem! Glad it helped!
This is so cool. I teach personal finance too but I have never heard of YNAB. Great content. Keep it up
Hey thanks Benson! Really appreciate you stopping by.
@@mappedoutmoney you're welcome. consider me a new sub.
Goal Decision Tree..BEST THING EVERRR..🕺🏽💪🏽!!!
Woo! Glad it's helpful for you Sandra :)
Thank you Nick, you explained everything so clearly! I got YNAB because of your videos, love your PDFs too.
Well thanks! So glad that the videos have been helpful for you.
Much like others have mentioned already - I was hoping you would do a video on the new goals & you did not disappoint.
Thanks Nick, this is very much appreciated
No problem, thanks so much for that! Glad it helped.
I love goals and the budgeting template, but I like to fund my categories one at a time and take my sweet time. Anyone else? YNAB is my side hobby. 😅😅
I found that a good way to ballpark how many months it'll take to get 1 month ahead is to compare your total monthly goals to your monthly net income. Are your goals 90% of your income? That means every month earned 1/10th of a month more than you spent so it'll take you about 10 months assuming you stick to the budget. Can you widen that gap to 80%? Awesome, expect about 5 months.
Mechanically in YNAB that translates to overfunding the categories by that 10%, 20% or whatever you can do. A good way to find that 10/20% is to hold off a moment on the aggressive debt snowballing, retirement savings, etc for a few months. Get your monthly cash flow solid with some breathing room so you can roll with the punches. Then you can snowball that 10%, 20% or whatever it was into those things by adding those goals moving forward.
Note if you're living in credit card float, you'll need to correct that first before those estimates will work. See YNAB help for info on the float and how to get off of it.
I guess some people might find that discouraging but I think plenty more will find it motivating to check their expectations, and then you can have fun with it. Get fired up to see how much you can beat your initial estimate by! :)
Love this Seth! You're spot on. Really appreciate you breaking this down for everyone,
Nick
This was so helpful! Love the flow chart! Thank you!
Thank you, Nick! I really appreciate the tips and the updated decision tree!
No problem. Glad it helps! Thanks for watching
Hey Nick! Still using pencil and paper but I’m sure this would really help anyone using YNAB. Plus you can use the savings goals no matter how you budget. Good to see you and stay safe.
Love that Kari.
Really appreciate you stopping by as always :)
Hope you’re staying safe as well!
Thank you for these videos Nick! you are the reason I have and understand YNAB :)
Well thank you Anna! So glad that the videos have been helpful for you.
Great video - you really nailed it and gave me inspiration for my next video 💓
Awesome. Glad it helped!
This is awesome! So much easier to understand the goal categories now! Thank you!
Very much thank you. I have been following your tutorials for a long time! Always on the spot.
Hey thank you for watching Julius, really appreciate it!
Thanks a tonne Nick. Very helpful content
No problem, glad it helped!
There is an issue with the monthly spending goals if you budget forward more than a month. Say you have a spending goal of $100/mo and you didn't spend out of it for the last two months. You'll have $300 for the current month but it will still suggest you budget $100 for next month even though you have more than enough to cover it. I do have a few categories where this could potentially happen too. Hopefully they address that at some point.
Great video as always! thank you Nick! as soon as I got the goals update I was hoping for a new video :)
Fantastic overview of the new savings goals, Nick! This is extremely helpful.
Hey thanks Matthew! Good to see you. Glad the video was helpful.
Hey Nick I love your videos!! I was wondering if you could change the resolution or increase the font size/zoom on your videos to make it easier to see? It's a bit hard to see sometimes with everything so tiny. But other than that I LOVE your videos, thanks a lot man!!!!!!!
Hey thanks for the feedback Adam, yeah, I can see what I can do to zoom in and out when it makes sense. Appreciate that!
Thanks Nick! This was excellent, you really helped me transition my brain over to the new goals.
I have a question, do you also have scheduled reoccurring transactions set up for things like monthly bills? Or is that just doing the same thing twice? I’ve always just done goals and have never wrapped my mind around why I need scheduled transactions too. Is there a video that discusses scheduled transactions.
Thanks!
Oooh your chart is super helpful and your explanation makes so much sense now. In particular I was having trouble with the Monthly for Spending because the way they explained it was leftover money from the prior month carries over into the new month but it was never clear that it happens only once you're in that month (which, now makes sense). My question with that then becomes, if I'm a month ahead and I'm budgeting this month into next month, it's not going to count any leftover money at that time so does this type of goal only really help if you're not already budgeting into the next month? Or do I just de fund it on the 1st and refund it once it takes account carryover money? Hope my Q makes sense. Thanks for this video!
The repeat feature seems to be the most useful for me. As a college student trying to predict my spending on groceries or gas on a weekly basis for my wife and I is too difficult at the moment. Once we are finished with school and have a more regular income I think it would be more helpful.
Totally get that. It’s tough in college for sure. But I appreciate you watching. And yes. That repeat feature is awesome!
Hi Nick! Nice overview of the goal types. Quick question: ever used emojis in YNAB? They REALLY help me visually categorize things and add color to budget categories and accounts. I put a red calendar next to all annual items, a little house next to mortgage, an old man face next to IRA, etc...
This is very helpful. Thank you!
Glad to hear that Rebecca!
Thanks for this Nick! Very helpful! Also thanks for the cheat sheet 😊
No problem, so glad it helped!
You are awesome!! Thank you so much for this video!! 🙏🏽
No problem! Glad it helped :)
Many thanks Nick - very helpful. Being a relatively recent arrival to YNAB, I was also quite interested in that additional 'toolkit' that you turned on and off at different times in the video as it offered some pretty good functionality. I'll look that up as I suspect there'll be more info on this in your various videos. Cheers!
Glad it was helpful and yes, checkout my toolkit tutorial here: ua-cam.com/video/x4-igXQLEkw/v-deo.html
Hope that helps!
Thank you doing this update! Just started my YNAB journey but already paid a credit card :) Binging on your videos to learn more! Will you be updating the link for your Goals Decision Tree?
Yup! Somehow you found this video before I published it and updated the download link haha! But it's updated now: mappedoutmoney.com/ynabgoals
When you put in your email there, you'll get all the updated checklists, decision tree, and YNAB pdfs we've made.
Thanks!
Thanks, Nick! You are always so good at explaining things in a way that makes sense. :-)
No problem Leah, so glad that it was helpful!
So informative, Nick! Thank you!
No problem! Good to see you Jerry!
Brother, i have just started YNAB, and as i am in the progress of studying How to use this Softare, the Goals are one of my Headaches as I am very much confuse on what type of goal do i use on each of my categories, and your Goal Decision Tree would really be a great help. Thank you, Nick.
No problem, so glad that the video helped
Nice job on the decision tree.
Thanks Jason! Appreciate that.
Nick, your videos are always so clear and easy to understand!! Thanks so much for your amazing video explaining the new goals. I'm so excited to make some updates to some of the goals, so I don't have to update them each year!
I have a question about the YNAB Toolkit at time 1:00. How did you get the dollar amount written in the "goals" column? I've looked through the whole Toolkit but can't find that setting.
Thanks for your time and help!!
Donna C
I've looked everywhere too! Now that I know this exists, I need it!
Thanks!
I found the answer in Nick's YNAB Toolkit Tutorial: 22 Best settings. It's at the 16:00 ish minute mark.
Thanks Jennifer! Appreciate you jumping in, and yes, the toolkit is awesome!
Thank you Nick!!
EDIT: Do you have a Patreon link or something? I would want to contribute so that you can continue doing this as ad-free/affiliate-free (besides YNAB) as possible :)
Thanks Nick! I was hoping you'd do this. I wasn't quite grasping what YNAB was telling us. "Needed for Spending" is a weird wording. LOL
haha, thanks Taj! So glad it was helpful, it's definitely a tad confusing.
Nick Great video's been using ynab for years and have gain tons of info from your videos. Have had to restart a number of times because not quite grasping stuff, but now with the goals it is starting to click. Question though, In your spending goal you showed an example about not funding the budget for one month (goal of 100, budget 50) and the next month your goal only shows that you only need to budget 50. So what happens when you fund your budget (say for gas of 100) and then at the end of month you only actually spend 90? Do you reduce your budget to $90 or leave it at $100 to carry over to the following month, and how does that impact the goal? I could see some categories taking what was not totally used and place else where but others you may want to carry over to the next month. This could be for items like entertainment where you set a goal and budget of say 100 but if not used that month you want to carry it to the next month.
Thanks for your videos. Awesome, well produced content. I hope YNAB is cutting you some fat checks because if it weren't for your videos, I'd have gone with Every Dollar. You've explained the things that I really didn't like about YNAB very well. The things I resisted the most in the app, I now think are it's best strengths.
Thank You Nick.
No problem, glad it helped!
Hi Nick - appreciate and have benefitted from your efforts - thank you. Curious why "Monthly Saving Builder" for "Nick Spending" and not "Needed for SPENDING monthly, at..."
Hi, thanks for these tutorials, they are super helpful!! I don't see how to add the "Goals" column within the budget...mine is just the side bar on the right...I'd love to have the column!
Hey Meagan! The goals column is added with an extension called "Toolkit for YNAB"
Here's a video about it.
ua-cam.com/video/x4-igXQLEkw/v-deo.html
Let me know if that helps!
Nick
amazing
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
Well Done!
Hey Nick, your vids have been a huge help with getting my head around things. How does this work with off budget spending? For example I pay out to a savings account for my kids ( marked as tracking account). I normally do a set amount each week. So would that be needed for spending weekly, or a monthly savings builder and just work the monthly payment out as 4x whatever my weekly amount is? Thanks
We are saving for a new roof. How would I set my future goal and add what I have already saved to that goal.
At 1:11 you showed the goal column turned on. I've been searching in hte Toolkit for this option to no avail! :( Are you able to help with showing which setting will allow this? Thanks for this great video though!
Thanks so much for the video! I know someone asked about bi-monthly paydays, but any thoughts on every 2 week paydays? I feel like that is a very common pay schedule. The biggest issue with that is those 2 extra paydays a year which can cause a hiccup on those 2 months. Thanks!
Thanks Nick! I didn't even realize they had updated the goal types, I'll definitely need to go in and adjust some of my goals. This was super helpful!
Awesome. Thanks Maria! And yes. It’s brand new. I’m not even sure if everyone has it yet.
But glad the video helps!
Great video, Nick! Question... is there a way to do a bi-monthly goal? For example, I get paid twice a month and would like to set-up a groceries spending goal for the 1st and 15th. Is that possible?
Unfortunately I don’t believe so Lisa :(
One way to get around that is to have two separate groceries categories.
One called “groceries 1st half” and then the other for the second half.
But I don’t think there’s a way to do this with their goals.
Nick True - MappedOutMoney Thanks Nick. Maybe next goal update they will add that! 🤞
Hey Nick, I've watched this a couple times and I am a bit confused. You say that the "needed for spending" will count any leftover money towards the next month's goal. However, then you say that for haircuts (your specific example), you can put in a weekly "needed for spending" and it will build up so you have enough for your haircuts every six weeks. This would be allowing the "needed for spending" to build up. Can you explain 😕
One follow-up question on this. Is there any way to set a different color between shortfalls that exist in a category when comparing it to the monthly goal as opposed to actual scheduled upcoming transactions? I like setting monthly spending goals for every category so I can compare it what i expect to make that month in income/cash flow. however, I would love for there to be a way to quick pinpoint those categories that are currently in a shortfall position not compared to their monthly spending goal but rather compared to upcoming scheduled transactions.
Great video. The challenge I have with YNAB is that it doesn’t do a great job of allowing you to combine regular and irregular expenses into the same category using goals. For example,e, I have 3 utility bills, two are monthly and the other is every 3 months. I don’t want to use a separate category just to track the one that occurs every 3 months. The solution is YNAB needs to allow us the ability to enter multiple goals per category. That said, is there a work around for this besides manually calculations and adjustments or using separate categories?
I would just use separate categories. I"m definitely not a pro though.
If I understand you, I think my solution would be to set a monthly savings goal for that category, letting it build up the three-month expense. So if I had Expense A of $25 a month, Expense B of $50 a month, and Expense C of $75 every three months, I would set my monthly savings goal to $100/month ($25 +$50+($75/3=$25). In the first month, I would have $25 of carry-over and then $50 in the second month, but then zero in the third month.
Nick can you do a quick video how to set up Goal progress bar i been trying to do it but it not connecting
Question on Monthly spending goal (10:39). In your example, you had $50 for Gas in May in Available. When you moved to June, Gas changed $95 in Available. Why? Then when you Budgeted $50 to Gas Available dropped to $45. It's not clear to me what's happening there. I would have expected to see the move to June read $50, left over from May. Then when you funded it with $50, I would've expected to see $100 in the Available column. Can you explain what's going on there? Much thanks.
Hey Kevin! Sorry for the confusion I did go fast in that part.
So in that example if you slow down the speed of the video you’ll see that when I move from May to June I actually first had $100 budgeted, and $55 spent. There was already a transaction spent for $55.
So budgeted was $100 +$50 from May = $150 - $55 spend in June = $95
Then I reduced budgeted to $50 instead of $100 so that made it go $95-$50 to equal $45.
Hope that makes sense!
It’s all because of the $55 transaction for Gas in June already.
Hello Nick, I am using YNAB for the first time after the new updates have been in place. I have loved using the target amount for spending to track my big monthly and yearly costs. however, once the new update was in place my target amount for spending is ticked green even though the total amount is not there. this caused me to be $108.00 short when paying my car rego because I saw the green tick and didn't check the amount sitting there. I am now setting yearly goals for 2023 and the green tick is still showing even though I am nowhere near budget. can you help me fix this problem, please?
So long term user of YNAB here and maybe stuck with old habits. I let my "need to be budgeted" build up until the 1st of the month, then budget everything at once. My mind has always had YNAB defined as a monthly budgeting tool. Do you see any downfall in continuing on using YNAB in this "old" way?
Nope! I don’t at all. Nothing wrong with that if it’s working for you and you’re hitting your financial goals. Keep on keeping on. No need for change.
I would just make sure you’re assessing your goals and using your reports to ensure you’re spending aligns with your values and what you care about.
But totally cool to let TBB build up and then budget the month out on the 1st if that’s working for you.
The only thing to watch for would be the temptation to pull from TBB and spend more than you really planned for.
When you’re using the monthly needed for spending goal, and your leftover money contributes to next months goal, how does that work when you’re funding ahead? Like, it’s June, and I have all of July fully funded. I have $50 left in groceries on June 30, but July groceries are already fully funded. Then July 1 rolls over, and...what then? Where does that $50 go? I don’t really want an extra $50 in that category. If I did, I would be using the monthly savings builder.
Hello, I don't have a Mac so would that mean my YNAB version is old? I can't set goals. Well let me rephrase that. When I first setup my budget I set some goals. But now I want to set goals for everything else. It doesn't come up on the right hand Colum. I don't have the toolkit report as well.
So, this is where I struggle... For auto maintenance, I would like to save continually, but only up to a certain amount, say $2k. I just don't see any reason to save more than that. Do you just turn off the goal? I can change it to a target balance, but it won't be by date, just kind of a target balance. Thoughts?
Refresh on 2024 Targets?
I'm really struggling with bi-weekly payments.
- My mortgage payments are $546.33 bi-weekly on Wednesdays.
- Wednesday, t
Hi Nick, I use the goals feature in conjunction with the buckets in my Ally savings account to save for things. However, since part of my paycheck automatically comes right into the savings account, once I budget X dollars for Y goal and allot that money to its corresponding Y bucket in Ally, there is no transaction. Does this matter? Do I need to create a transaction each month to "show" that money is correctly being squirreled away to meet that goal? Thanks!!
Nick
Quick question since i get paid weekly can i change my monthly budget into a weekly spending goal but not touch the budget until they are due
I've been using YNAB for a month, and I'm trying to understand the goals (not easy!).
I have a goal which is to set aside (irregularly, let's say, when I have the possibility) for a possible move (not planned yet).
Based on the Goals Decision Tree:
"saving for a future expense".
"repeat or one time: one time
"along the way or lump sum: along the way
Result: "Needed for spending: by date"
But I don't have any specific dates!
It's simply to put money aside in advance...
Did I misunderstand something?
Thank you for the incredibly helpful videos!
Hi Gabriel, you could consider using the savings target goal without a date. Decide how much you want to have saved for the move and set that as your goal. The only downside is that YNAB won't prompt you to budget a monthly amount and it won't show up in Underfunded. You will have to click on the goal to see your progress and remember to add $ as able. If you spend along the way, YNAB will deduct expenses and show more is needed to reach your goal. Personally, I would consider setting a goal for a move by date and plan a monthly amount that fits in the budget. Problem solved.
@@amandadearborn6871 Thanks a lot for your help and suggestion ! I will do this way, you're right.
Hey Nick
does the budget template only divided the monthly budget by two or can it be divided by 4 four i get paid weekly and just want to know
Question: Specifically about mortgage/rent, but could apply to any monthly bill that is recurring. When getting a month ahead, say I have the $1,000 needed in June for July's payment. When I am in July it says the goal has been met because it carried over from June. However, I want to again budget $1,000 in July for August's payment. If I budget $1,000 again, then it looks like I have budgeted $2,000. What am I doing wrong?
Nick, what I'm struggling with is what date to pick for some of my recurring bills. I get paid on the 15th and the last day of the month, and like a good YNABer, I have noted what day my various bills are due such as AmEx on the 4th, water/sewer on the 10th, electric on the 21st and so forth. I pay my bills with auto-debit. These seem well-suited to the new Needed for Spending (monthly). What I've been waffling on is the date I should assign. Should I assign the actual date the bill is removed from my account which seems most accurate? Or should I assign all of them to the date right after I get the paycheck that has to cover them? In my example, I could assign AmEx and water/sewer to the 1st of the month (right after my end-of-the-previous-month payday) and my electric to the 16th (again right after the payday). Since no more money will be coming in, those expenses have to be budgeted from those checks. Does this even matter though?
Also, since I'm commenting, I placed a comment on your previous video on reimbursements but I don't think you've seen it, probably because that video was a bit long-in-the-tooth when I commented. Is there a better way to ask you a question than commenting on old videos? Thanks.
Dan, not sure it matters. The idea is that you budget for expenses BEFORE they happen and as far into the future as possible. Personally, if I knew I wasn't going to receive another paycheck before a bill was due, I would budget that amount no later than the payday prior.
@@amandadearborn6871 That's pretty much what I do since I'm budgeting at least 30 days ahead.
Look at cue 1:54. What is that screen you have? Chrome extension?
It’s called the toolkit for YNAB. I did a vide all about it here: ua-cam.com/video/x4-igXQLEkw/v-deo.html
Hope that helps!