How to Use YNAB's 8 Auto Assign Buttons
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- 🚀 Did you know that YNAB has not one, not two, but EIGHT Auto Assign buttons to turbocharge your spending & saving game? Mind blown, right? Join Hannah as she dives deep into the world of Auto Assign in YNAB and unleash the power of these game-changing features!
🔍 Exploring Auto Assign:
After completing your first month in YNAB, you unlock eight glorious Auto Assign buttons, available on both web and mobile apps. Discover how to locate and utilize them effortlessly to streamline your budgeting process.
👉 Underfunded: The holy grail of Auto Assign! Learn how to let YNAB do the heavy lifting by funding your categories based on priority and due dates.
💡 Pro Tips:
Uncover the secrets to maximizing each Auto Assign button, from "Assigned Last Month" to "Average SPENT." Find out how to tailor these features to your unique budgeting needs and watch your financial goals fall into place.
🔄 Reset and Refresh:
Explore the magic of "Reset Available Amount" and "Reset Assigned Amount" to give your budget a fresh start whenever you need it.
🛠️ Hands-On Demo:
Get ready to flex your YNAB muscles! Learn how to wield these Auto Assign buttons like a pro and give every dollar a job.
🗣️ Join the Conversation:
We want to hear from you! Share your creative ways of using Auto Assign buttons in the comments below.
See you in the next one! 🌟
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:37 Auto Assign Overview
1:57 Underfunded
4:10 Assigned Last Month
4:32 Spent Last Month
4:58 Average Assigned
5:20 Average Spent
5:48 Reduce Overfunding
6:36 Reset Available Amounts
7:35 Reset Assigned Amounts
8:18 Outro
9:03 Bloopers
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Howdy friends! Slight edit to 0:38: the Auto Assign buttons "unlock" for new users once you have completed your initial *onboarding tutorial.*
Listen here, YNAB, I get unreasonably excited about manually giving my dollars a job every time I get paid, I'm not letting you take that away from me with your fancy auto assignments! 😤
😂😂 You sound like our kinda people 😂
🌻 Hannah
I do both lol
Undo!? We need that button for the phone app :)
Yes yes yes please!!!
YES!! I’ve been saying that for years!!
Why nobody talks about the UNDO button. It says: “Undo the last thing you did (in YNAB, not in life).”😅🤣🤣. That why it deserves a video of its own.
😂 Eight minutes on the undo button.
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial 😂 at least eight minutes. Let your creative juices flow 😂. We also want to see the bloopers at the end😆
@ynabofficial I love that you’re so comfortable in your skin that you’re not afraid to add your bloopers. They’re priceless 😁
IS there a Julie Andrews impression coming in the next upcoming bloopers segment?! Only time will tell...
🌻 Hannah
Yes and it’s needed in the app.
I didn't expect to learn anything from this video, but I actually didn't know why sometimes "Underfunded" would throw me into the red and why sometimes it wouldn't. Thanks Hannah!
YAY! I love that! And oh my word, I've been using YNAB for so long and worked here for almost six years, and EVERYTIME I make a video, I'm like, "huh... I didn't know YNAB could do that. Cool." 😂🤦♀️ #themoreyouknow 🌈
🌻 Hannah
I don't understand why it works this way. I should work the same no matter how many categories are selected
@@Mini-TOutdoorsMediaThe algorithm only works slightly differently, but predictably, when selecting 1 category vs. selecting multiple categories (any number; 2 or more).
Here's a scenario for example: Say you have 5 categories that are underfunded by $100 each (i.e. a total of $500 is needed). You currently have $450 'Ready to Assign'. You select all categories and hit 'Underfunded'. YNAB cannot fully satisfy all of the selected categories because you are still missing another $50. So how should the money be divvied in this case? As it stands today, YNAB doesn't have any context to order your categories by an arbitrary priority and will not then dictate which category or categories to short. Instead, it will simply overspend and show a negative balance in 'Ready To Assign' to grab your attention to follow up and fix.
Alternatively, if you were auto assigning just one category at a time, there is no ambiguity as to what to do with the remainder. YNAB either satisfies the target, leaving additional money alone in 'Ready To Assign' or applies the 'Ready To Assign' balance to the category even if it's still underfunded by some amount.
Hope this helps.
I appreciate how YNAB dev has made these amazing feature suites to appeal to more customers. But back in the day Jesse said there wouldn’t be an app because budgeting was a focused and active process. I kinda miss those days of a very simple interface that required me to think hard about my assign decisions. I still manually track and assign everything. It’s enjoyable to me. However, now that I understand all these auto-assign options I may be tempted to click them every now and then. 😊
I'm in a middle camp since I use 'underfunded' on individual categories, so it's basically manually assigning while preventing typos in the amounts fields.
Same but that’s only because I didn’t know you could do it for more than one category at a time. I’m gonna give multi selections a try!
For people who want to auto-assign to a subset of categories and don't want Ready to Assign to go negative, create a customized view for your subset. Then the auto-assign function will work the same way it does in the "All" view (i.e. prioritized partial funding that won't assign more than you have), but will only affect the visible categories.
You can batch-select groups or categories before clicking "New View" to avoid individually clicking each category in the New View pop-up dialog.
That's an awesome tip, thank you!
I’m usually in the “manual assigning” camp.
I really like the idea of using “average spent” in categories like groceries and utilities, and I feel like I change my category structure and/or life structure too often to actually make it useful, at least so far! A girl can dream though 😅
Ha! Maybe that'll be a fun challenge for you! Leave your categories untouched long enough to be able to test out the average spent buttons! :P
🌻 Hannah
Thanks! I actually couldn't quite figure out all the auto assign features, so I just avoided it like the plague. Now that you've mapped it out, I'll give another shot.
Woo hoo!! I've already used "Reset Assigned Amounts" since making this video, and it was a breeze!
🌻 Hannah
Creating customized views for use with auto-assign can be very powerful.
Let's say you have some categories that are funded from a specific source of income. A second job maybe, or reimbursements from roommates. By creating a view that excludes them, you can auto-assign your main income to where it belongs. Then when your alternate funds are available, use auto-assignment on a view that includes only your special categories. What used to be an annoying, error-prone task is now fast and easy.
It's only 09:23 and I already learned about both auto-assign, views AND ways to use them! Thank you!!
Scheduled transactions will also be taken into consideration with underfunded. Not only targets.
Second month with YNAB and my ADHD brain has never stuck with a budget for so long 😅 In part because of your engaging/helpful videos, Hannah. Thank you!!
Hear hear!! Literally this is one of my fav things about discovering this app, and the different types of learning supports available depending on your learning style 😂❤
YAY!! We hear that a lot, and I LOVE it. There's a handful of YNAB subreddit threads on it! And, ahh, you are so kind-thank you!! Glad to have you here :)
🌻 Hannah
@@YNABofficial I had no idea this was a thing! Might be spending some time on Reddit today...😁
Love your videos, thanks for explaining those. Also could you make more videos, they're hilarious (and informative of course!) 😊😊
Oh Nikki 😂 Making videos is alllll I do! You can bet they're gonna keep comin'!
🌻 Hannah
I normally manually assign but these definitely would be helpful
So glad to have you back, Hannah! I love your videos. This is my first month with YNAB, but plan to try the auto sign button next month.
Aww, thank you so much 🥰 Welcome to the world of YNAB!! Sounds like you've already got a solid foot in the door 😂
🌻 Hannah
If you are new to YNAB, be sure that you understand category targets before using auto-assignment.
Hannah has a video on it: ua-cam.com/video/rK7C2OsicE4/v-deo.html
Your breakdown of the auto assign buttons in YNAB is fantastic! It's amazing how these features can streamline budgeting and help users make the most of their dollars. The explanations were clear and engaging, making it easy to understand each button's purpose.
Yay, thank you!! So glad to hear they're helpful!
🌻 Hannah
Super useful video! I've struggled a lot understanding this. Just wish the underfunded assignment button worked for just a selection rather than the whole section
Oh, it does! You can use the underfunded button on the whole budget, a focused view, a category group, a random selection of categories, or even just ONE category! Give it a try!
🌻 Hannah
Wow, been using almost 2 years and had total blindspot to everything but underfunded. Thanks!
Right? We just kinda skip over all those other buttons 😂
🌻 Hannah
I don’t and won’t use these auto assign buttons but I’m glad they exist! By the way: when did the term “budget” get replaced by “spending plan”?
Seconding the commenter who thought they'd not get anything out of this video, because I was wrong. Actually completely redid my budget today after I learned about auto-assign being able to partially fund all of my categories as long as the money lasts. I often find myself with small amounts left in To Be Assigned where I don't really care where it ends up, so having the computer do it for me while respecting the priorities that I set in the targets is going to save me a lot of time!
So smart! And isn't it cool?! I used to think assigning the exact due dates were just for my own personal satisfaction, but turns out to be a LOT more than that!
🌻 Hannah
I don't even use the app; my wife uses it and shares it with me, saying, "Watch this video." I don't use the app, indeed, but I loooooooooove the video; the personality is fantastic. It could be a hint to add more personality to my own videos. Wait a minute, do you think that's it? Is that what she was trying to say. 🤩
I want to be your coworker!!! 🤣. Also, thanks for the great vids and info!
🥰🥰 So sweet!! Thank you so much, and ALWAYS glad to help out!
🌻 Hannah
Hannah. Your video has brought something to my attention that I can't figure out. Do you or anyone from YNAB do consulting? Would really like to get some help. Thanks. Chris from Houston
Oh, we have a whole slew of coaches that could help you out! I'll link you down below!
www.ynab.com/coaching/directory
You can also reach out to our customer support team at anytime. They do way more than just helping iron out technical issues-they can also talk theory with you, help you apply the four habits to your budget, or help you identify where you might be getting a little off in your spending plan. Definitely shoot them a chat from www.ynab.com/help-center if you're looking for help fast!
🌻 Hannah
I love to manually assign the dollars for several categories, But I do sometimes click the underfund button for individual categories that have the same monthly expense.
Yes! The underfunded button and I have become much closer buds lately, but I'm a big fan of manually assigning as well! It just feels so powerful to fund each expense (especially when you're doing it in future months... THE RUSH), but also it makes me so much more in tune with my money. Hard to beat that!
🌻 Hannah
YNAB’s features are one of the things which make it a super robust budgeting app. But sometimes it just seems like overkill :) this is one of those times! But we’re all good YNAB! I do enjoy immensely manually dropping the money every single time.
THERE MUST BE A BUTTON FOR EVERYTHING, JUDY 🤣
🌻 Hannah
Can YNAB create an auto assign feature that provides “amount from same month last year “? Electricity and gas prices vary wildly in Tx from winter to summer and this would help save time hunting for last year’s Dec Gas bill. I know with inflation it does go up but it would be great to know where to start as a baseline. Thanks!
Does your statement show what you've owed over the past 12 months? Ours does and I like it because it's easy to compare how we did compared to last year. However, we signed up for budget billing so we spend the same amount each month and then settle the difference at the end of the year. The first year they didn't set our rate high enough and we owed almost $400!! Now I take out more than we pay each month plus I keep a spreadsheet of what we actually owed each mornth so I know how much we are going to owe at the end of the year (which as of this month they owe us money!!)
That's a great idea to pitch to our team! Always feel free to write into customer support with ideas.
BUT, you have a few options to do the same right now! For a long time, every time we paid a utility bill I recorded how much we spent on it in that category's notes section. It was super easy for me to click the category, look back at last year's winter months or spring months or fall months, and assign accordingly!
You can also hop into your reports on the web app and look at your past spending history! Better yet, copy that paste spending history and paste it into your notes like I shared above-now you've got all the info you're looking for without all those extra clicks into the reports tab!
Hope this helps!
🌻 Hannah
Is it possible to add a button for “assigned last pay period or pay check” or something like that? I get paid twice a month and allocate the same amount to every category from each paycheck. Of course there is some variation in some of the categories but a lot are fixed and it would be nice to allocate per pay check not based on the entire months allocation. Does this make sense?
This sounds like you fund half of the monthly target every month. In the toolkit you can add a “Fund Half” button. Maybe this helps?
Not a bad idea! Feel free to write in with all your ideas to our support team!
support.ynab.com/contact/contact-us-B1OG9RFfj
🌻 Hannah
if I have eg a target for spending of $100 and I have $25 left from the previous month. I hit auto assign ‘underfunded’ - does it assign $100 so I have $125 available, or just top up $75 to get to the $100? I’d like bills categories to top up, but some like personal spending I’d like to add a fixed amount so if I don’t spend one month I rollover and have more available the next month.. Not sure how to do that
If it's a spending category and you're assigning in a future month then it will assign the full amount. I use the spent last month button to top off categories that roll over.
@@ACoveredDishLIfe thanks - that’d work for my groceries/personal spending. For monthly bills I may let them roll over (usually only a tiny buffer) or select that group, remove overfunding and then that’d reset them back to the original target when I auto-assign?
It won't change the assigned amount automatically. You'd have to do it. I set up custom views that align to my auto assign types in combo with funding priorities to make quick work of assigning.
What you really want is to define different types of targets according to how you want auto-assign to work for each category.
• Needed For Spending categories will top-up to exactly your target (minus any activity that has already taken place), because you've said that's what you plan to spend each month
• Savings Balance will top up to exactly your target but IGNORE any activity, because you've said you want a specific balance no matter what
• Monthly Savings Builder assigns the same amount each month
Note that any category with a scheduled transaction in the current month that exceeds the funds available is also considered underfunded. So for instance if you receive a bill on the 27th that's not due until the 12th, you can enter a scheduled transaction for it rather than setting a target. It's not currently underfunded, but it will be when next month arrives. In other words, auto-assign will assign an amount sufficient to cover transactions that are scheduled to occur THAT MONTH, or according to the category target, whichever is greater.
@@MrKlawUK I think ACoveredDishLife misunderstood your second question. Yes, if you have a group of targeted categories with funds exceeding their targets, "reduce overfunding" will reset them to the appropriate targeted amounts. If you reset assigned or available amount to 0, then auto-assign, that is exactly equivalent to "reduce overfunding."
Rebecca Black? 😂😂 that takes me back.
I had the same thought. Thought to myself, "what's she up to these days?" and turns out she's HUGE on the music scene! Hence me having the song she probably wants to be associated with the LEAST stuck in my head for the next week 😂
🌻 Hannah
If you haven't seen it, you should totally check out Thursday by Connan OBrian. Golden.
An old boss of mine would play it at the end of every Friday. It would always get stuck in my head
I do use these but not to their fullest. What I really, really, really want is some buttons to assign 1/4 of the goal, or 1/2, or 1/3. For instance, our mortgage is split between 2 of my paychecks. I have to manually assign with a formula, or know what partial amount to add to the category.
There might be a more elegant way, but dividing your mortgage category into 2 categories that each have a target based on the amount from their respective paychecks might be a down and dirty way to address your situtation.
@@MaxGrey03 I did used to do that. Got to be a bit complex. With the newer groupings, I have a weekly set, a monthly set (where I could really use this), a true expenses set, etc. My wife is paid weekly, I am currently paid every 2 weeks, and this will give us 4 extra checks for her and 2 extra checks for me. After about 6 months, everything is offset by a half month. Just wishing that it was not so month-centric. 😁
I could understand for new YNAB customers, to have the ability to assign 1/4, 1/2, or 1/3 to the goal, but once you are a month ahead, it would become redundant, because before the month rollover the category would be fully funded.
Thanks! I actually paused assigning my dollars to watch this, I was never quite sure about those buttons. Also, not thanks... humm, what was that Rebecca Black song.. ::Googles Rebecca Black, Friday:: ... oh no.. that's going to be stuck in my head for days. And here I thought we were friends..
😂😂😂
🌻 Hannah
IT STILL MISSING IS OFTEN WE RECEIVE THE INCOME FOR. EXAMPLE : I RECEIVE MY PAYCHECK EVERY OTHER WEEK SO I RECEIVE 26 PAYCHECK YEARS STIL TARGET BY PAYCHECK : WEEK ,EVERY OTHER WEEK, MONTHLY YEARLY
I usually use underfunded for everything, but it is annoying when using it when you don’t have enough money in Ready to Assign to cover the category. It tries to add more than you can to the category.
Whenever that happens, I just start selecting un-funded categories one at a time until I see the number on the underfunded button get AS CLOSE to my Ready to Assign amount as it can without going over, then I hit overfunded and manually assign whatever's left in RTA to the next category in line.
🌻 Hannah
If you want to assign everything in Ready to Assign to a single category, auto-assignment is the wrong tool for the job. Click "Assign," choose "Manually," then your category.
If you want to use "underfunded" on multiple categories, create a custom view. Underfunded will affect only categories in the current view, and it won't assign more than you have.
Finally, if you are using Hannah's method of watching the "underfunded" total while selecting categories, you might find it useful to include one additional category that puts you over your available amount, then immediately click "Fix This" on Ready to Assign and select that last category to take back exactly the deficit amount and leave it partially assigned. This is exactly equivalent to leaving that category out of your subset selection, then manually assigning your remaining funds there. You can use whichever method makes sense to you.
What?
Lol please never remove the bloopers
I would stop making videos before I ever cut out bloopers. It's a non-negotsh. 😌
🌻 Hannah