YNAB help

[kimmarg]

So I've switched to YNAB from mint. Yea it was an eye opener, as I was totally using THIS pay check to pay for the Past months' credit spending. Great news, my money is up to 56 days old and I'm now using THIS check for next months spending! 

In less great news YNAB is totally driving me nuts although I can really see the potential.  I think part of the issue is probably me using it correctly. I have about 5 capitol one savings accounts set up and every two weeks on payday a specific amount transfers from my checking to the savings accounts. (sort of an 'envelope system') So for example I put $150 in my car fund and $150 in my house repairs fund every paycheck which are two different accounts on Capitol One 360.  YNAB keeps putting the transactions in the wrong account! so I have duplicate deposits into, say 'home savings' and nothing in car savings etc. It's driving me beserk and makes none of my balances correct.

I'm also still really confused as to what the "cleared balance" and "uncleared balance" are. Currently they are both wrong on my checking and savings accounts.  I think I'm probably messing something up here but how to you handle lots of transfers between accounts on YNAB?

[cavewoman]

If your transactions are recurring from your accounts, maybe try setting up recurring transactions in YNAB that are transfers between the correct accounts and recurring transfers from To Be Budgeted to whatever line item category you have assigned to that envelope.

I'm not super familiar with recurring transactions because I don't use them, but that's the first thing that comes to mind.

Also, I wonder if the new "manage payee" feature could help?  Do you use import or are you manually entering these transactions?  This would only help if you import and the payee register from your bank has something identifying about which account it is transferring into.

For the Cleared vs. Uncleared balances: I believe it is similar to the "Available" vs. "Balance" information that can show up on your checking account online - there are transactions that haven't cleared yet, so you know the available balance *will be* lower once it clears.  Do you reconcile your accounts on a regular basis? I find this helps me a lot if I do it weekly.

Hope that's helpful! 

[HildaCorners]

YNAB tech support people are excellent. I'd suggest you email them about your multiple bank accounts. It could be something the import system is doing weird, and they might know of a work around.

I don't pay much attention to cleared/uncleared balances. For your transfers, it's important to make sure each transaction only shows up once in each account, an Inflow in one and an Outflow in the other. Delete any duplicates.

You may find that with YNAB you don't need to use bank accounts as envelopes. If you spend from your budget (making sure you have enough in your working cash account to cover everything) the budget will serve as your envelopes. It may take a few months to transition over, and transitions are always messy. Stick with it, as YNAB is an excellent system.

[kimmarg]

YNAB tech support people are excellent. I'd suggest you email them about your multiple bank accounts. It could be something the import system is doing weird, and they might know of a work around.

I don't pay much attention to cleared/uncleared balances. For your transfers, it's important to make sure each transaction only shows up once in each account, an Inflow in one and an Outflow in the other. Delete any duplicates.

You may find that with YNAB you don't need to use bank accounts as envelopes. If you spend from your budget (making sure you have enough in your working cash account to cover everything) the budget will serve as your envelopes. It may take a few months to transition over, and transitions are always messy. Stick with it, as YNAB is an excellent system.

Yes, I think you're right and I'll probably be able to transition away from having so many accounts. Maybe I'll email tech support and see if I can figure out why all the transactions show up in one account.

In mint I actually used the balance feature a lot to know the balance of my million accounts but maybe with YNAB I can get it down to just a few accounts and then simplify.

[ToTheMoon]

. . . but maybe with YNAB I can get it down to just a few accounts and then simplify.

The above is key, but in the meantime if you change the amount going to the other accounts ($150, $151, $152) this problem will likely stop as the program will be able to match the correct transactions.

[Peony]

YNAB has a great forum of longtime users that has been hidden from new users since the software went to a subscription, web-based format. Long story. Try https://forum.youneedabudget.com/  or https://forum.youneedabudget.com/entry/signin?Target=discussions and see if you can sign in. If you start a thread there with any questions you should get tons of help.