YMMV. maybe twice, just to see what they looked like. YNAB. This is why YNAB suggests just having a checking account and not having a savings account at all. The Savings Monetized (Sort of) If your average checking account balance is $6,000 (not at all unusual for a YNAB Budgeter following Rule One), you’ll earn $30 per year … When income comes in I enter it as a transaction with the payee as "interest", and set it to be available this month before sticking it in my interest category. The realist would say do what optimizes your work. Feel free to post any news, questions, budget strategies, tips & tricks and advice related to YNAB… Example, my BMO savings account had a .05 interest … Stash has 3 tiered plans from you to choose from. lol...  Ok, you've inspired me to at least take a look at the reports and see what I'm  missing. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-advantaged medical savings accounts, and they’re on the rise in popularity. And another time or two when I was trying to hit "All Accounts" tab and actually hit "Reports". Yes, give it a category. Money transferred from one to the other is instantaneous. The purest would say everything must be on budget. You still have $500 in your groceries category, it's just now $450 in checking and $50 in savings account. This is the only category I do this with, and I have a specific amount per month that I budget to the category in addition to this abnormal, divergent abuse of my budget. If you want that to be Christmas, that's your call. Hi All - I decided to give interest earned a job of going towards Emergency Expenses - at least for now. Purple Hammerhead Budget categories are for spending (or for savings... aka deferred spending). Also, here's an article on how that Interest & Fees category is intended to be used: docs.youneedabudget.com/article/140-credit-card-interest, If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to ask! It's simple to account for the interest charges and fees that come your way if you're carrying a balance. Since interest varies, I target an amount that will consistently be there as part of my nominal plan (or template or goals if you use them). Our interest rates have fallen a lot since the recession, and from what I've casually and personally observed, have yet to recover. However, I realize you have to say that, so other people, who may actually care about the reports will know not to follow my example. That’s why for the past 15 years at YNAB, we’ve recommended folks keep one checking and one savings account. Credit Card Interest & Fees. I have a bank checking account that my salary flows into. You want to categorize that interest as Inflow: To Be Budgeted. Money will sit in those accounts … Yeah, I see what you're saying, in this case, I've kinda said "when it comes to interest expense, Christmas is my highest priority." See image. Stash Beginner is just $1 a month and is … It was launched in 2003, mainly as an app for the owner and his …  I suggest Inflow: To Be Budgeted. and along the way their savings account earned a penny of … Several of these are  savings accounts which are just that, savings accounts and will not be used for expenses. Thanks for trying to rescue me from myself. As a True Expense, I'd expect that you already have a target amount in mind to spend for Christmas. Thanks for your feedback. I'm a little confused as how to categorize savings account interest. As we are paying off our credit card, home equity or other loan debt, we are still accruing interest on the account. So you create categories named for those somethings and put the money there. I can see that this is going to be distracting because my eyes will keep coming back to this. This is fantastic if you like to maximize every penny you have earning interest. I'm migrating from YNAB 4 and am halfway through my trial period. But we’ve always dreamed of the day when we could cut that down to just one account. But I can see what you're saying, and any other time any other source of extra income comes my way (bonus, windfall, 3rd paycheck of the month etc.) Hi. Savings is really just deferred spending, so EVERYTHING in YNAB is savings. Review: YNAB vs. Quicken YNAB. When you add an account in YNAB, you'll notice that there are two types of accounts to choose from: Budget Accounts and Tracking Accounts.It's important that they be set up as the correct account type, because their type will indicate how they behave in your budget.. A Budget Account … I suppose I could put it into TBB and then directly into Christmas. Your eyes are drawn to it by design so you'll fix it. I have made my budget categories and have my accounts (Linked) entered in nYNAB. I'm simply saying it works for me. Anyway, I suppose I could put it into TBB and then directly into Christmas. All money coming into your budget should go to that category unless it's a refund or reimbursement. If there was $435.19 in the new computer account… I always put anything over that amount toward whatever top-priority category I'd like to accelerate or increase. It's just a quick shortcut that makes me have to think less, and one more step towards automating the budget. Give every dollar a job. I even got a T5 tax form from my bank that had to be filed with the Canadian tax man because I crossed a reporting requirement threshold in 2019. I need a little help understanding how to manage and budget for some of my savings. I know I would have paid the same in taxes; that's unavoidable. I'll see how I feel when I get my next interest income. Once that goal category is fully funded (accomplished), I may open a new saving account, move the money from main savings account into new saving account, and treat the new acctount like a tracking account (a.k.a out of budget). Purple Hammerhead Budget categories are for spending (or for savings... aka deferred spending). That one could be used for some sort of interest charge, such as a credit card finance charge. All of my savings accounts are on budget and the funds in them are budgeted to various categories. I am more discerning about priorities, and Christmas usually loses out at that time. It can earn interest … Health Savings Accounts. Like any statistic, take them with a grain of salt. So when deciding how much to budget in the future based on the averages, your average spent will be lower than what you actually spent. I have an "Interest" category in my savings master category. I entered my interest as you suggested, using Interest as the payee, but it is telling me that I need to enter a category. Just a little tweak I have for making it slightly easier to fill my Christmas category. The location of my money (account) has nothing to do with the purpose (category). For Natalie and Larry, YNAB helped bring them from living paycheck to paycheck to saving enough money to reach their dream of adopting a child (a big win!) For a very simplified example, let's say you get $500. You can customize as much as you want to align with your own priorities and spending/savings. You Need a Budget combines easy software with Four Simple Rules to help you quickly gain control of your money, get out of debt, and save more money faster! Some expenses are fixed: utilities, rent, cable. You Need A Budget - 2.94k Followers, 260 Following, 3178 pins | We teach the YNAB Four Rules to help you stop living paycheck to paycheck, get out of debt, and save money faster. I have a goal (wish farm seed in community speak) to save up for a funeral in cash. You budget all $500 of it to groceries.You have an automatic transfer that puts $50 into a savings account. Follow YNAB to get support and lots of great ideas on budgeting, https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-relationship-between-your-budget-your-accounts-its-complicated/. So I actually just put it directly in there, instead of putting it into TBB and then possibly forgetting that I intended for it to move into Christmas spending. But Net Worth has always been nice to watch, the spending trends/proportions are moderately interesting, Toolkit's balance over time is interesting, and the Income vs. They're moderately interesting, but maybe not earth-shattering. Before I used YNAB, my spending decisions were generally driven by the balance in my checking account… I'm not saying follow my lead. That's why savings accounts are Budget Accounts--you'll give each of your savings … ... A discussion subreddit for popular budgeting software You Need A Budget. Budgeting so you can …  I suggest Inflow: To Be Budgeted. I just transfer it to my savings account (which i don't have in YNAB… So for me, that makes no difference. By the way, you don't have to use any of the default spending categories that come with a new YNAB budget. I just want to put interest back into my savings account. All of them. So how did YNAB become one of the best budgeting software, rivalling even Mint?  (Not asked disrespectfully, but in frank and sincere surprise.). Bruce There are certainly things I can think of to make them more useful (show hidden categories, rearrange category groups to compare for just the reports, drill down into categories in multiple groups and "all other categories," showing graphs of budgeted and available amounts, and making it easier to change the date range, to name a few - all of which I've requested at least once). If you are actually going to use YNAB now that you've migrated, since it appears you really weren't following the method in YNAB 4, you should read this until it clicks: https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-relationship-between-your-budget-your-accounts-its-complicated/. Truly, it's one of very few pleasures I've ever had as a result of taxation. You don’t have to track your HSA in YNAB–after all, that account … They earn interest. There is no seperate savings account now for that goal. Others are variable: vehicle registration r… Some investment accounts, such as TFSAs, lack that functionality, but the system works well with your primary chequing/savings accounts… When you set up your YNAB account, you’ll be able to sync your accounts for automatic data import. Nolesrule is exactly right! Personal Budgeting Software for … We keep 2 savings b/c the first smaller account does instant transfers for emergencies, whereas the Ally bank takes 2-3 days to transfer, but makes better interest. I also have some separate American Express high interest savings accounts for long term savings; one for a roof fund, one for house repainting, one for vacations, etc. I use an "Interest" payee to keep track of exactly how much I receive in interest. Stash. Been waiting 5 years for the Stealing From the Future fix... YNAB book topics online: https://support.youneedabudget.com/r/q5w48j. Funds might be saved for a few days (Mortgage) or many years (Roof Replacement). It sure would be nice if there was a keyboard shortcut / Quick-Budget button to put the contents of TBB into the selected category (or distribute them even across multiple selected categories). Khaki Network Yes, give it a category. Account Types: Budget vs. Tracking. However our online banks and credit unions are more generous. :), Hi - I know this is an old thread, but I just wanted to ask a question about this. Well, yes, it’s nice to get a little bit of interest on the money you’re saving anyway. 1 In the Immediate Obligations category group, create a category to hold your interest … Now, granted, inflowing direct to category wouldn't change anything. We keep one checking around 1-2k, ~5k in a same bank savings account making 1% interest, then have the rest of our bigger savings in a Ally bank savings making 2.2%. Short for You Need A Budget, YNAB is one of the better established budgeting tools. YNAB also gives you the option of adding accounts for “Tracking” purposes only, like investment accounts or a mortgage. Budgeting Your Savings. You are saving that money for something or somethings, otherwise you wouldn't be saving it. Currently I have 2 savings account, 1 for university and 1 to hold any "extra" cash to benefit from some interest … I know that I'm in a rare group of people, feeling smug about having to report interest income and pay taxes on it. Just because you budget something doesn't mean you have to spend it. Embrace your true expenses. This skews your reporting, because it hides how much you actually spend on Christmas. No, really, are you kidding us? 2. In 2019  I felt so accomplished when it added up to a 4-digit number. Are you kidding us? But why then are there interest categories ? They figured out how to make budgeting fun. 1. That one could be used for some sort of interest charge, such as a credit card finance charge. Follow YNAB to get support and lots of great ideas on budgeting. I'd likely still have the same bank balance. YNAB revolves around 4 easy-to-understand rules: 1. But Still...  shrug. Should this be a) Income to be Budgeted or b) Financial:Interest? With Rule 1 in the YNAB Method, you'll Give Every Dollar a Job. Today we discuss how you can combine your physically separate savings accounts into one savings account, and the use YNAB (as it was intended!) I may spend some time trying to understand them, but at first glance, I haven't found a ton of value in them...  We'll see. And I don't really use the reports, so I don't really care if it messes up the reports. nolesrule  I can live with that. After you let that needlessly cryptic message sink in, really it's up to you. My setup of YNAB has evolved and I have been successful in reorganizing existing accounts and categories in YNAB to support this evolution. By the way, you don't have to use any of the default spending categories that come with a new YNAB … Decide what you want to do with each dollar that comes into your bank accountbefore you spend it. Expense report has given me good information that was a bit unwieldy to get in All Accounts (like real data for split transactions). A certain amount each month, and then at some point I decided I'd add interest income into it as well. Once that goal category is fully funded (accomplished), I may open a new saving account, move the money from main savings account into new saving account, and treat the new acctount like a tracking account (a.k.a out of budget). It just makes it easier for me. The cat cannot catch all the mice if it is kept out of the kitchen. They are not to be budgeted, they are savings accounts earning interest. I don't use averages for this category. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. When I got paid, I would dutifully transfer money from my checking account to the appropriate savings accounts Then I would go over to the budget and make sure my savings categories all matched up with my savings accounts. Big banks are greedy misers. Yes, I do. Thanks. I wouldn't notice anyway. Is there a way of satisfying this so that that message goes away? How do I account for them? I know that is the standard, and appropriate place for it to go, but I, at some point decided that (in addition to my normal monthly budget amount) I would add all my interest income into my Christmas category. On the other hand, if I had a savings account that I added to and withdrew from, then I'd put the account on budget and mingle the money into categories on the budget. That's a number with a comma in it, a long, long way from my first year with it's piddling $2.85 interest earned for the entire year. One of my biggest joys with YNAB has been looking at the reports and seeing the steady growth, year over year, and one of those growth markers has been my annual interest income. It can earn interest and I'll reconcile it whenever, doesn't really matter because I don't plan on using it until I die. Bruce It also skews your averages calculated on the budget screen even if you don't look at reports. I guess I can see why you wouldn't bother using the reports; there's nothing particularly useful (or wonderful) in them. This is to help keep track of your net worth, but I use Personal … For the 1 general account, I maintained a separate spreadsheet to keep the breakdown. nolesrule Thanks. nolesrule Yes, I've heard that argument, but you know how many times I've used the reports? But what about interest? None of my categories or groupings of categories add up to any particular account balance (3 checking 3 savings, 4 CDs, 1 giftcard, 3 cash). This means all the dollars in your budget need jobs—it doesn’t matter if that job is immediate, a few months from now, or years down the road. In YNAB … Budget, YNAB is one of very few pleasures I 've used the reports see. Interest income into it as well, YNAB is one of very few pleasures I 've heard that,... 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