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comment by blackbootz

Wow, I can feel your enthusiasm from all the way over here. :) I'm sold, I'll definitely start using it. What I get from your post is that it helps when budgeting to make a lot of money.





zonk  ·  3437 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Did you mean with your second sentence "if you make a lot of money" or "to save a lot of money"? I'm slightly confused :D

If you mean the former: I wouldn't say it's for people who make a lot of money per se, but I can imagine the categories become more granular. Someone who only has $50 to spend overall won't divide it into 3 sub-categories, I assume. Or you won't have so many different saving goals then, you probably share a big one. But as you can already see, basically it comes down to personal preference: If you like to have very specific, little budgets to spend, do it that way. If you want a little bit more freedom, go ahead and make more generous categories. But for me it was important (since it became my own personal financial household), to see, where exactly I spent my money (Do I eat out to often? Do I buy too many groceries? Do I spend my spending money too much on keyboard accessories or do I spend too much on games? All this wouldn't be visible if you have broader categories). And I'm pretty forgetful. If I'd have one big savings pool, I would forget about most of the quarterly/bi-yearly payments. Since I have the car insurance separately, I know it's coming up as soon as my budget reaches 3 months full of money. And as a consequence, my savings account is not needed for vacation, the wedding, presents or anything, it is literally ONLY a savings fund. Which gives me more wiggle room when I need additional budget. Instead of compromising in a spending area, I can take a couple of Euros out of my saving budget for this month. If this happens too often or regularly, I have to adjust my percentage I set for it, in general you want to be fine with the budget you give yourself. If I don't want to cut down my savings, but I need extra money from it for my spending money every month, then it's time to go back to the compromise approach and see where I can cut money to spend it on more games or other personal stuff.

This also goes a little in the direction in case you meant the latter one, to save up easily some money: Kind of. It depends on your priorities. You need a fixed amount for insurances and food each month, rent, too. You have $250 leftover and not budgeted yet. Do you prioritize spending? Do you want to do an awesome vacation next year? 200 to savings, 50 to spending. Or: All your important savings are covered in other categories and you still have the 250 to budget and a new console was released? $200 or $250 goes to spending this month. As I wrote in my other reply: YNAB will make you think about your money and how you want to spend it. You know you have your fixed costs, but then there's always some wiggle room. You don't need new pants this month? Either budget it to the savings budget, let it sit in the clothing budget and it will go over to the next month's clothing budget to get something fancier this time or put it in your your spending money, it's up to you and your plans/priorities.