Tomorrow is June 1st. Ever since I got a month ahead in YNAB, the first day of the month has become my favorite. Here’s why.
Once I’ve entirely funded a month, I choose to assign additional funds that come in to a category called Future Months. The alternative would be to flip ahead to a future month and assign it. But then I wouldn’t have a thrilling first day of the month!
On the last day I make sure I don’t have any overspending, then on the first day of the month I do the following, in this order:
- Approve and, if necessary, categorize any transactions that have come in overnight.
- Flip back to the previous month in the budget and correct any overspending. Sometimes I have to WAM from Future Months to do that and that’s okay.
- Go back to the current (new) month and move all the money from the Future Months category to Ready to Assign (RTA).
- Assign all money in RTA. My preference is to do by category group, rather than simply clicking Underfunded and assigning money to all my targets in one click. Doing it by group provides me more awareness and makes the enjoyment last longer.
- Move any money left over after I’ve met all my targets for the brand-new month into the Future Months category.
Right now we have a lot of extra expenses because we’re moving so I’m not currently a month ahead. But tomorrow I will assign every penny that’s currently in Future Months and then finish meeting my targets as money comes in. Can’t wait!
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