Building a quality of life goal that grows each month
OK, a dumb question probably.
I have a category for kids college. I Initially funded it with $5,000 (so every $ had a job) out my savings, and now want to add in another $250/month. Essentially a monthly funding goal, but with an initial balance of $5K.
any advice? It would essentially go $5,000, $5,250, $5,500 etc over the coming months. i couldnt' see how to start it with a fixed amount and then make it grow out of future months' budgets.
Thanks in advance
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Monthly funding goals do just that. It expects you to put in $250 (in your case) every month no matter how much you’ve put in previously.
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A funding goal only looks at what you put in the left column, a balance goal only looks at the info in the right column.
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Maybe I don't understand the question, but every month, from your income/TBB, assign $250 to that college fund category. You'll see the Available column increase by $250 every month. Am I missing something?
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Your confusion is probably from an over-reliance on goals (likely due to YNAB's over-promotion thereof).
The Budgeted column is simply the change each month, so just budget $5000 the first month, then $250 in the following months. You can make a goal for the latter (ongoing) entries, but don't be afraid to make manual budget entries when the goal(s) don't meet your needs.
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@orchid_crab.4, was your question answered? You may have been tripped up by the same thing I was when starting with YNAB. I have a savings account with dollars in them, I have a savings budget object, and expect the "available" on the budget tab to match the balance of the savings account where the dollars actually sit. For that to be so, the initial $5000 the account was funded by would need to post to TBB, then those dollars moved to the budget item. Month by month the "available" would grow in the way your question posed and would "match" your account balance.
When there are extra dollars in my budget -- my gas bill was less than expected, for example -- I sweep those dollars into my savings budget. There is quite a difference between my savings budget and my savings account, and I find that... unsettling. I resist transferring the difference, by re-reading and soaking on the Relationship between your budget and Accounts.
