Initial transaction download
Just starting with YNAB, and my December will be my first budget but when I download my transactions in November after setting up the budget and categories, I am having difficulty clearing and categorizing the transactions.
My TBB is going up, I would like my December budget to start clean.
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Hi Cornflower Blue Major !
Welcome to YNAB, I'm so glad you're here! 😊
If you want to start your budget in December, make sure that your Starting Balance transaction (and the balance itself!) starts on December 1st.
However, you can start YNAB on any day, it doesn't have to be the first of a month! You’ll want to start YNAB with the money you have on hand today – and prioritize those dollars. Here's a short video that explains these three main steps:
1. Add your primary accounts with the balances as of today.
2. Budget those dollars where they’re needed before you get paid again. Ask yourself, “What does this money need to do before I’m paid again?”. Do you have an Immediate Obligation that needs to be taken care of before your next payday? Budget money there. If you have extra, budget towards your True Expenses.
3. Record your spending. It’s best to enter transactions right away so you can always trust your budget!
Take a look at those links and let us know if you still have questions! 😊
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Jannelle Thank you so much for responding. I am having the toughest time getting everything to balance. My checking account is off along with my credit card balances.
when the transactions downloaded, my previous payments to the cards are listed but when I take action they either decrease or increase my TBB the wrong way.
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Alice Blue Mill I'm happy to help! If your balances in YNAB aren't lining up with your account balances in real life, let's take a look at reconciling!
Here are a few things that could be throwing off your balance in YNAB:
--missing transactions that need to be entered (since you used file importing, this sounds less likely!)
--an incorrect starting balance (since you've never reconciled before and recently started, this could be the case!)
--transactions that are cleared at the bank that don't have the green "C" in YNAB (this is often the culprit! bring any uncleared transactions to the top, but clicking the gray 'c' at the top of your transaction register)
--inverted numbers (entering $20.54 instead of $20.45) (look for this in transactions that you may have entered by hand!)
--entering a transaction as outflow instead of an inflow (same as above!)
As for those credit card payments specifically, here is a article I hope you'll find helpful!
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