YNAB 5 after wipe in Jan, then a fresh start in Feb NOT = YNAB 4
Really want to give YNAB 5 a solid run this time, but it really irritates me that it absolutely refuses to match what my actual budget and actual dollars are as shown in YNAB 4.
I am not really much into writing/typing so I won't go into the three starts I have done with YNAB 5 but to say, after unsuccessfully starting in January (twice), I decided to "fresh start" in Feb. I started everything from "zero" since last month I paid off ALL my previous debt except for our two new cars.
Then I matched category for category between YNAB 4 and YNAB 5. Once matched I ran the budget in each as normal using the manual entry + bank download verification method. I Reconcile in YNAB 5 as often as I can to keep it "zeroed" out checkbook wise.
I have some big budget items that are cash savings, (Paving Driveway, New deck etc.) so those are dollars that are accounted for, but just sitting in my checking. I only have ONE Checking/Savings account, so I have nothing going across banks/accounts, as I only use one bank.
My problem is, even after 3 starts in YNAB 5, it refuses to match YNAB 4 as far as TBB is concerned.
LET ME BE VERY CLEAR - in February each category matches EXACTLY. In March each category matches EXACTLY in both YNAB's. Both YNAB Checkbooks match EXACTLY as to what dollars are in the bank (again only the one account).
With everything literally matching, in YNAB 5 says my TBB is currently $2100.69, and in TNAB 4 it shows TBB as 917.39. There is NO money not accounted for in hidden categories etc. etc.
Again I am seeing:
YNAB 5 TBB = $2100.69
YNAB 4 TBB = $917.39
This makes no sense what-so-ever. Exact categories match for both months, Checkbooks match, TBB doesn't.
I have been using YNAB since Version 3.
I "tried" YNAB 5 when it came out, but it never made sense to me, as opposed to YNAB 4, so I never converted after trying it for a couple months. Since I paid off all my Credit debt last month, I decided to try YNAB 5 again because I have simplified my "budget" life so much now.
But Frankly, YNAB 5 is still untrustworthy. I KNOW YNAB 4 is correct, it ALWAYS has been, even when my budget was more complex. Now it "should" be very simple, but YNAB 5 gets very confuse when I move dollars around. Apparently I am doing something incorrect, but I'll be damned if I can see what it is.
EVERYTHING MATCHES!
TBB doesn't.........grrrrrrr
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There are no explicit categories for the CC payment in YNAB4, but it implicitly reserves the difference between the CC account and Pre-YNAB Debt category balances. Thus, you need to set nYNAB's Payment category to that same amount. If your PYD = $0, the CC Payment category should match the working account balance.
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By CC, I am presuming you mean Credit Card. I only have 1 Credit Card, which gets paid same day as charge via correct category. (i.e. Gas, grocery). But to be honest, it is alway just Gas from Costco. Paid SAME day. I use no other credit outside of two car payments.
Note:
I am matching category to category. I am matching bank register to bank register (reconciled). There are LITERALLY no differences in either YNAB 4 or YNAB 5 on these. Yet the TBB is totally different (and incorrect in YNAB 5, somehow).
I am presuming the error is caused by me, but I do not know how or why.
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Hebrews12v2 Have you used the Red Arrow at all in YNAB 4? You can't let overspending persist across months in the new YNAB, and that overspent amount will automatically be subtracted from To be Budgeted when the month rolls over.
So if your YNAB 4 budget has overspent categories, that will inflate your To be Budgeted amount compared to what you'll see in the new YNAB. The total amount of money is the same, but instead of seeing, e.g., -$500 in your budget categories and $1500 in To be Budgeted, you'll see $0 in those categories and $1000 in To be Budgeted.
If that doesn't explain it, I'd be happy to take a look. If you’re up for it, go ahead and enable Support Access for your account. Once you’ve done that, let me know—and mention whether you’d like to continue the discussion here or via email instead.
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Matthew I will go ahead and enable that help feature. Not sure what you will see, I still have $2100.69 to budget according to YNAB 5, which should not be true. As far as red arrow in YNAB 4, nope. Again all fields are the same in both YNAB's, but YNAB 5 shows more to budget than YNAB 4 does. Again. I am sure I did whatever it is, but I am lost as to what I did! I enabled support and I am online now.
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Hebrews12v2 Thanks! I will take a look later today. (Support Access isn't a real-time chat; I'll be taking a look at your budget and let you know what I see, and I'll most likely drop you an email asking for a screenshot of your YNAB 4 budget.)
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Matthew I just found $1120.00 more that I missed putting into YNAB 5. I have a check out for a gravestone that I didn't add to YNAB 5. Now I am only $63.30 more in YNAB 5. Guess getting away from the problem and coming back helped......
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Hebrews12v2 That makes sense! Would you still like me to take a look?
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Matthew I should be ok now, $63.30 isn't as bad as 1200+ bucks. I'll find my error now, I am sure. Thanks for the help!
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Hebrews12v2 Sure thing!
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What a great thread showing the awesome support from YNAB. I have my issues with the software (and the incredibly slow product dev cycle), but the support can't be beat. There's not another company out there that has support this good.
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Tan Wildebeest Thank you! But to be fair, I just threatened to look at Hebrews12v2 's budget, and that fixed it! 😄
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