
At what day in month does To Be Budgeted value go $0/green and rolls over to next month as either +/green or -/red?
Not sure title makes sense, but here is the scenario:
I get two/three paychecks a month, as I'm paid every two weeks. My wife gets paid continuously through the month since she is in private practice. I have noticed that towards the end of the month (this month, it's today, the 30th) as I'm adding money, but also paying bills with that money, that the To Be Budgeted amount automatically goes to $0/Green, and next month's goes +/Green or -/Red, even before I budget the current money down to $0. This does not happen earlier in the month.
Does anyone know if this is a bug or a feature, and if it's by design, what the algorithm is so I can anticipate this?
Thanks,
Jerry
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If you budget funds in a future month -- as seen in the "Budgeted in Future" header -- it will change how the "To Be Budgeted" (TBB) mechanic works.
Normally when you are over-budgeted -- i.e. you've budgeted more funds than you have available -- the TBB balance will be negative (red). But if you have any funds budgeted in a future month, you'll only see that negative balance in the future-most month. The current month's TBB will remain $0/green.
Some users refer to this mechanic as "Stealing from the Future." YNAB is allowing you to tap into funds that you previously allocated to a future month to increase your allocations in the current month. And it's not terribly obvious when it happens (you don't see any warnings in the current month.)
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Ah, now it makes sense. I was paid Friday, and budgeted the mortgage in next month's budget. Since I did that on Friday, but added money today as well, I had forgotten that detail. If I don't do that, I assume the TBB value for this month would show the expected amount. Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.