Importing transactions with the bank i do daily while on the train to work. My wife and I do "money" every weekend (what we call it which dates back to MS Money) to ensure we are on same page and on target for the month. We do our full month budget at end of month before next month begins and reconcile (as in balance checkbook) accounts then.

The problem isn’t reconciling infrequently, it’s dealing with transactions infrequently. 

Make it a habit to interact with your budget every day. Over coffee, give the kids an extra Paw Patrol, whatever it takes. Do it for at least two weeks, and if you break the chain, start over. You should basically never go more than a day or two without dealing with transactions even if you don’t put them in at POS. 

I reconcile very infrequently. I open my budget several times a day. 

Hi Isabelle !

4-6 weeks is a long time to go without categorizing transactions, reconciling or interacting with your budget. YNAB isn't a Set It & Forget It program - the longer you go without interacting with your budget, the harder it will be to get caught up and keep your spending in line with your priorities.

It takes 21 days to build a routine and we're here to help! Tackling your budget now paves the way for a better financial future well into the new year! :)

My colleague Jen (who has been using YNAB for a decade now) shared her budgeting workflow in this Five Minute Fix blog post. I thought you would find it helpful, because she'll walk you through what she does every day (in less than five minutes) as well as her weekly and monthly routine. We also have a few tips on how best to create your own budgeting habits and our Your Budget Routine workshop. :)

Depending on the ages of your kids, you could involve them in "games" (responsibilities) related to putting in transactions: 

- Have them practice counting to see how long it takes you to input. Most of my transactions take about 10 seconds, including opening the app. This could happen in the car directly before you head home. (3-7 yrs, and it's good for the younger ones to hear)

- Have them compare (keep a log if you trust them with a pencil in the car temporarily) previous transaction input times. They will turn into your cheerleaders and learn that sometimes things take focus and patience. (4-10 yrs)

- Have them highlight the important info on the receipt while you get the littles settled and be ready to tell you so you can input even faster! The highlighting is so they can tangibly separate the tasks of finding and presenting the data, and so you can easily glance and check. (8-up if separate receipts; likely at least middle school for finding split totals)

If I'm splitting a receipt, say, from Walmart, inputting the transaction can take 1-5 focused minutes. Possibly consider splitting your purchase at checkout into two/more receipts, one for each category. This can also allow for younger kids to read you totals to input.

Older kids can be taught to sort onto the conveyor belt, of course with supervision for accuracy. You could even delegate - one kid is in charge of groceries, one is in charge of cleaning/toiletries/house. (6/7- up)

Younger kids can help point out what you should take from the buggy next. It's kind of like eye spy, and prepares them for the big kid jobs.

I gave year ranges for the jobs based on my experience as an elementary teacher, but you know what your kids are ready to handle. The goal is supervised independence, but there will be some more hands on involvement from you at the beginning.

Whatever you do, pick one (or two - if you have both upper/lower elementary ages, do a big kid and a little kid job), and

1. Teach it hours (the day before?) before you shop.  Give them a brief reason that's age appropriate (we're helping the family make good money choices/make sure we are providing what the family needs/helping Mommy do her job).

2. Remind them right before you leave to shop that the family is starting a new thing. Ask them what their job is, how it works, and why it's important.

3. Make sure they're fed/rested/exercised so they can be amicably involved in helping you shop. This really doesn't have to do with YNAB except that it's a good thing to help maintain your sanity, which makes it more likely that you will follow through. 

4. Especially with the older kids, you could make connections as you shop about which items will be categorized which way so they don't have to figure that out at the register. 

5. Walk them through their job if need be. 

6. Keep doing this until it's routine. Kids crave routine. They'll get to where they remind you, too. Let them learn to do that respectfully. :)

Because of the involvement, they'll have a reason to help as well as concrete, attainable ways to help. Aside from you actually getting transactions in, they'll learn a whole lot (responsibility, running a household, family contributions, varying levels of math application, sorting, patterns, using data, communication, teamwork, encouragement, persistence, financial health, etc). 

You can do it! Good luck!

I'm one month in to my YNAB journey. I spend at least 30-45 minutes in my budget every day. I'm not in the US, so it's manual entry for me for every transaction. Have spent a lot of time getting my categories right, setting some goals, monitoring spending, and just generally finally feeling like I'm on the way to getting a handle on my financial situation.

Best of all? It's fun!! I always resisted budgeting because I thought it was for boring people that counted their money instead of enjoying it. Now I realise it's the opposite. I enjoy my money so much more when I know it's doing it's job.

I think you've already gotten some awesome perspectives here, and some great advice.

I spend about 10-30 minutes about 2 or 3 times a week in my budget and reconciling. I enter everything manually because I prefer to keep a really close eye on things (I've caught some issues and errors this way, and also been aware when a bill was missed or not paid due to an issue with the bank because of this). Mondays are always a little longer because we've spent money over the weekend and because of our really tight expenses I sometimes have to adjust categories to keep things covered and balanced. It really shouldn't, and doesn't, take that long when it is a habit.

I would also say that if you can find a way to incorporate it into your routine with your kids that would be awesome. As a child my parents NEVER discussed money with us, or how to handle it. I learned how to "balance a checkbook" in school, but that didn't really serve me at all in learning how to actually handle money. My parents weren't bad with money, and in fact, we were much better off than I realized, I only gained that perspective after I got out of the house.

So please do find a way to help show your kids that working with money is a good thing, and it is something that you actively do. If they see how consistent you are with it, and how important it is to you, then they'll take it seriously when they get older, too. You'll be doing them a huge favor in the long run. I've spent most of my adult life struggling with money because I had no one that taught me anything and I had to figure it out on my own, plus having several years of not so great relationships that didn't handle money well either, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Also, I had a friend who would do what the OP did.  And she was too paranoid to link accounts so she would do it all manually at random times, going weeks in between and then making the process so miserable she kept procrastinating longer.  Even with a high dual income, she was never ahead on her paychecks, trying to time CC payments multiple times throughout the month to free up available credit.  It was painful to watch and I tried to help her for two years before eventually giving up.  So do NOT follow that model, it doesn't work.

I check my budget in the morning, while I have my coffee. It only takes a few minutes each day. Transactions are entered manually when they happen, and I have automatic import which helps to pick up any DH spending.

For reconciling at month end, I found Nick True's checklist (link below) to be very helpful.

100% manual entry - no bank account linking

5 minutes daily, 10 minutes weekly  on Saturdays (my big errands day with lots of split transactions), 15 minutes at month-end to budget the next month and reconcile all my accounts.

I think that the trick is to ritualize your interaction with your budget. I really look forward to the moment when I'm done my after-supper kitchen clean up, washed the dishes, have my lunch ready to go for the next day, and I can sit down and enjoy my steaming beverage and update YNAB. Even if I don't have anything to enter, I review and enjoy the satisfied feeling of being organized.

For my Saturday stuff I've got all my usual Saturday errands entered as recurring weekly transactions with the categories for splitting already entered. All I need to do is enter the actual amounts, and I make it my habit to do that as soon as I return home and put all the purchases away. Before I do anything else or go back out again, I update YNAB. It's now ingrained as a ritual.

YNAB helped me to finally conquer my tendency to procrastinate when it comes to my finances and records.  I'm now trying to transfer this learned YNAB discipline and successful behaviour to more mindful and healthier eating by weekly meal planning and keeping a daily food journal. I'm having quite a bit of success in ritualizing that in small repetitive daily/weekly interactions as well.  

Technicolor Cheetah said:
And now I've reconciled properly. 

 Oh, yeah?  Any surprises?  (inquiring minds, and all that....)