How does that look on a granular month to month basis? You need a plan for how you spend your money each month that allows you to accomplish these goals.
When it comes down to it, you don’t need to keep close tabs on most of your budget. For most categories, you import the transaction and it ends up being close, if not exactly, what you budgeted for.
We have all sorts of transactions that come out of a fixed expenses category that I’m not really watching. I know how much the total is for the category and all of those random Netflix, Disney+, etc. expenses will add up at the end.
Although I won’t need to watch many categories throughout the month, there are some that require our very close attention. Categories like groceries, gas, family spending, dining out, and personal spending categories for Katie and me.
These are the categories that are most likely to get into trouble.
Out of all of the other categories that are made up of thousands of dollars, it’s only these categories that are the make or break.
This is precisely why we can’t really know how we should be spending if we look at our account and just try to eyeball it. We can’t look at having a couple of thousand left and keep track of the gas we need for our cars, the money for toiletries we should be setting aside, the groceries that still need to be bought, and still feel like we know how much we can spend on the side.
That’s why any spending we do that needs to be tracked and accounted for should have a category.
YNAB just launched a new feature that I’m really excited about. It’s a category filter they’re calling Focused Views, and I think it will make a massive difference in how Katie and I look at our finances.
I’m definitely the nerd and Katie is the free spirit, as Rachel Cruze likes to say when it comes to our finances. Having the ability to filter our categories down to the ones that really matter will be a game changer for us both.
Now, I can work the budget to be what it needs to be, but we can both look at the focused view to watch the spending that really matters.
For us, that’s groceries/paper goods, toiletries/needs, dining out, family spending, and our personal spending categories. Out of all of our other categories, these are the ones to watch. With the new focused view, it makes checking your budget before spending so much easier.
The rest of your budget is really just a fancy calculator, keeping the math straight for all of your expenses. It’s how you can have the trust to know that you can spend freely and trust it. It keeps things all straight between your accounts and allows you to check in on things at a glance.
People who hate budgeting hate the thought of “tracking every penny.” Wouldn’t it be much freer just to watch your spending carefully? When it comes down to it, most transactions are just an import and approval, but watching those few categories that make or break you can make a huge difference in how easy it is to see exactly where you are.
No more trying to figure it out in your head. You have everything in the budget so you know that you’re spending within the parameters you’ve set, and you’ve identified the categories you have to watch to make decisions for your spending.
Ultimately, our money is meant to be spent in the ways that mean the most to us. This just helps us see that with a little more focus.
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