Hi all, Another newbie question here. I manage our family’s cellphone plan, which is $199.90/month for 5 lines (two in our household, 3 from other family members). The other family members reimburse me using Venmo each month.
So, I set up a category with the target amount of $199.90, due on the date that our cell phone bill is due, as per YNAB’s recommendations. At the beginning of the month, I assigned $199.90 to that category. Then, when our family members’ venmo payments came in, I categorized those as inflows to the cell phone account. Now, waiting for the bill, I see:
- $199.90 in “assigned”
- +$120 in “activity”
- $319.90 in “available”
All of this makes sense to me. But, it seems like now I should be able to re-assign $120 to another category. If I try that, though, it suddenly shows the category as underfunded, despite the fact that I still have $199.90 available.
Am I misunderstanding how assigned / activity / available work? Why, after $120 of inflow, is YNAB still requiring me to keep $199.90 assigned?
It’s really worded in a way that makes you think that’s what it’s doing, but I guess the problem is if you budget ahead, how should YNAB know if the money is for the current or the next month.
If you want to be 100% sure you have enough you could add an additional “phone buffer” category, but that obviously has its own downside.
Or, alternatively, you just live with the yellow budget.