How much does cutting one category actually help?
A cut raises the lowest point only by what it has saved by that day. In one sample budget, $100 a month less on dining out lifts the year's low by $182.59.
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Notes on looking past this month in YNAB: what a forecast of your own budget shows, how to read it, and what moves it.
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If I change a YNAB target, does my forecast change?
Yes, at the next sync, for every row still on YNAB's target. A figure you stated in Whatif stays yours, and each change a sync makes goes on Notifications.
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My month breaks even, so why does my balance get so low?
A month’s total compares two month-ends, both just after payday. In one sample budget, February ends $32.00 up and holds the year’s lowest point: $292.16.
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How low does my account get before a payday on the 25th?
Paid on the 25th, the low is the 24th unless more pay lands mid-month. In one sample budget the 11th and the 24th close within 654,46 kr of each other.
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How far will one big expense set me back?
One expense lowers every day after it by its full amount. In one sample budget, a $1,200 repair next week takes the year's low from $287.83 to −$912.17.
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Can an app connected to YNAB change my budget?
Not with read-only access. YNAB refuses every write from a read-only token, so Whatif cannot change a budget, a transaction, a category or a target.
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Why is my balance lowest after a yearly bill I saved for?
Money set aside for a yearly bill stays in checking until it leaves. In one sample budget, a $1,860 renewal moves the year's low from $2,087.32 to $283.48.
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What happens in a month with three paychecks?
Paid every two weeks, two months a year get a third paycheck. It lands in the month's last days and repays the months before it, so the low comes just before.
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Why your YNAB balance is lowest the day before payday
In a YNAB budget with bills on the 1st and pay on the 15th, the lowest day is the 14th: $2,144.59 in December, $279.16 in February.
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How Whatif forecasts a YNAB budget
Whatif rolls your YNAB budget forward a day at a time, from your real balances, pay dates and due dates, to find the lowest your cash will get and when.