My Month Ahead Experience | Budgeting with YNAB

Hannah shares a few quick tips for getting a month ahead in your budget, as well as a few little lessons she learned along the way.

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[ScottMicale]

It took me about 6 yrs to get a month ahead. I needed about $7k extra saved to make that happen I’d budget $100 every month for 6 yrs. it was a tedious task but I’ve made it!

[RyanHipp]

YNAB. videos were good last year. Now with Hannah, they are fantastic.

[wildwheelsdarin]

I can't believe nobody has yet taken Hannah up on her bonus points challenge!? Do people watch the entire videos? I know I do, to get to those juicy outtakes!

Number of times during video that Hannah says, "getting a month ahead" is 13 (at 0:09, 0:19, 0:47, 3:38, 3:47, 4:34, 5:03, 6:34, 7:05, 10:51, 12:20, 12:26 and 12:49).

Number of times she says, "get a month ahead" is 2 (at 0:56 and 5:35).

If you're being literal, it's 13 times... if you're not so picky on getting vs. get, the number is 15.

Hannah, can I please have ALL the bonus points?! 😅

[tallie]

YNAB is my favourite. Hannah is my favourite.

[mostlysondheim]

I never thought I would be excited about a new video being released about a budgeting software, but I suppose 2020 is full of surprises no one could have seen coming!

[janetabbot]

Hannah, you are my spirit animal. YNAB broke is a real thing, and it feels SO GOOD! It’s currently June 19, and next Wednesday, I will finish budgeting August and move on to budgeting September. In the meantime, I feel the pinch of being lower on grocery money and dining out money than I’d like, but the pinch is *by choice*, and the feeling is not nearly so desperate as having a bit of money left with nothing to back that up. It sucks, but it isn’t stressful at all - it just clarifies the choices I can make over the next 12 days. I can dive into my freezer and cupboard and be creative, because it’s my choice, not my last resort. That’s an incredibly powerful feeling!

[JenGrice]

I've been doing exactly this for the last few years (using YNAB). Once I was 3 months ahead, I was just (last week) able to save $8K to put down on a (new to me) 2019 Jeep. My payment is so low that I can afford to make larger payments on months that my side-hustles brings in extra $$. I also already have 2 payments just waiting to be due. Thanks to YNAB, I feel financially secure and I've learned to make smarter financial decisions – knowing what I can and cannot afford.

[DamnTastyVegan]

Hannah's videos have officially made me a budget nerd. I can't get enough of her videos. After learning so much from this channel and using the app, I'm finally two months ahead, fully funded emergency fund, consistently contributing to my IRA, and working on saving for a house.

[JennJoi]

I get paid every 2 weeks but I only budget for receiving 2 paychecks per month. Which means twice a year, I get an "extra" paycheck in that month. I was lucky enough to receive my annual bonus in the same month that I got an extra "bonus" paycheck, and voila! I was able to get a month ahead!

[FemmeFine]

I've just come across this channel and I just want to say I love this woman's personality. Funny and entertaining whilst direct and to the point!

[tyu]

Such a great point about paying down debt. You need to save up AND pay down debt at the same time, if at all possible! So that you’re prepared for unexpected events... like, oh, I don’t know, a global pandemic or something

[carloscardoso]

We've tried budgeting categories in the future month before but that strategy didn't work well for categories we had to move money around and sometimes things didn't look like what I expected when we get the to next month. A few weeks ago we created the "next month" category where we put all the income that will be assigned to next month's bills and we're confident this strategy is going to work best for us.

[RachaelGiallongo]

Hannah!!! You are my new favorite person! 💕 YNAB should give you a raise! 😁

[kekawaka]

I have started using the comment under the Month heading to announce how much short of Month Ahead I am at the beginning of each month. It's great motivation as I see it every time I check my budget. ("Just $190.93 short of Month Ahead!" for July 1st ;-) )

[behodiusiraintus]

I've been over a month ahead for about two years now. Hannah's video describes my thoughts on the process, word for word!

[Wickels]

Tax refund and stimulus totally got me a month ahead too! So much better now!

[alinayossimouse]

I just love Hannah. Her videos give me the creative energy I need to tackle my budget

[alicemcculley]

How timely! Today is payday and I’ve just finished paying for July! For the first time ever I’m a month ahead 😀

[victorrodriguezjr]

It took me about 6 months. I get paid every other week which means that about every six months you get a third paycheck. I made that 3rd check my first check for next month. So one check arrived the month prior and the 2nd check arrived the first paycheck of the current month budget. That alone gave some relief. Then six months later I had a month with 3 checks again. So First check was the second check budgeted for the month. And checks two and three became the income for the following month. And that's how I got a month ahead without affecting my paying down debt plan.

[TheStealthbob]

Been banging at that wall for months now...July will be missed by ONLY 3 days, fully funded on the 3rd. August will be my first...BELIEVE IT!!!!