Ben and Ernie try something different: they are looking at a messy budget — a VERY messy budget — sight unseen and attempting to clean it up. This one is a doozy, with dozens of uncleared transactions, multiple accounts including credit cards, transfers between accounts, and even a cash account. As Ben points out early on, whenever you’re dealing with a neglected budget like this, you have to start by reconciling first before you start assigning dollars and moving money between categories. So Ben and Ernie wade through each account, clearing transactions and reconciling, making sure that YNAB and the bank account balances agree. Once that is done, they can get to the fun part — building a spending plan!

Of course, this is just a fun exercise for Ben and Ernie, and an opportunity for them to share their problem solving process in YNAB, but if your budget looks like this and you are overwhelmed, there is a MUCH easier solution! You can always make a fresh start, and work with a clean slate starting today. So don’t think you have to untangle the Gordian knot to get your spending plans back in shape!

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
04:09 The Messiest Budget
08:14 Reconcile First!
22:01 Sorting by Uncleared Transactions
25:27 Reconciliation Dance
50:17 Tricky Transfers
53:21 Finally! We can look at categories
01:08:28 Fresh Start vs. Cleaning Up the Mess
01:10:23 YNAB Wins

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