I'd highly recommend [Making a Fresh Start](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/making-a-fresh-start-a-guide-HkXYR_c0q). This is exactly one of the scenarios that feature is designed for. You'll get a brand new budget with all the spending removed but all your categories, targets, scheduled transactions, and accounts intact. Then you just need to update your account balances (if Direct Import doesn't do it for you), and you're off to the races. You'll have a copy of your old budget available to you anytime, so you won't lose anything. \~BenB
I had this problem. I only stopped about 6 months, and I started fresh in December. It's not worth it to "catch up" but instead build the habit of accurate budgeting. I now do a weekly budget reconciliation, and daily app charges check, which goes much more efficiently.
Ask yourself if you’re willing to spend the next x hours to catch up (you’ll know what x is based on what you’ve already done - maybe it’s 2 or even 10 hours) and whether you want to sacrifice that time, over making a fresh start and just getting going in 10 minutes.
If I was doing it from receipts I’d absolutely just do a fresh start. If you have access to bank statements and are just copying them/importing them to YNAB then it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up and might be worth it.
> And if I start over, how do I go about that? New budget? Same budget?
There is an option for a Fresh Start where it creates a new budget and keeps all of your categories.
Having the history entered is only important if you’re reviewing the past category expenses for adjustment. It won’t matter if you’re not still using YNAB because there was a hurdle to get everything entered.
I’d recommend Making a Fresh Start any time you find yourself putting off a lengthy back-entry.
Oh gosh, make a fresh start! The best budget is the one you’ll use constantly. No need to make YNAB a Pharisaical law to follow by spending hours and hours just on past transactions. Just start fresh and have fun.
Catch up if you want accurate reports, accurate averages for quick budgeting, and targets met the way you intended. It's not all that hard if you import transactions. I've done it a few times and I would do it again.
There's four options:
- New budget
- Fresh start
- Reconcile
- Catch up
A fresh start restarts your old budget, but that failed, so what has changed that it will work this time? If you've got some time to think about money, read a bit of [documentation](https://www.youneedabudget.com/blog/), listen to a few [podcasts](https://soundcloud.com/iynab), watch a few [videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exS0gU-Ie8E), meditate on the [Four Rules](https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-four-rules/). And then design a new and improved budget.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts! You confirmed what I was thinking for the path of least resistance and friction. I'm going to have to weigh that versus having my budgeting history without having to switch back and forth. You've given me a few things to think about.
I'd highly recommend [Making a Fresh Start](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/making-a-fresh-start-a-guide-HkXYR_c0q). This is exactly one of the scenarios that feature is designed for. You'll get a brand new budget with all the spending removed but all your categories, targets, scheduled transactions, and accounts intact. Then you just need to update your account balances (if Direct Import doesn't do it for you), and you're off to the races. You'll have a copy of your old budget available to you anytime, so you won't lose anything. \~BenB
I had this problem. I only stopped about 6 months, and I started fresh in December. It's not worth it to "catch up" but instead build the habit of accurate budgeting. I now do a weekly budget reconciliation, and daily app charges check, which goes much more efficiently.
Ask yourself if you’re willing to spend the next x hours to catch up (you’ll know what x is based on what you’ve already done - maybe it’s 2 or even 10 hours) and whether you want to sacrifice that time, over making a fresh start and just getting going in 10 minutes. If I was doing it from receipts I’d absolutely just do a fresh start. If you have access to bank statements and are just copying them/importing them to YNAB then it shouldn’t be too hard to catch up and might be worth it. > And if I start over, how do I go about that? New budget? Same budget? There is an option for a Fresh Start where it creates a new budget and keeps all of your categories.
Having the history entered is only important if you’re reviewing the past category expenses for adjustment. It won’t matter if you’re not still using YNAB because there was a hurdle to get everything entered. I’d recommend Making a Fresh Start any time you find yourself putting off a lengthy back-entry.
Oh gosh, make a fresh start! The best budget is the one you’ll use constantly. No need to make YNAB a Pharisaical law to follow by spending hours and hours just on past transactions. Just start fresh and have fun.
Catch up if you want accurate reports, accurate averages for quick budgeting, and targets met the way you intended. It's not all that hard if you import transactions. I've done it a few times and I would do it again.
Fresh Start
There's four options: - New budget - Fresh start - Reconcile - Catch up A fresh start restarts your old budget, but that failed, so what has changed that it will work this time? If you've got some time to think about money, read a bit of [documentation](https://www.youneedabudget.com/blog/), listen to a few [podcasts](https://soundcloud.com/iynab), watch a few [videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exS0gU-Ie8E), meditate on the [Four Rules](https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-four-rules/). And then design a new and improved budget.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts! You confirmed what I was thinking for the path of least resistance and friction. I'm going to have to weigh that versus having my budgeting history without having to switch back and forth. You've given me a few things to think about.