Unrelated to anything I wanted to write about today, how are you referring to the year 2010? It's been a bit of a debate in our office lately. We don't have to have an official way to say it, but it's interesting to see all the variety. This year, 2009, is "oh-nine." What's next year? Some people are automatically (and accidentally) saying "oh-ten" which always makes me smile. Just saying "ten" feels weird, so I've been saying "twenty-ten." Not sure what to do about 2011 though. "Twenty-eleven" is a lot of syllables.
But anyway, back to the topic at hand. I've been thinking a bit about how I want to setup my 2010 YNAB budget categories. I see two big changes for next year.
First, I want to add a budget category called "running." Why? Because I spend a lot of money on running related expenses. Things that will go into this category are race entries, of course, but also the money spent on shoes and other gear. Right now, running shoes go into my "clothing" budget, which is misleading. Did I spend $100 on some cute shirts or did I buy a new pair of running shoes. Personally, I think that the new running shoes are a "better" use of my money, as they come closer to a necessity than a cute shirt would.
Second, I want to figure out how to track my FSA. I will probably start out with a budget category for the FSA and then slowly track how much money comes out of the account. I'm not sure if I want to do this or not, because I also plan to keep a spreadsheet with all my FSA eligible expenses to help me better decide just how much money to put into the FSA for 2011. This year, I just had to make an educated guess without a lot of data before me. I know the amount will be low, but I'm not sure how low. I'm okay with that, of course, but it will be nice to make a better estimate for the following year.
This was my first full year with YNAB, and I really like being able to see everything all together. It's definitely helped me control my money and figure out where the money goes. And perhaps where it should be going instead.