# Assigning Your Money > Assign money in YNAB using either methods manual assignment or AutoAssign Apply the YNAB Method and Give Every Dollar a Job whenever funds are available. Source: https://support.ynab.com/en_us/assigning-your-money-a-guide-SypgkrNJi Last updated: 2026-09-28T15:28:57.399Z Assign money in YNAB using two approaches: manual assignment or Auto-Assign. When you manually assign money, you have the time to think through each category as you make a plan for your spending. With Auto-Assign, you move more quickly and follow an established plan. But, wait! How does money get **into** Ready to Assign? By [adding your accounts](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-add-an-account-ByoxswMJs) and balances in YNAB and any time you add an [inflow transaction](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/how-to-add-income-and-other-inflows-H1ZNjfZJi) or other income. Want more details? Learn [more about Ready to Assign](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/the-plan-header-BkmiuJ_C9#RTA) and how it's calculated. #### In This Article [Ready to Assign](#rta) [Manually Assigning Money to a Category](#category) [Auto-Assign](#auto) [Going Forward](#tips) * * * ## Ready to Assign Ready to Assign holds the money that still needs a category and alerts you if you've assigned more than you have. There are four states of Ready to Assign, and each provides you with valuable information. ![Four states of Ready to Assign](https://cdn.bfldr.com/NIEXAZS5/at/5frjc85js3rstnx2st7kbf7/4-States-RTA-iOS-Help-Article.png?auto=webp&format=png) ### iOS * When Ready to Assign includes a positive amount in the current month in the _Plan_ tab or the top of the _Home_ tab, those dollars are ready to be moved to a category. Assign money to your categories until Ready to Assign is $0.00. Just like with a cash envelope system, you're allocating specific amounts to each category. You can [manually assign money to individual categories](#category) or use [Auto-Assign](#auto). * When Ready to Assign is missing from the current month in the _Plan_ tab or the top of the _Home_ tab, all of your money has been moved to your categories and you have a plan for your spending. *  When Ready to Assign includes a negative amount and a "Fix This" button in the current month in the _Plan_ tab, you've [assigned more money than you have available in your plan](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc). Tap the banner with the "Assigned Too Much" alert to subtract funds until Ready to Assign is back to $0.00.  * There are times when Ready to Assign could be $0.00 in the current month **but** [**negative in a future month**](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc#future). This happens when you have enough money for all the assigning you've done in the current month, but not enough for all the assigning you've done in future months. Tap the banner with the "Assigned Too Much" alert in the future-most month to subtract funds until Ready to Assign is back to $0.00.  ### Android * When Ready to Assign includes a positive amount in the current month in the _Plan_ tab or the top of the _Home_ tab, those dollars are ready to be moved to a category. Assign money to your categories until Ready to Assign is $0.00. Just like with a cash envelope system, you're allocating specific amounts to each category. You can [manually assign money to individual categories](#category) or use [Auto-Assign](#auto). * When Ready to Assign is missing from the current month in the _Plan_ tab or the top of the _Home_ tab, all of your money has been moved to your categories and you have a plan for your spending. *  When Ready to Assign includes a negative amount and a "Fix This" button in the current month in the _Plan_ tab, you've [assigned more money than you have available in your plan](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc). Tap the banner with the "Assigned Too Much" alert to subtract funds until Ready to Assign is back to $0.00. * There are times when Ready to Assign could be $0.00 in the current month **but** [**negative in a future month**](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc#future). This happens when you have enough money for all the assigning you've done in the current month, but not enough for all the assigning you've done in future months. Tap the banner with the "Assigned Too Much" alert in the future-most month to subtract funds until Ready to Assign is back to $0.00.  ### Web * When Ready to Assign includes a positive amount and an "Assign" button in the current month, those dollars are ready to be moved to a category. Assign money to your categories until Ready to Assign is $0.00. Just like with a cash envelope system, you're allocating specific amounts to each category. You can [manually assign money to individual categories](#category) or use [Auto-Assign](#auto). * When Ready to Assign is $0.00 in the current month and in all future months, all of your money has been moved to categories and you have a plan for your spending. *  When Ready to Assign includes a negative amount and a "Fix This" button in the current month, you've [assigned more money than you have available in your plan](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc). This means you need to remove money from your categories until Ready to Assign is back to $0.00. * There are times when Ready to Assign could be $0.00 in the current month but [negative in a future month](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/when-ready-to-assign-is-negative-an-overview-HylZA0zCc#future). This happens when you have enough money for all the assigning you've done in the current month, but not enough for all the assigning you've done in future months. If Ready to Assign is negative in a future month, move money from spending categories back to Ready to Assign until it reaches $0.00 in the future-most month. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Manually Assigning Money to a Category ### How to Manually Assign Money to a Category ### iOS 1. Tap the _Plan_ tab. 2. When you tap on a category**\***, a number pad will pop up and the Assigned column will become editable. This allows you to type in the desired amount of money. After you tap _Done_, the Assigned column and Available amounts will update.**\* Wanting to assign directly to a Credit Card Payment category?** If you tap on a Credit Card Payment category, you'll be brought to a pop-up telling you whether you're on track to pay off your current card. So to change the assigned amount, you'll need to instead use the [Moving Money](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/moving-money-in-your-plan-ryyCKbBJi) process. You'll move money from Ready to Assign (or another category) into the Credit Card Payment category. 3. If you already **had** money assigned to the category, and you're wanting to adjust the amount, you'll want to: 1. Use the plus and minus signs on the number pad to make sure you don't overwrite the initial assigned amount.  2. So if you initially had $300 assigned and you want to add $25 more, you'd tap the plus sign , type in 25.00, and then tap _Done_. If you want to remove $25, you'd tap the minus sign , type in 25.00, and then tap _Done_. Here's [how to use our inline calculator functions](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/using-the-calculator-an-overview-Sy52riYRc). ### Android 1. Tap the _Plan_ tab. 2. When you tap on a category\*, a number pad will pop up and the Assigned column will become editable. This allows you to type in the desired amount of money. After you tap _Done_, the Assigned column and Available amounts will update.**\* Wanting to assign directly to a Credit Card Payment category?** If you tap on a Credit Card Payment category, you'll be brought to a pop-up telling you whether you're on track to pay off your current card. So to change the assigned amount, you'll need to instead use the [Moving Money](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/moving-money-in-your-plan-ryyCKbBJi) process. You'll move money from Ready to Assign (or another category) into the Credit Card Payment category. 3. If you already **had** money assigned to the category, and you're wanting to adjust the amount, you'll want to: 1. Use the plus and minus signs on the number pad to make sure you don't overwrite the initial assigned amount.  2. So if you initially had $300 assigned and you want to add $25 more, you'd tap the plus sign , type in 25.00, and then tap _Done_. If you want to remove $25, you'd tap the minus sign , type in 25.00, and then tap _Done._ Here's [how to use our inline calculator functions](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/using-the-calculator-an-overview-Sy52riYRc). ### Web 1. Click on _Plan_ in the left sidebar (located immediately below the name of your plan). 2. If you don't have anything assigned to the category yet, you'll type the desired amount of money right in the Assigned column and press _Enter_ or _Return_. As you do this, the Assigned column and Available amounts will update. 3. If you already **had** some money assigned to the category and you're wanting to adjust it, when you click into the Assigned column, you'll want to: 1. Use the built-in calculator buttons (plus, minus , etc.) or type them yourself. This ensures that you don't accidentally overwrite the initial assigned amount.  2. So, if you had $300 Assigned, and you want to add $25 more, you'd click the plus sign, type in 25.00, and then hit _Enter_ or _Return_ on your keyboard. If you want to remove $25, you'd click the minus sign, type in 25.00, and then hit _Enter_ or _Return_. Here's [how to use our inline calculator functions](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/using-the-calculator-an-overview-Sy52riYRc).  [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Auto-Assign Month after month, you assign and spend money. As you do, YNAB does some work behind the scenes to keep track of your current and past spending. Use our optional [Auto-Assign](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/auto-assign-a-guide-r1gBNbBJo) feature whenever you want to swiftly distribute funds according to your current plan **or** your past spending history. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Going Forward Here are some tips for managing Assigned amounts and working ahead in future months. ### Moving Money After you've manually assigned money or used Auto-Assign, you may want to cover overspending or adjust your priorities. You can easily accomplish this by moving money from one category to another. Check out [Moving Money in Your Plan](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/moving-money-in-your-plan-ryyCKbBJi) for step-by-step platform-specific instructions and more on how to track your money moves.  ### Leftover Money to Assign Have you finished assigning all the money you need this month but still have a positive Ready to Assign? Consider [assigning money into the future](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5#future).  [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Help Us Help You! Our Knowledge Base team reviews article feedback responses weekly, and we actively revise these articles to make them as helpful as possible. 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