# Handling Overspending in YNAB > Overspending happens whenever you spend more from a category than you had in the Available column. This article will show you how to find and fix overspending. Source: https://support.ynab.com/en_us/overspending-in-ynab-a-guide-ryWoxEyi Last updated: 2026-09-09T16:58:25.454Z Learn to identify the two types of overspending in YNAB: cash or credit. Cover overspending by moving money or assigning more to categories. Understand how unresolved overspending impacts the following month's plan differently based on the type (cash or credit). Maintain a healthy plan by covering overspending as soon as possible. #### In This Article [Types of Overspending](#types) [How to Find Overspent Categories](#find) [How to Cover Overspending](#cover) [What to Do if You Can't Adjust Now](#adjust) * * * ## Types of Overspending There are two types of overspending: **Cash overspending** and **Credit overspending**. The color of the negative amount in the Available column gives you this info! * **Red negative Available amounts are cash overspending.**If your overspending created a red negative category balance, that means you've spent more than you have in a category using a cash account—checking or savings account (or actual cash!). Whenever you see red in YNAB, it's urgent. The Available amounts in the rest of your plan aren't accurate until you've fixed the red amounts. * **Yellow negative Available amounts are credit overspending.**When you buy something using a credit card and the purchase isn't completely planned for, this creates credit overspending. Without enough money in the category, the overspent dollars won't move to the Credit Card Payment category—you now have debt on the card that you'll need to cover in the future. * If you spent with both cash **and** credit cards in your overspent category, YNAB takes the cash out first for accounting purposes, since those dollars have actually left your bank account. So, a blend of overspending types will show as **red**. [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## How to Find Overspent Categories ### iOS The banner displaying “Cover \[#\] overspent categories" shows all category overspending in one place. To quickly cover overspending, tap the banner to see a list of overspent categories and make adjustments. You can find additional information for individual, overspent categories. 1. Tap the _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the overspent category. 3. Tap _Details_to get more information about what's happened in the category. 4. To get specific information about the transactions involved, tap the _Activity_ line. #### Hidden Categories Hidden categories are not included in the overspending banner on the iOS app. ### Android The banner displaying “Cover \[#\] overspent categories" shows all category overspending in one place. To quickly cover overspending, tap the banner to see a list of overspent categories and make adjustments. You can find additional information for individual, overspent categories. 1. Tap the _Plan_ tab. 2. Tap the overspent category. 3. Tap _Details_to get more information about what's happened in the category. 4. To get specific information about the transactions involved, tap the _Activity_ line. #### Hidden Categories Hidden categories are not included in the overspending banner on the Android app. ### Web If there is Overspending, use [Focused Views](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/focused-views-a-guide-BksnNYqLh) to see those categories. This view will only be shown when there is overspending in your plan. Here's what to expect: * The view will be yellow if there is credit overspending in your plan. * The view will be red if there is cash overspending in at least one category. * A number will indicate how many categories are overspent. ### What's next? * **If you find overspending in the current month:** Follow the instructions in the [How to Cover Overspending section](#cover) to cover it, if you're able. If not, rest assured that YNAB will automatically adjust next month's plan numbers to ensure you can still trust your numbers. The [What to Do if You Can't Adjust Now](#adjust) section has more on that process!  * **If you find overspending in a past month:** Leave it as is. Please don't make changes in past months, even with the best of intentions! 🙂 If there is uncovered overspending when a month ends, YNAB automatically adjusts for this in the new, current month, so "fixing" past months can have unintended consequences—in both the current **and** future months. Go from here! Read the [What to Do if You Can't Adjust Now](#adjust) section for more on where the overspending goes with YNAB's adjustments.  [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## How to Cover Overspending ### iOS 1. Tap the _Home_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying "\[#\] overspent categories" at the top of the screen. 3. Choose the category you'd like to cover first. 4. Select which category to cover this overspending from. If you've made progress toward [getting a month ahead](https://support.ynab.com/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5), a monthly toggle will appear above the "Search Categories" bar. If you select a future month, YNAB will cover overspending from money you've assigned in the future.  5. YNAB will automatically try to cover the amount of overspending. If you'd like to change the number, use the slider to adjust the amount of money moving to the overspent category. **Or, for to-the-penny precision, tap the number to the left of the category amount to bring up a number keypad.** 6. If there wasn't enough money in the first category you chose, tap _Select Another_ to cover the rest of the overspending from another category. You can add as many categories as you'd like, moving some money from each until the overspending is covered. 7. Tap _Done_. 💳 With credit overspending, once you've selected a category to move money out of, the following will happen: * Funds will move from your chosen category into the previously overspent category. * The credit ⚠️ alert will clear out of the previously overspent category. * The previously overspent funds will also automatically move back to your Credit Card Payment category. YNAB has your back! #### Cover Overspending with Money Assigned to Future Months ![Monthly toggle with current and future months shown to assign money from after tapping cover # of overspent categories banner.](https://cdn.bfldr.com/NIEXAZS5/at/vhgqr8hb38sbcgkfkpsq2bvf/Cover-Overspending-Future-iOS-Help-Article.png?auto=webp&format=png) If you're [getting a month ahead](https://support.ynab.com/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5) and have assigned money directly to future months, we make it easy to use that money to cover this month's overspending! As long as you tap the banner displaying “Cover \[#\] overspent categories", you'll see a monthly toggle that lets you cover overspending with money assigned to the future. Note: this option will not appear if you move money directly from an overspent category (the monthly toggle is only available if you tap the banner).  ### Android 1. Tap the _Home_ tab. 2. Tap the banner displaying “\[#\] overspent categories" at the top of the screen. 3. Choose the category you'd like to cover first. 4. Then, select which category to cover this overspending from. 5. If there wasn't enough in that category to cover all the overspending, you can select another category to cover what's left. 6. Repeat this process of tapping the overspent category and selecting a category to cover the overspending from until you've knocked out all the overspent categories! 7. Tap _Done_. 💳 With credit overspending, once you've selected a category to move money out of, the following will happen: * Funds will move **from** your chosen category **into** the previously overspent category. * The credit ⚠️ alert will clear out of the previously overspent category. * The previously overspent funds will **also** automatically move back to your Credit Card Payment category. YNAB has your back! #### Cover Overspending with Money Assigned to Future Months Unlike iOS and Web, covering overspending with money assigned to future months isn’t currently available as a built-in shortcut on Android. However, you can still use money from a future month to cover overspending—you’ll just need to move it manually. Switch to the future month, move money back to Ready to Assign, then return to the current month and use those funds to cover the overspending. ### Web 1. From the **web app**, click on _Plan_ in the left sidebar (located immediately below the name of your plan). 2. Click the _Overspent_ [Focused View](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/focused-views-a-guide-BksnNYqLh) at the top of the screen. It's visible when at least one of your categories is overspent. 3. Cover the overspending by assigning more to the categories or moving money. Here's how! 1. **Option A—Assigning more to the categories**: type a number into the Assigned column (or use the inline calculator buttons to increase the amount you've already assigned). This will use funds from Ready to Assign. 2. **Option B—Moving money**: Click on the negative Available amount and select which category you'd like to move money from using the drop down menu. If you've made progress toward [getting a month ahead](https://support.ynab.com/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5), a monthly toggle will appear. If you select a future month, YNAB will cover overspending from money you've assigned in the future. Click _OK_ when you're done. 💳 With credit overspending, once you've selected a category to move money out of, the following will happen: * Funds will move **from** your chosen category **into** the previously overspent category. * The credit ⚠️ alert will clear out of the previously overspent category. * The previously overspent funds will **also** automatically move back to your Credit Card Payment category. YNAB has your back! #### Cover Overspending with Money Assigned to Future Months ![Click the negative Available amount, see monthly toggle to cover overspending from current or future month](https://cdn.bfldr.com/NIEXAZS5/at/qmk3j4pxxbkrfb89h7h746/Cover-Overspending-Future-Web-Help-Article.png?auto=webp&format=png) If you're [getting a month ahead](https://support.ynab.com/getting-a-month-ahead-HJidy13C5) and have assigned money directly to future months, we make it easy to use that money to cover this month's overspending! As long as you click the negative **Available amount**, you'll see a monthly toggle that lets you cover overspending with money assigned to the future. Note: this option will not appear if you click the Assigned column (the monthly toggle is only available when you click the negative Available amount).  [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## What to Do if You Can't Adjust Now You don't have to get everything right the first time. This is where a traditional plan says you've failed. It's where YNAB instead says, "You're human. Adjust." ### Cash Overspending With cash overspending, there is a risk of over-drafting an actual bank account. Because of this, it is important to hold the plan accountable. YNAB does this by **subtracting cash overspending from Ready to Assign in the following month**. In practice, this means when the month rolls over, your Ready to Assign will already reflect that deduction—so you'll have less to work with than you might expect. If you had planned to move money from another category to cover the overspending, that adjustment is no longer possible once the month ends; the overspent amount has already been accounted for automatically. Your next step is to revisit your assignments in the new month and look for categories where you can reduce what's assigned to compensate for the lower Ready to Assign amount. This keeps your plan trustworthy and your numbers accurate going forward. ### Credit Overspending [Overspending with a credit card](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/credit-card-overspending-an-overview-HkMGpSbJs) means more debt. To reflect this, uncovered credit overspending increases the credit card balance when the month rolls over. There is now more debt to plan for in the Credit Card Payment category.  Since we recommend going from today (instead of going back to cover overspending in past months), the way to know that you're "caught up" from any credit overspending is by ensuring you have enough set aside in your current month's Credit Card Payment category for your payment. Here's more detail on [how and when to cover credit overspending](https://support.ynab.com/en_us/credit-card-overspending-an-overview-HkMGpSbJs#cover)! #### Cash vs. Credit Cash overspending is more urgent in the here-and-now because you've got less money on hand to adjust and adapt. That's why it's red. Beware of credit overspending, though—don't let a little yellow, or the fact that you still have cash in hand, leave you piling up debt. Cover your overspending, no matter what the color, whenever you can! [Back to Top](#backtotop) * * * ## Help Us Help You! 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