Learn how to use and where to find the Underfunded option in YNAB. Assign money quickly, and review the way Underfunded logic considers targets, Scheduled Transactions, and overspending.

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Underfunded Explained

Underfunded is one of our Auto-Assign options. Selecting the Underfunded button is the quickest and easiest way to assign funds to your categories. With one tap or click, you can give every dollar a job, and possibly fund your entire month! Our Underfunded logic considers your targets, Scheduled Transactions, Credit Card Payment categories, and any overspending, and applies money to those categories from Ready to Assign.

 Where to Find the Underfunded Option in Your Plan   

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How it Works (No Categories Selected)

If no categories are selected, the Underfunded logic will evaluate all of the categories in your plan and assign dollars to your categories in the order that they are needed until either:

1. Ready to Assign is at $0.00.
   
   
2. The current month has been fully funded.

Wait, you ask, how does Underfunded know when my expenses are due? Answer: Targets and Scheduled Transactions. You'll be provided with a preview of where each of your dollars is going before they're assigned, so you know exactly which targets are being funded and which Scheduled Transactions are being covered.

By setting targets ↗️ in your categories and Scheduled Transactions ↗️ for upcoming expenses, you’re letting Underfunded know which order to assign funds to categories. Underfunded will assign money to your categories based on the target's end date and when the Scheduled Transaction funds are needed. 

  If a category has more than one Scheduled Transaction for the month, Underfunded will prompt you for the full monthly Total of the category's Scheduled Transactions — it's not prioritized by the date of the individual transactions themselves. 

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How it Works (With Categories Selected)

If you select a single category in any of our apps, the Underfunded button will only apply to that category. If you don't have access to the Underfunded button, it means there isn't any underfunding in your plan! 🎉

In our web app, if you select multiple categories or category groups, the Underfunded button will fully fund all of the selected categories.

 How to Apply the Underfunded Option to Specific Categories  

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The Order Logic: An Overview

Here’s a quick summary of how the Underfunded feature prioritizes which categories to fund (when none are selected). Scroll down for a more detailed explanation.

Underfunded will fund categories in the following order:

1. Categories with overspending (this will not only cover overspending but also fully fund any targets that are set in the overspent categories).
   
   
2. Scheduled Transactions and, in order of due date, Weekly targets and Monthly targets with a specific due date selected. 
    Note: If a category has more than one Scheduled Transaction for the month, Underfunded will prompt you for the full monthly total of the Scheduled Transactions — it's not prioritized by the date of the transactions. 
   
   
3. All Monthly targets with "End of Month" selected.
   
   
4. Custom targets with a due date in a future month (prioritized in order of due date).
   
   
5. Credit Card payoff targets, any Credit Card Payment Scheduled Transactions, and Credit Card Payment categories with an Underfunded alert.

If two or more categories are considered equal, Underfunded logic will apply in a top-to-bottom order of your categories.

 Underfunded During the First Month of the Plan   

The very first month the plan is active, any targets with due dates set prior to the starting date of the plan itself will be funded after targets with a due date coming up. This only applies to the very first month of the plan itself. Any subsequent months will be funded according to the logic above from the first of the month. 

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The Order Logic: A Deeper Dive

The Underfunded feature will evaluate all of the categories in your plan in the current month. If certain categories or category groups are selected, they will only affect those selected. Here’s how it prioritizes which categories to fund when none are selected:

1. Categories with overspending will be funded first. If you have a category with overspending and a target, Underfunded will prioritize both. YNAB will not only cover the overspending, but it will also fully fund the target amount before moving on to the next category. 
   
   
2. Scheduled Transactions and targets with a specific "Every" date will be funded next. This also includes any custom "Assign" targets with a due date in the current month or Monthly debt targets for loan or debt categories. For example: Your Weekly groceries target due Saturday, the 17th, will be funded before your Monthly Netflix subscription due the 23rd. Then, the next instance of your Weekly groceries target due Saturday, the 24th, will be funded before your Monthly Hulu subscription due the 28th. (no judgment, they each have good shows!)
   
    Note: If a category has more than one Scheduled Transaction for the month, Underfunded will prioritize the full monthly Scheduled Transaction total at once. It's not specific to the individual transaction dates and amounts. 
   
   
3.  Any Monthly targets with "End of Month" selected will be funded next.
   
   
4. After all targets due the current month are funded, non-monthly or multi-monthly custom targets with a due date farther out than this month will be funded in order of due date. This means a target with an end date of July 2022 will always be funded before a target with an end date of August 2022, and monthly targets will always be funded before custom targets with an end date in a future month.
   
   
5. If all other targets have been funded for the current month, and there are still funds available in Ready to Assign, Credit Card Payment categories will be funded. YNAB will first fund Payment categories that have a scheduled upcoming payment transaction, then targets in the Credit Card Payment category. After that, Credit Card Payment categories that have an Underfunded alert ↗️ will be funded.
   
   
6. If all of the previous criteria has been met and there are two or more categories considered equal, Underfunded logic will apply in a top-to-bottom order. This doesn't mean that all categories will be funded top to bottom, just that if two categories both meet exactly the same criteria, the one higher in your categories will be funded before the one lower in your categories.

If Ready to Assign reaches $0.00 at any point in this order, the funding will automatically stop. You can then choose to leave your categories as they are, or you can move money ↗️ as you prefer.

On the other hand, if the above sequence is completed and there are still funds left over in Ready to Assign, you can choose to fund categories that are omitted from the logic (more on that in a moment), or you can choose to move forward into the following month and continue giving your dollars jobs there.

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Categories That Aren't Considered in Underfunded

There are some categories that are ignored by the Underfunded logic:

• Categories with a "Have a Balance" target that don't have a due date.
  
  
• Categories in which no target is set at all, unless there is a Scheduled Transaction or Underfunded Alert ↗️.
  
  
• Categories with no upcoming Scheduled Transactions, unless there is an unmet target or Underfunded Alert ↗️.
  
  
• Categories with no Scheduled Transactions and a snoozed target.

Since there are no specific dates affiliated with these categories, you'll need to assign funds to these categories yourself.

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What about OVERfunded?

Enough about my categories being underfunded—what if I’m overfunded?

Without any categories selected, you’ll also have access to an Auto-Assign option to Reduce Overfunding. When clicked, any excess funds above what is needed for your current targets will be moved up to Ready to Assign. Give that money a new job!

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