Credit Card Payments
YNAB makes it easy to know exactly what you can afford for your next payment—right in your Credit Card Payment category, as well as the top of your account register.
If you're just getting started, check out Credit Card Basics first!
In This Article
What to Pay
Before you pay your credit card, be sure to check your Credit Card Payment category to see how much you have Available to send for that payment.
You'll notice the Available amount in your Credit Card Payment category is shown again, right in your credit card account register (so you don't have to click back and forth before sending your payment 😉)
How the Available Amount Got There
This Available amount is the maximum amount you can send to your credit card company as payment. This amount is the money set aside in your budget from your budgeted spending on your credit card, as well as any money you've assigned directly to the Credit Card Payment category to pay down debt.
For a quick overview of how money gets into your Credit Card Payment category, review this Credit Card Basics article and check out the short video below (You'll notice some visual changes since this video was created, but the method remains the same!)
No matter how the dollars got into your Credit Card Payment category, that's the amount you have Available to send as payment. Your credit card payments are now stress-free, and you're a whole lot closer to debt-free!
I don't have enough!
Is there less money in your Credit Card Payment category than you were expecting to see? You may have some credit overspending, either in this month or a previous month. Check out this Help Doc about what else can cause your Credit Card Payment category to be short.
No matter the reason, the solution will be to move money directly to your Credit Card Payment category until your Available amount matches the balance owed on your card (if you pay your card in full each month), or until the Available amount matches the amount you want to send for your next payment (if you're carrying debt).
Entering a Credit Card Payment
- 1
- Go to the credit card account register. Near the top right, you'll see the amount you have available for the payment.
- 2
- Click the Record Payment button. (It's like Add Transaction, but better!)
- 3
- In the Payee field, choose from the Payments and Transfers list. Select the account from which you're making the payment. YNAB will remember your selection for the next time you record a payment.
- 4
- If you're not planning to pay the full amount you have set aside in your budget, you can edit the amount—and then Save! No category is needed, because your credit card account is already tied to your credit card payment category.
Imported Credit Card Payments
For Linked Accounts, credit card payments will import once they clear. If it's the first payment between two particular accounts, YNAB won't know to make it a transfer. That is, unless you manually enter the payment first—using the steps above—which allows them to automatically match up.
If a payment imports as a regular transaction, change the payee to one of your Payments and Transfers options.
Then you'll see one side of the transfer in each account. If you've already imported the payment in the other account, it should have matched up and just needs approval. Going forward, as long as your bank uses the same payee for payments, YNAB will know to make it a transfer automatically. All you'll need to do is approve the match!