My partner and I use separate YNAB plans but we use Splitwise as the source of truth for shared expenses
If I pay $50 for gas with my debit card, here's the manual process to categorize this expense:
- In YNAB, I categorize the $50 outflow in my Gas/Parking category.
- In Splitwise, I add a $50 split evenly expense to our shared group.
- In YNAB, I add a new $25 inflow transaction into a Splitwise cash account, and categorize it back into Gas/Parking
After this, YNAB shows I've only spent $25 on my half of gas, and my Splitwise account shows a positive balance of $25 (what I'm owed in the Splitwise app)
If she pays $100 for our electricity bill, here's the manual process to categorize this expense:
- In Splitwise, she adds a $100 split evenly expense to our shared group.
- In YNAB, I add a new $50 outflow transaction into a Splitwise cash account, and categorize it into Utilities
After this, YNAB shows I've spent $50 on my half of the electricity bill, and my Splitwise account would show a negative balance of $50 (what I owe in the Splitwise app).
When we settle up on Splitwise, the transaction is categorized as a transfer between my Splitwise account and my Checking account.
Warning
With this workflow, the dollars in your fake Splitwise cash account are not spendable. When the balance is positive (you are owed money), you can assign those dollars in your plan, but they are not in your Checking account yet. You must keep an eye on this and settle up as needed.
This project automates steps (2) and (3) above. Here's how:
First, I mark a transaction as shared in YNAB:
- Flag the transaction with a color (I use blue, this is configurable)
When triggered, this app will search for flagged transactions. For each flagged transaction, it will:
- Add a split equally expense into a Splitwise group
- Add the corresponding transaction into the Splitwise account in YNAB for both partners
This lets me use Splitwise for shared expenses without ever leaving YNAB.
This still works as long as your partner enters an expense into the configured shared group in their Splitwise app.
Enter it directly in the Splitwise app as such.
A common scenario is when you front a full purchase for your partner. In your Splitwise app, add an expense where you're owed the full amount. Both transactions will cancel out in YNAB, and would be a good candidate for a Reimbursements category.
This is a Next.js project bootstrapped with create-next-app.
Set up your environment variables
cp .env.example .env
vim .env # fill these outInstall dependencies
npm installnpm run devOpen http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the main page.
Send a GET request to /api/sync with an Authorization: Bearer <USER_API_KEY> header to trigger a sync for a single user.
By default each user can trigger two syncs every hour. Configure via the following env vars:
USER_SYNC_MAX_REQUESTS=2 # number of allowed requests per window
USER_SYNC_WINDOW_SECONDS=3600 # window size in seconds (default 30m)