ynab-true-expenses

name	ynab-true-expenses
description	Finds and plans for irregular or infrequent costs — annual subscriptions, car repairs, holiday spending, insurance premiums — and detects recurring bills that may be missing from the budget or scheduled transactions. Use when the user says "help me plan for an annual expense", "I have a big bill coming up", "make sure my recurring bills are captured", "set up a sinking fund", "did I forget any subscriptions", or "embrace my true expenses".
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires the ynab-mcp MCP server to be connected.
metadata	{"author":"auzroz","version":"1.0.0","mcp-server":"ynab-mcp"}

YNAB True Expenses

What this does

Implements YNAB's second rule — Embrace Your True Expenses — by finding irregular-but-predictable costs already showing up in transaction history and computing the right monthly contribution so they never blindside the budget again (annual total ÷ 12, or ÷ months-until-due for a known bill).

When to use this skill

• "Help me plan for an annual expense"
• "I have a big bill coming up"
• "Make sure my recurring bills are captured"
• "Set up a sinking fund"
• "Did I forget any subscriptions?"
• "Embrace my true expenses"

Should NOT trigger on: general new-category creation unrelated to irregular costs (use ynab-assign-money), or fixing an already-overspent category (use ynab-overspending-triage).

Workflow

Step 1: Detect recurring charges

Call MCP tool: ynab_detect_recurring Parameters: months: 6

Step 2: Cross-check against existing categories

Call MCP tool: ynab_list_categories and ynab_unused_categories Parameters: months: 6

Step 3: Analyze irregular-category history

Call MCP tool: ynab_spending_analysis or ynab_spending_trends Parameters: category_id of the irregular category, if known

Step 4: Propose funding and scheduling

Call MCP tool: ynab_create_category / ynab_update_category (if a category doesn't exist) Call MCP tool: ynab_preview_scheduled_transaction then ynab_create_scheduled_transaction (for unscheduled recurring charges)

Step 5: Sanity-check the new commitment

Call MCP tool: ynab_cash_flow_forecast Parameters: days: 30

Output format

Detected recurring charges not yet scheduled: [payee, amount, cadence]
True-expense categories to fund:
- [Category]: est. $X/yr → $Y/mo (due in N months)
Proposed: create scheduled transaction for [payee]? create/fund category for [X]?
Cash flow impact if applied: [30-day forecast delta]

Troubleshooting

MCP connection failed — confirm the ynab-mcp server is connected before retrying.

Unauthorized / token expired — the YNAB connection needs re-authorization.

No recurring charges detected — this can mean genuinely no recurring spend, or too little history (fewer than min_occurrences in the lookback window); try a longer months value before concluding there's nothing to find.

When the skill is NOT the right tool

• General new-category setup with no irregular-cost angle — use ynab-assign-money.
• Fixing an already-overspent category — use ynab-overspending-triage.