

Is there enough money in “Household Supplies” to pay for that purchase? If not, can we cover it with a different category? The month isn’t even half over… Do we need to reign in our grocery spending? YNAB holds us accountableĪt any given time, a quick glance at our budget tells us everything we need to know. Here are some of the other reasons why we love You Need a Budget. We’re personally able to save thousands of dollars every year simply because we can easily track every dollar that comes in and goes out. Oh, and more than $6,000 after one year.” Their website states, “On average, new budgeters save $600 in their first two months with YNAB. YNAB saves us far more money than it costs us. So here’s my honest answer to the, “Is YNAB worth the money?” question.įor us, the short answer is absolutely yes, it’s worth every penny!

I even used it a few months later to budget for our wedding! It kept me accountable and stopped me from ordering live swans and ice sculptures. YNAB was easy to understand and to use on a daily basis.
#YNAB BUDGETING SAME AMOUT EVERY MOTH SOFTWARE#
I had never heard of this budgeting software before, but I took to it like a fish to water. It was during this process that Benj introduced me to You Need a Budget ( YNAB for short). We had fun estimating costs, running numbers, checking out apartment complexes, and talking to others about their expenses (i.e. Because that’s what normal couples do, right? (Right guys? C’mon, anybody?) So, being the nerds we are, we set up a mock budget together. Benj and I wanted to have an accurate idea of what living on our own would cost. We fell in love and started talking about our future life together.īefore long, the subjects of money and living expenses came up. Instead, I simply kept a running list of the money I’d earned and spent.īecause I lived at home with my parents, and didn’t have many recurring expenses, I had never given budgeting much thought. I had never done a zero-based budget until a few years ago, even though I’d faithfully saved money since elementary school (further proof that I’ve always been a nerd).


(Or as my husband always responds, “No-the beginning.”) Once upon a time, I fell in love with budgeting. When you roll your own spreadsheet, it’s surprisingly complex to allow for cleared and uncleared transactions.I’ve heard quite a few people ask, “Is YNAB worth the money?” It’s a fair question that deserves an honest answer, so let’s chat. YNAB walks you through the process of reconciling your account. Reviewing Your (shared) transactions and resolving any discrepancies, aka budget reconciliation, is also very simple. You might actually keep a true budget instead of a ledger. If that happens it’s much easier to help them be engaged from the beginning thanks to a dedicated budgeting tool. Think about the following: your partner might want to pitch in from time to time, or sooner or later the person managing the budget will change. It provides a better, more efficient interface than Excel. It’s a system that doesn’t need maintenance and it’s constantly improving. It takes most of the work of your hands allowing you to purely focus on budgeting. When talking about limitations it can be good to compare to YNAB. These accounts can be investment accounts but also a mortgage. This an overview of my tracking accounts.
