AIBU... To NOT like YNAB?

YoungBaker

Hi

I have tried out the month trial of YNAB following all of the amazing reviews on here.

Firstly, I would say I think all the principles of the envelope type system are great, and the basis of what the software is about I think is great to keep people focussed and on track - giving every penny a job and tracking it.

I'm just wondering though if I am the only one who hasnt really managed to get to grips with it and prefer my old spreadsheet? Not sure if I am just being nostalgic and missing what I am used to... and I think because me and my missus get paid on the third week of the month it made it more awkward to work with YNAB, it didnt help.

Since having the trial, I've found it more difficult to keep track and keep needing to rework the budget? Am I doing it wrong?!

I think YNAB definitely will help some people and can get why it works - but just wondering if im the only one who has tried out the trial and think I am better of sticking with what I was doing?

AFK_Matrix

If you put up on here or the YNAB forum what exactly your having problems with specifically we could probably help you. I too am paid on the third week and there are several options you have in how to handle your income. I am now buffered which makes the world of difference too when your budgeting. There are several post on the YNAB forum about people who are paid in the third week of the month and how to handle it. Not everyone seems to click with YNAB straight away, did you take some of the webinars and watch the videos as these are really good.

its_maths_not_magic

What I would suggest, if you haven't done so already, is to take their free online webinar called 'budgeting for different pay cycles', it goes through everything you need to do if you get paid weekly, or late in the month or just have a weird pay cycle. The webinar takes an hour.

hohum

YoungBaker wrote: »

Hi

I have tried out the month trial of YNAB following all of the amazing reviews on here.

Firstly, I would say I think all the principles of the envelope type system are great, and the basis of what the software is about I think is great to keep people focussed and on track - giving every penny a job and tracking it.

I'm just wondering though if I am the only one who hasnt really managed to get to grips with it and prefer my old spreadsheet? Not sure if I am just being nostalgic and missing what I am used to... and I think because me and my missus get paid on the third week of the month it made it more awkward to work with YNAB, it didnt help.

Since having the trial, I've found it more difficult to keep track and keep needing to rework the budget? Am I doing it wrong?!

I think YNAB definitely will help some people and can get why it works - but just wondering if im the only one who has tried out the trial and think I am better of sticking with what I was doing?

You're totally allowed to not like it!

That said, I picked up on the bolded...in YNAB you do end up reworking the budget often - to deal with unexpected expenses, to budget whenever you get paid. That's you doing it wrong, what I like about YNAB personally is it recognises personal budgeting is dynamic and responsive.

I also am on really erratic pay cycles - as in, partner is self employed so month are pretty meaningless apart from we have loads of bills due in each of them . It hasn't been a problem for us, although I had to do some adjusting the first time I used it. the first principle is only budget the money you have, so you don't enter in all the bills in your budget straightaway. say you have £100 at the start of the month, you just have to figure out what you need that £100 to do until you get paid again. You can set up the categories to note the amount and date of each bill, so you might have water £25 26th for example, but you don't enter that amount in the budget until you have the money to do it.

This works really well for us as it forces us to prioritise and plan ahead, eg out of £100 we might cover food, then put x to bills and y to debt repayment..

There's lots of support on the YNAB forums...

But you don't have to use it If your current budgeting system works well, why break it? If it doesn't..well...maybe worth trying something different!