Is ynab worth it?

copperman05

I agree completely with you January2015. It takes a day or two to get your head round but then it really is super easy to use.

I find it makes me protective of the money set aside for paying debts/saving to the point that I really don't want to touch it, at any cost, and you wont, because you'll have a small emergency fund for that. Its pretty flexible too, budgeting for something one month but leaving it out the next.

You can overbudget, it just goes into the red, as long as you know whats coming in and when its not a problem. It takes any guess work out of the equation and allows you complete control of your money.

louby40

I've been using YNAB since July last year. It took me a while to get my head around it but once it all clicked it was easy. I joined some online webinairs and watched loads of Youtube videos too!

I've got rid of my overdraft, paid 2 credit cards off and just have a bit to pay back my parents, which should be clear in July. I've also got £400 in an Emergency Fund and have £250 saved towards my house refurbishments. I paid for Christmas with cash as I'd budgeted for it.

Before my LBM by the 4/5th of the month I would be into my overdraft - payday is next Wednesday and I'm still in the black.

It's brilliant!

angelpye

Wow Louby! Thats amazing! Still waiting to see if I get the student offer of 12 months free which is on top of the first free month. Not sure if I can afford the £40 up front this side of may so waiting just in case. It sounds like for me it will be brilliant as I am always double checking I have enough laid aside for the period I don't have money in every month.

blisteringblue

I was a YNAB 4 user (the old pay once version) but moved to the software as a service model (pay annually) at Christmas. The new version is worth sticking with if you find it a little different to the classic.

The only real change that might be a challenge for some is there is no way to forecast with the new one. So you don't get access to your pay to budget until it is actually paid in YNAB. Can be a bit limiting but I've always had a forecast spreadsheet to make sure I don't run out of money mid month so I use this in conjunction to YNAB.

allthe7s

Sold!

Going to start the free trial tonight and watch some youtube vids.

Will do a proper intro post seperately now.

angelpye

Thanks allthe7s for starting this thread and sorry for the hijacking! We will be YNAB newbies together - totally sold on it and now stalking my emails waiting for them to reply

allthe7s

angelpye wrote: »

Thanks allthe7s for starting this thread and sorry for the hijacking! We will be YNAB newbies together - totally sold on it and now stalking my emails waiting for them to reply

Ha, no worries! I had seen it mentioned loads but couldn't find much info on it.

Heres to budgeting beautifully :beer:

January2015

angelpye wrote: »

Wow Louby! Thats amazing! Still waiting to see if I get the student offer of 12 months free which is on top of the first free month. Not sure if I can afford the £40 up front this side of may so waiting just in case. It sounds like for me it will be brilliant as I am always double checking I have enough laid aside for the period I don't have money in every month.

The YNAB team were brilliant when I applied for the free year student licence. I'm a UK Open Uni part time student. Also, if you are still a student at the end of the year they extend it into the next year. They don't advertise this, but at the end of my first year of student licence I got the following email message (I've removed the click here link)

Hello YNABer!

We really hope that you've enjoyed using YNAB for free while you've been a student in 2015. We wanted to let you know that your current YNAB student key will expire on December 31st, 2015.

We'd love for you to keep using YNAB. If you're still going to be a student in 2016, just click here to let us know and we'll send you another key.

CP2016

Angelpye, I had the student trial & I'm in the UK - I put a little aside each month during the trial and paid for another year at the end of the trial. I've found it easy to use and well worth the small annual cost. It was a bit confusing at first but when it clicked with me it all became really simple. I use the mobile app and the web interface.

angelpye

Yes! Got the confirmation through! Looking forward to getting my head into it!