What Exactly is YNAB and is it worth it?

Naomim

I've been reading through a few Debt Free diaries and one thing that pops up all the time is YNAB. Took me a while to work out it meant You Need A Budget

I've had a quick search but there's nothing like getting the low-down from people that actually use it day in day out.

What exactly is it? Is it free? Is it worth having? Why is it different from any other budgeting app? What are the pro's & cons?

Thanks

Naomi

kindofagilr

It's not free.
I would be interested in seeing what is so good about it tbh, I use a good old spreadsheet on my laptop and always wonder what makes YNAB so much better?

EmmaMicawber

Hi Naomi
I started using it just after Christmas and think it's brilliant. I'm still new to it so I'm sure others will come along and give you a more comprehensive explanation.

The way I see it is basically a system which means you have lots of different "pots" or categories for each of your expenses e.g. food, petrol, council tax etc.

You then work out the cost of all the annual bills e.g. house insurance, travel, gifts etc.,divide by 12 to give the monthly cost and give each of these a "pot" that you assign your money to as it comes into your current account.

The big difference is that you assign your income to each category every month so that when the quarterly bill or MOT comes along, you already have the money ready to pay it.

It is also a "zero based" budgeting system so you assign every pound coming in to your account a category so you know what everything should be doing. As all the "pots" are virtual, the actual money is still all in your current account, rather than having to open loads of different savings accounts.
They also have loads of online classes and youtube stuff to support you.

It links with a YNAB mobile app so anytime you spend something you can click on that category, see how much you have left in the pot for the month and then record the transaction. You can see how much you're spending on each category very easily. Instead of checking your overall current account balance, you look at the relevant category balance instead. I think if I'd used this 10 years ago I wouldn't be in the debt I am now.

I bought YNAB4 ($45 one-off charge with a link I found by googling) as I prefer it and it's cheaper but most people have the new subscription service which I think is $50 per year.

Naomim

At the moment, I have a wallet app on my phone and I only use it like a spending diary for the cash that's in my purse. I start the month with £100 and log every spend until it's gone!

So this would certainly take a lot more "planning" as you have to know what you pay out. What about those dodgy miscellaneous spends that probably got most of us into debt in the first place?

Naomi

January2015

I am a financial manager who always used spreadsheets to track my income and expenditure. I started using YNAB in 2015 and have never looked back. It is literally life changing. It makes you look at your money differently. It is worth every penny and more of the fee for the software.

I have YNAB 4 (the old classic version where you paid a one-off fee for life), but have recently started a trial of the new subscription service. I loved the old YNAB but within days of trying the new one - I'm sold and will never look back.

You can trial it free for 34 days. If you watch the training videos on how to use it, and how to view your money, I am certain you will never want to give it up. There are loads of us who say the same thing.

You have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Naomim

January2015 wrote: »

I am a financial manager who always used spreadsheets to track my income and expenditure. I started using YNAB in 2015 and have never looked back. It is literally life changing. It makes you look at your money differently. It is worth every penny and more of the fee for the software.

I have YNAB 4 (the old classic version where you paid a one-off fee for life), but have recently started a trial of the new subscription service. I loved the old YNAB but within days of trying the new one - I'm sold and will never look back.

You can trial it free for 34 days. If you watch the training videos on how to use it, and how to view your money, I am certain you will never want to give it up. There are loads of us who say the same thing.

You have nothing to lose by giving it a try.

I also work in finance, funny how I can't manage my own!

Do I just google it or is there a referral link at all?

Naomi x

-taff

Just go to their website.
It's an envelope budget system, there are others though.

I used to use spreadhseets too but all that did was as above, track my expenditure and income, it didn't prompt me to save anything, or to plan ahead for things, or show me really where I was spending all the little bits of money that soon add up.

It worked for me, it may not work for you. Give the trial a go, see how it is. There's nothing stopping you trialling other apps which are similar too.

January2015

Naomim wrote: »

I also work in finance, funny how I can't manage my own!

Do I just google it or is there a referral link at all?

Naomi x

Just visit www.youneedabudget.com

Frogletina

January2015 wrote: »

Just visit www.youneedabudget.com

Use the following link

https://www.youneedabudget.com/

frogletina

Frogletina

Naomim wrote: »

At the moment, I have a wallet app on my phone and I only use it like a spending diary for the cash that's in my purse. I start the month with £100 and log every spend until it's gone!

So this would certainly take a lot more "planning" as you have to know what you pay out. What about those dodgy miscellaneous spends that probably got most of us into debt in the first place?

Naomi

Hi Naomi

The good thing about Ynab is that you log everything you spend, whether cash, or debit cards. All of this money when spent needs to be categorised to a category. Ynab does not encourage any miscellaneous spending.

EG. if I want use the money in my pocket to buy a meal out, some groceries, a cinema ticket, a bus fare - I would check my categories to see if I had enough money in my restaurant, groceries, entertainment and travel categories. If I had enough money in these categories but not in cash, then I might decide to spend using my debit card.

You spend according to the amount of money you have put into each category, and that cannot be more than you physically have in the bank and in cash. Each pay day, you add your income to YNAB and decide what categories you need to put it in - starting with essentials.

If you use credit cards, the way you use them on ynab will depend on whether you pay them in full each month but there are clear instructions on credit cards on line.

frogletina

January2015

Frogletina wrote: »

Use the following link

https://www.youneedabudget.com/

frogletina

Thanks - don't know what I did wrong...I copied and pasted from my browser as usual and I was on the YNAB home screen when I did that. Gremlins :mad::rotfl:

Thank you for correcting it.