YNAB - good or bad

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Lydia42
Lydia42 Posts: 133 Forumite
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in Debt-free wannabe
Hi
Talk to me about YNAB. I keep hearing people say how it's really helped them to budget and get on track with everything. I've looked and it's american so everything is in dollars, even the monthly subscription. Is there another version i'm missing? Or is this what people use and ignore the dollar signs? Any problems paying for the subscription? Is it worth the subscription? Can you import bank info like it states or only in america?
TIA
Total Debt November 2018: £23, 795
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  • Futuristic
    Futuristic Posts: 1,131 Forumite
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    https://docs.youneedabudget.com/article/159-budget-settings
  • Willing2Learn
    Willing2Learn Posts: 6,294 Forumite
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    edited 28 August 2018 at 8:19PM
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    Hi Lydia42,

    During setup, you are asked if you want to set it up using British formatting.

    I could easily write a 3000-word dissertation on why YNAB is so good, how it helped me to eradicate debt, how it helped me learn how to budget.

    But I won't!! Instead, I'll just suggest you try the free trial (currently extended to two months). Use the tutorial classes and training videos (the support is quite incredible). Ask questions on the YNAB forum too, as they are a super helpful bunch of budgeting nerds on the forum...

    YNAB is well worth the financial investment as it just saves you so much money.. :)
    I work within the voluntary sector, supporting vulnerable people to rebuild their lives.

    I love my job

    :smiley:
  • Drawingaline
    Drawingaline Posts: 2,942 Forumite
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    I love ynab. I had mine set in dollars for six months as couldn't figure out how to change it (it's super easy, I am just spectacularly useless!) the app makes everything easy, I rarely use the desktop version anymore which suits me fine. I always tried to do something similar with pen and paper and lots of savings accounts but it never seemed to work. With ynab it's all just so much better. I am on a Facebook group full of helpful people who know more than me, but I managed to set up the basics using some YouTube videos. However there is a ton of stuff available to access through the website.

    Do the free trial, you have nothing to lose, if by the end of the month you are still unsure email them, they often extend the trial up to three months. You will know by the end of it if it is something for you or not.
    Debt free Feb 2021 🎉
  • kuratowski
    kuratowski Posts: 1,409 Forumite
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    edited 28 August 2018 at 9:06PM
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    In my experience, YNAB is very useful indeed. It's an excellent system for getting your expenditure under control, and consequently paying off debt and/or ramping up savings.

    You can display the amounts in £ (or without currency symbol at all if you prefer).

    I've had no issues paying the subscription using my UK credit card, for over 2 years now.

    Direct import doesn't presently work with most UK banks. But the system works better if you manually enter transactions (preferably in the mobile app, at the instant you make the transaction). This is because the action of tracking the expense makes you see and feel the impact on your budget - if there is no money left you instantly feel it and it's a great incentive to cut back. There was a whole blog post about this recently.
  • Lydia42
    Lydia42 Posts: 133 Forumite
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    wow - thanks loads for the super fast replies. I'll take a look at the forum tomorrow and see if i can sign up and have a play.
    Thank you
    Total Debt November 2018: £23, 795
  • Alwaysskint2016
    Alwaysskint2016 Posts: 44 Forumite
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    A big thumbs up from me too. It's really helped me see where my spends were going. Been using it for about 18 months.

    I've recently found a feature called 'tracking' where you can list your liabilities (i.e. debts in my case) and as you make payments, say to a loan, your loan balance reduces accordingly so you can physically see your debt figure go down. Also by using the tracker feature to monitor the debts it keeps them separate from your normal budget, so you don't constantly look like you've no money. There's also a reporting feature showing graphs to monitor all this.
    Debt busting start date 08/08/18 - total debt £33,222.32 :eek::eek: Debt now £31,352.56 - Paid £1,869.76 - 5.63% @ 05/10/2018

  • pecuniam_hominem
    pecuniam_hominem Posts: 50 Forumite
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    It is incredible. I can't recommend it highly enough.
  • RhiBi
    RhiBi Posts: 703 Forumite
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    I signed up to the free trial but couldn’t get my head around it at all, maybe I need another try as I’m definitely in the minority’s!
    Virtual Sealed Pot No.07
  • redmel1621
    redmel1621 Posts: 6,002 Forumite
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    I tried a free trial a year or so back, but could not get the hang of it at all. Maybe I should give it another try.
    Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
    Nothing is going to get better. It's not.
  • Anoneemoose
    Anoneemoose Posts: 2,258 Forumite
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    I love it! It hasn’t totally curbed my spending habits, but it’s made a HUGE difference. And we know exactly what we have at any given time.
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