Questions for YNAB users

[Shmily1]

This is probably something that has already been asked but since the search is disabled, I am asking again. I am interested in making the purchase this week but want some input from actual users first.

If you already have YNAB, is it worth it?
Do you use it as they describe?
If you were looking at it now, would you buy it again?
How often do they upgrade that you have to repurchase?
What do you like best about it?
What do you like least?
Any advice for a Newbie?

I am awful about eating out and shopping so I need some accountability so I can see where my money is going and am checking to see if this is it.

Thanks!

 

[ktmo]

This is probably something that has already been asked but since the search is disabled, I am asking again. I am interested in making the purchase this week but want some input from actual users first.

If you already have YNAB, is it worth it?
Do you use it as they describe?
If you were looking at it now, would you buy it again?
How often do they upgrade that you have to repurchase?
What do you like best about it?
What do you like least?
Any advice for a Newbie?

I am awful about eating out and shopping so I need some accountability so I can see where my money is going and am checking to see if this is it.

Thanks!

I just started using it in January. I was the same way about eating out and shopping.

I did the free trial for 30 days and then bought it. I have found it worth it to me. I would buy it again. It really makes me account for every dollar that we have. I have used Quicken for 10+ years, but it doesn't really help me budget. I tried Mint, but I could wiggle my way out of the budget (I would re-categorize things and didn't hold myself accountable.) With YNAB, I have to account for everything down to the penny. I have set up items in my budget that only get paid once a year. Before, those big ticket items would throw me for a loop and it would take months to get back on track. Now, I budget for them monthly. I also can really see where we spend money. Before I would guess at what we were spending a month, now I know exactly what I spending.

It did take awhile to figure it out and how things work, like credit card transactions. But the videos and walkthroughs help out. It is a different mindset. I move money around a lot from one category to another (that is one of the steps). I used to think that we were fine, but YNAB really helped me see exactly what we were spending and where. I really opened my eyes to see everything clearly. Now, I don't worry so much about the number in my account, but the number in the budget category.

 

[glenndon]

I like that I can use my computer to manage my budget. I also have it on my iPhone as well as my wife's... And purchases can be updated in real time in "the cloud."

 

[wiigirl]

I like that I can use my computer to manage my budget. I also have it on my iPhone as well as my wife's... And purchases can be updated in real time in "the cloud."

 

[ArmchairDetective]

YNAB is interesting as it forces you to stand in your truth, a la Suze Orman.

If you hide even one penny of spending from YNAB it will throw everything off and I like that. We know, down to the penny, where we spent money and what we spent it on.

As a PP mentioned, I really like socking money away for "Rainy Day" expenses. For example, we set money aside weekly for Christmas spending, watching that category build and build throughout the year and, come December, there is no wincing buying gifts as we saved for it all year.

I can tell you that YNAB has resolved nearly all of our money woes in the past year as it has made us look at our spending under a magnifying glass. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

I've gotten free updates throughout the year and they only charge for major releases. You can also get YNAB dirt cheap when it goes on sale on Steam.

The only gripe I have is the lack of forecasting.

I think you will find that once you plan out your categories, especially "Rainy Day" stuff that the money you spend eating out will not flow as guilt free as it is now.

As for a newbie, check out the possible "Rainy Day" categories: http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/rainy-day-fund-category-list

and really learn the method: http://www.youneedabudget.com/method

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I am on my 5th month. I say "I" because DH refuses to input his transactions. So i have to go the ought his cc daily and plug them in and categorize etc.

OP, did you do the trial? I plan to use this program forever. It's great! Until you try it, you won't really understand why it is different from the others, but it is! It took me most of the 30 day trial to get everything figured out as far as the program itself, esp the credit card stuff. We use cc for everything and then pay. I love that this program keeps me accountable so when the cc bill comes I KNOW that I have all the money sitting in checking waiting for me to send to pay the bill. I also love that if I don't put in a transaction it holds me accountable as the whole month will be a mess when I go to reconcile.

It's also great that I can set up multiple budgets, for example a separate one for our rental properties.

I can't recommend it enough!

 

[Shmily1]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I will be signing up for the free trial today so I can get started. I am excited to start with this but nervous too. I guess because it will force me to see where I'm spending all that money!

I know I will have more questions as I use it but here are a few more.

I have no idea how much I am spending on some of these categories right now. The predictable ones like car payments and phone bills are easy but the ones I don't know what I'm spending I have no idea what to budget for. What do I do with those? How do I start them?

On the categories you don't use all up every month like Christmas or car repairs, do you budget for them every pay day? I'm afraid that would be like $15'ering me me to death. LOL

 

[Shmily1]

I've gotten free updates throughout the year and they only charge for major releases. You can also get YNAB dirt cheap when it goes on sale on Steam.

What is Steam and what is the website?

 

[ArmchairDetective]

What is Steam and what is the website?

This is Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/

I would set up an alert for YNAB here, though: http://steamalerts.com/i/38774

They will email you when the price drops and you can see historical pricing. I think I got mine last year during March on a steam sale for $20.

 

[Shmily1]

This is Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/

I would set up an alert for YNAB here, though: http://steamalerts.com/i/38774

They will email you when the price drops and you can see historical pricing. I think I got mine last year during March on a steam sale for $20.

Awesome! Thank you!

 

[ArmchairDetective]

I know I will have more questions as I use it but here are a few more.

I have no idea how much I am spending on some of these categories right now. The predictable ones like car payments and phone bills are easy but the ones I don't know what I'm spending I have no idea what to budget for. What do I do with those? How do I start them?

On the categories you don't use all up every month like Christmas or car repairs, do you budget for them every pay day?

Well the first month we just kind of guessed and learned as we went along.

As for as XMAS or one off yearly payment things. Determine when it's paid, what it costs, and then divide by the number of paydays until it happens.

For example, my wife and I are on opposite pay schedules so we get paid every week. We budgeted $800 for Christmas, so every week we save $15. The xmas fund is currently at $187 as we have already bought one xmas gift (winter coat clearanced out).

In the state of MO we have to pay personal property tax at the end of the year. One car we save $5/wk and the other $7/wk and when the bill comes we pay it and don't worry about it as we have been saving the money all year for it.

We work YNAB based on priorities. Priorities will change as the situation evolves over time with savings becoming more of a priority as debt (cars, mortgage) are paid.

Food
Shelter
Bills
Transportation
Rainy Day
Debt
Savings
Fun Stuff

My wife and I get $15/wk of "no questions asked" money. Meals together and with family are budgeted as restaurants. Meals apart, with friends or at work come out of "nqa" money. There is quite an incentive to packing lunch!

Anyway, you have to figure out what works for you, what your priorities are, and how you want to spend your money.

 

[pryncess527]

This is probably something that has already been asked but since the search is disabled, I am asking again. I am interested in making the purchase this week but want some input from actual users first.

If you already have YNAB, is it worth it?
Do you use it as they describe?
If you were looking at it now, would you buy it again?
How often do they upgrade that you have to repurchase?
What do you like best about it?
What do you like least?
Any advice for a Newbie?

I am awful about eating out and shopping so I need some accountability so I can see where my money is going and am checking to see if this is it.

Thanks!

Yes, I have it and it is worth every penny.

It took me awhile to stop being stubborn, but yes, now I adhere to the philosophy. It works either way, but the genius of the program is in the philosophy. I think it's wise to resist the urge to fight it.

Yes, I would buy it again. I give it as gifts to anyone I know that I can give that type of gift to without causing offense.

Updates are free, they have not yet released a new version that would require an upgrade and have said there are no current plans for a new version. Honestly, even if they did come out with a new version I could probably use the current one forever.

What do I like best? So many things. Ease of use, clarity of what our money needs to be doing, clarity of conversations between me and my spouse. I had to pay our car registration/tax bill last week and I was EXCITED about it because the money was sitting in a category just waiting for that bill.

What do I like least -- I can honestly say nothing. Many people on the YNAB forums have feature requests for things they like added, but I have yet to see a single feature request I agree with. I think the software is perfect the way it is.

 

[pryncess527]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I will be signing up for the free trial today so I can get started. I am excited to start with this but nervous too. I guess because it will force me to see where I'm spending all that money!

I know I will have more questions as I use it but here are a few more.

I have no idea how much I am spending on some of these categories right now. The predictable ones like car payments and phone bills are easy but the ones I don't know what I'm spending I have no idea what to budget for. What do I do with those? How do I start them?

On the categories you don't use all up every month like Christmas or car repairs, do you budget for them every pay day? I'm afraid that would be like $15'ering me me to death. LOL

While you are on the free trial, try to take some of the live classes on getting started. They give away a free copy of YNAB in every class, so you might win!

As for getting started -- just guess. One of the primary rules of YNAB is to "Roll with the punches!" Your budget is not set in stone, it's meant to be flexible. If you budget, for example, $200 to groceries and then find out that's not enough, you can just add more but you'll have to figure out what category you want to take those dollars from because in YNAB every dollar has a job.

I do budget for those annual expenses every paycheck. It may feel like you are being $15'ered to death at first, but the program makes the actual process simple and I just love watching those categories grow! It's so nice seeing that I already have money set aside for Christmas, birthdays, insurance, etc.

 

[jmac323]

Hi there, We started using YNAB in February. So far it's going well. There is a small learning curve but their tutorials online and webinars are super helpful. I also post on the forums which have great info as well.

If you already have YNAB, is it worth it? YES
Do you use it as they describe? YES, it's a system, you have to use it how it's designed to be used
If you were looking at it now, would you buy it again? YES
How often do they upgrade that you have to repurchase? Not sure, I've gotten an update once already and it was free.
What do you like best about it? I'm accounting for all my spending. I quit my Starbucks habit already and save about $200-$400 a month from eating out. This is HUGE for us. I also like that it's helped me and DH discuss our finances and plans together.
What do you like least? I have to trust it's working and that all the numbers are where they need to be and I made no mistakes LOL.
Any advice for a Newbie? SIGN UP! USE THE FREE CLASSES! USE THE FORUMS!

 

[arihillfarm]

I got it in November and love it!! Setting up credit cards is a steeper learning curve, but it allows me to use credit cards for almost all of our daily and monthly spending, earning points, miles, etc., make periodic payments and has cut down the amount of time I spend balancing the checkbook and working on our finances by at least 50-60%. One card I use (disney visa) has a balance on it and since I've been using YNAB, we've not added one penny to the debt on that card, have been making steady progress on paying it off and are still able to use it for new purchases to rack up the Disney rewards dollars. YNAB has made keeping track of all that (and our budget!) so much easier. I'd buy it again for $100 if I had to.

-Astrid

 

[Shmily1]

Thank you all for the information. I did sign up last night for the trial and am hoping to do some of the classes very soon. I would love to win it!

I set up my bank accounts and am looking forward to working more with it when I get paid tomorrow. I'm afraid to see the numbers and realize what has to come out and what I don't have , but I know it's what I need to see and will help me.

On a funny note, I evidently went to bed with this on my mind because I dreamed of setting up all my bills and stuff like that all night long. I could see the amount I still had to budget and was dividing it up a million ways, even though since it's right before payday, it wasn't that much. I now need some sleep!

I already have a question though. When I put in the money for my accounts and put in what has to come out of that, there is still some in the left to be budgeted section. Am I suppose to keep that at zero, so budget it all out, or leave some there to roll over until next month? I really think I'll do better if I keep it at zero so I think I'm broke already!

 

[pryncess527]

I already have a question though. When I put in the money for my accounts and put in what has to come out of that, there is still some in the left to be budgeted section. Am I suppose to keep that at zero, so budget it all out, or leave some there to roll over until next month? I really think I'll do better if I keep it at zero so I think I'm broke already!

The program philosophy encourages you to budget everything. But you could put some in specific categories with the intention that those category balances will roll over to next month. For example, if you haven't paid your cable bill yet this month and it is $50, but you budget $100, then you'll pay your cable bill later this month bringing the balance down to $50, and when next month starts, there will be the remaining $50 still waiting in Cable.

Before you do that though, I'd suggest looking at the list of Predictable and Unpredictable rainy day category suggestions to see if the money should be stashed in a category for an annual bill or emergency -- http://www.youneedabudget.com/support/article/rainy-day-fund-category-list