YNAB: You Need A Budget Software for Personal Finances
This is a "sort of" review. By that, I mean I’m going to tell you how wonderful this budgeting software is and how it’s made my life much easier when it comes to planning and spending, and being able to actually enjoy my money. Especially now that I have so much less of it after the divorce!
I’m going to let you visit the store for all the technical details, because I’m lazy like that. :)
YNAB stands for You Need a Budget. And really, you do.
You should seriously think about buying YNAB as soon as possible. Click that link for more information.
YNAB is Budgeting Made Simple
I had a budget made out before I purchased YNAB, but it was difficult to work with. I had set up both Mint and an Excel spreadsheet to help me track my spending and let me know how much money I had left in my budget categories. But Mint budgets aren’t that easy to work with, not for planning and tracking, and spreadsheets are better for analyzing historical data, when it’s just about too late to do anything about it. I was using Mint with my Android phone, and I still to do for that at-a-glance reminder I sometimes need to keep from forgetting I have plenty of money in my accounts, mostly that which I’ve saved up for irregular expenses, but since they usually fall at different times throughout the year, it has created a nice cushion for me so I don’t have to worry about overdrafting or other crazy stuff that can easily happen when money is so tight that you have to watch every penny.
Why Bother / How YNAB Helped
I found this really interesting site a few weeks ago, and I spent a lot of time on it reading about early retirement and what some people are willing to do to get there as fast as possible. It didn’t take me long to realize that I’m not averse to trying a few things myself to help get out from under the thumb of an employer. Early Retirement Extreme might seem to have nothing to do with YNAB, and really the connection isn’t going to be obvious for everyone.
But with YNAB, I’ve been able to hone in on my expenses and determine what it really costs me to live each month. Knowing that, it has allowed me to trim those expenses to the point where I am very comfortable with my spending choices.
When I first did a budget for my income exclusively after we started the divorce, I’m not ashamed to admit, I panicked. The numbers were very scary and I just didn’t see how I was going to make it.
But then I bought YNAB and started using it. I knew I needed to start over with my financial software because I had so much stuff entered (I am/was very detailed oriented) and the thought of setting up another comprehensive financial set of books for my personal finance was overwhelming and, frankly, annoying. Plus, my software of choice is getting old and I didn’t want to buy a new one when I really, really just needed something to help me stay on track with my spending. YNAB, which I had toyed with purchasing several times in the past, seemed like a good choice this time around, and I bought it.
I wish I had bought it years ago, but I’m thrilled I have it now. I have never had an easy time spending money without feeling guilty, as if I’m taking money away from everyone else in the family by choosing to spend and always worried that I was spending money that I would need in a month and that I would regret it horribly.
YNAB has turned that around. I’m still struggling to get over some of the guilt, because I think I let myself get messed up by always choosing to let the ex spend and letting myself be the one who "made up the difference" in the budget by not spending.
However, those days are over, and now I just need to be aware what I have available in each of my spending categories and actually make myself spend it!
I am enjoying my money for the first time in years. I have YNAB to thank for that.
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