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Just wanted to chime in that I've been using the demo version of YNAB, and it's been like an epiphany. Once you get all the dollars doing their own jobs, everything seems so much easier, and you feel like you have so much more control than when you have the illusion of flexibility that comes without a budget (and it is just an illusion). If anyone who doesn't budget yet comes across this post, I highly recommend YNAB - you know, because You Need A Budget.
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Jun 5, 2013 02:12
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PhantomOfTheCopier posted:Initial setup sounds like 'the worst', but it leads me to ask a dumb question: Why don't you just lie to the thing and claim your income is that much higher this month so you actually have food money, and balance that by lowering your savings? If you have $10k in savings and you "know" some of it is for food and StrangeExpenseThisMonthA and so forth, why not record $9k in the savings 'envelope' and just tell YNAB that you've already been paid $1k so, woohoo, we can stuff it into these budget accounts? That's exactly what I thought people should be doing when they set up YNAB - presumably, some of the money you have was already "budgeted" for the month you're in and isn't savings in any meaningful sense - I can't understand how or why you'd do it differently. Basically, you tell YNAB your starting checking/savings/whatever account balances, and then you have to budget all that money. Your savings will, presumably, go into savings categories. The leftover money gets budgeted into other things you're going to be spending money on. You don't have to "lie," you just have to budget the money you already have. At the time of initial setup, your on-budget account balances are considered income. OrangeKing fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Jul 15, 2013 |
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Jul 15, 2013 18:10
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Briantist posted:Anyway, I don't mean to keep white-knighting YNAB. You seem to have a negative impression of it and that's fine, but some of the issues you have with it don't seem to be lining up with my experiences. I've been feeling the same way, and I think the variable income aspect is huge. As a freelancer, YNAB has made me so much more confident in my budgeting in a way other things hadn't been able to help me with nearly as much. Of course, it's completely down to what works for you: I felt like I got nothing out of Mint, which a lot of people here swear by, so I can't blame anyone for not liking YNAB either. I will say that I didn't get this criticism either, though: quote:YNAB is absolutely about planning though; I'm having trouble figuring out why you think it isn't? I see what you're saying about saving $125/month for a $600 6-month bill.. that would work fine in YNAB (quite well actually). You just keep budgeting $125 int hat category every month while spending nothing against it. The "balance" for that category carries over each month. Want to change the amount going forward? Just do it. As he says, there's no reason at all that you can't plan ahead for future expenses in YNAB. It rather actively encourages you to, in fact. OrangeKing fucked around with this message at 22:11 on Jul 17, 2013 |
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Jul 17, 2013 22:08
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