Anyone heard of YNAB?

**peanut** · 10-25-2008, 10:12 PM

It's a budgeting program that seems very intuitive compared to Quicken. It doesn't track investments though...just cash...

Check here...

How has it worked for you? I've downloaded a free 60 day trial.

Jean

**McD** · 10-26-2008, 08:29 AM

Heard of it, but never used it. Sorry Jean, wish I was more help!

**Denvergirlie** · 10-26-2008, 11:39 AM

Lots of people on the unsactioned Dave Ramsey forums (Living like no one else - you would have to goggle it - is not a competitor of this site and only talks about Dave Ramsey's method but this site won't let me type in the address as it see's it as spam) use it and love it.

Our budget is very simplistic and thus a formal method is not used in our house, but I know lots of folks over there use it.

**rainbowgc** · 10-26-2008, 12:37 PM

nope but thanks for the info

**Ashlncle** · 10-27-2008, 08:43 AM

How has it worked for you? I've downloaded a free 60 day trial.

Jean[/QUOTE]

I see where it says 60 day trial but when I go to check out it says $24.95. Can you help me?

**peanut** · 10-27-2008, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Ashlncle

I see where it says 60 day trial but when I go to check out it says $24.95. Can you help me?

Check the banner ad at the top of the order page. There should be an order button to your right. At least, there used to be on mine, but it's gone now. I suspect it's because I've already downloaded it onto my computer.

Jean

**sparklefrog** · 10-27-2008, 11:54 PM

The free trial of the YNAB Pro version can be found at: www download com/You-Need-a-Budget-Pro/3000-2057_4-10622344.html (Had to get rid of the dots in the first part because the forum doesn't like them...)

I don't think there's a free trial of the Excel version. (It's basically a fancy spreadsheet from what I can gather.)

**happydog** · 10-31-2008, 03:44 PM

peanut, I have YNAB Pro, and I love it. For me, it was worth every penny. It takes a little bit of a change in thought process, to get used to the idea of the buffer, if you aren't used to that way of thinking. I've always been the type to operate with a cushion in the checking account anyway, so it wasn't too much of a switch to round that out to the idea of using last month's income for funding this month's expenses. Jesse maintains that keeping a one month income buffer can mitigate a lot of unexpected financial hardships. It's kind of an expanded version of Dave Ramsey's EF. I find it works very well for us, because our potential emergency expenses are higher than Dave's $1000 EF recommendation.

The program is easy to use, and you can import transactions directly from your bank accounts and credit cards (if you have them). The YNAB forums are very good too, and you can find answers to most questions about how the program works. It takes a little bit of getting used to, to learn how to enter transactions so that they are correctly reflected in the budget. But, this is one of the most powerful features of this program--the budget is updated in real time, as you enter your expenses. You can see immediately if you are going over in a budget category, and need to move money from another category, or cut back spending. Once you get the hang of it, it is very simple to keep track of all expenses and your budget at the same time. I love it, and credit the use of YNAB with at least part of our success this year. Since Oct 1, 2007, we've paid down over $18,000 in CC debt and $16,300 of a HELOC, plus saved $7000. On one income. And part of that success is because for the first time in my life, every penny of our income is accounted for.

I'm actually looking forward to doing our taxes for the first time in ages, because everything is already right there, categorized.