That's how you know the software is solid. This software is great! However, if you're doing a head-to-head comparison to Mint, you're going to find YNAB (slightly) clunkier to use. Instead of focusing on the very challenging and expensive syncing distraction (it's a large distraction for most financial software), YNAB focuses on sound money principles.
If we need to buy a new pair of pants, we don't have to wonder if we can afford it, we just look in the "Clothing" category and see how much we have available. If the money is there, we buy without guilt. Meaning you write down everything you buy, everything, gas for the car, cleaning supplies, etc. Yeah, you can do it yourself, maybe if you're really good with Excel or Open Office you could build something like this.
You plan for every rainy day that could come. You plan ahead for vacations so you don't come back and realize you've overspent so much that the happiness of vacation is drowned out in the stress of not enough money to get by after. The information I get with YNAB is pertinent and timely with lots of flexibility for different scenarios. I've had the trial version for the past 6 days.
You cannot use this software to balance your checkbook, but it will balance your budget. One of the best features of this software is that it will allow you to apply money to a specific category each month, and let that category grow. On the other hand if, like me, you've never had much luck with the budgeting parts of quasi-accounting packages like Quicken and/or if you're tired of spending so much time keeping track of your finances, give YNAB a shot. YNAB didn't make a lot of sense to me at first, but after attending the free into webinar I was offered via email as soon as I downloaded the trial it all made sense. I especially like that when I over-spend, that category isn't penalized for the next month -- it just comes out of the "available" pool, making it easy to decide which categories will have a little less available that month. This is a very cut-down version of what I like about the software, which is pretty much everything.
It has cut my money management time in half. I know exactly where my money goes (categories) and why (memos).
I was glad to be able to pay a bill without worry about when was my next paycheck because of the buffer. I recommend this product for those who want a simple budget without the financial jargon.
The confusing part is that sometimes not placing an item in a category is the correct thing to do, even though most of the time it's not. That's actually caught me a time or two. This has revolutionized the way our family spends money. The budget is no longer a drudgery, but rather is totally freeing. I know we are all busy, but I do feel like paying attention to the budget (I do manual entry and probably always will) has been a major factor in our success thus far. I have recommended YNAB to all of my friends and several are using it now with similar results. Let's say your car breaks down and its $900 to get it repaired. Without a budget, this can overwhelm you easily.
If we need to buy a new pair of pants, we don't have to wonder if we can afford it, we just look in the "Clothing" category and see how much we have available. If the money is there, we buy without guilt. Meaning you write down everything you buy, everything, gas for the car, cleaning supplies, etc. Yeah, you can do it yourself, maybe if you're really good with Excel or Open Office you could build something like this.
You plan for every rainy day that could come. You plan ahead for vacations so you don't come back and realize you've overspent so much that the happiness of vacation is drowned out in the stress of not enough money to get by after. The information I get with YNAB is pertinent and timely with lots of flexibility for different scenarios. I've had the trial version for the past 6 days.
You cannot use this software to balance your checkbook, but it will balance your budget. One of the best features of this software is that it will allow you to apply money to a specific category each month, and let that category grow. On the other hand if, like me, you've never had much luck with the budgeting parts of quasi-accounting packages like Quicken and/or if you're tired of spending so much time keeping track of your finances, give YNAB a shot. YNAB didn't make a lot of sense to me at first, but after attending the free into webinar I was offered via email as soon as I downloaded the trial it all made sense. I especially like that when I over-spend, that category isn't penalized for the next month -- it just comes out of the "available" pool, making it easy to decide which categories will have a little less available that month. This is a very cut-down version of what I like about the software, which is pretty much everything.
It has cut my money management time in half. I know exactly where my money goes (categories) and why (memos).
I was glad to be able to pay a bill without worry about when was my next paycheck because of the buffer. I recommend this product for those who want a simple budget without the financial jargon.
The confusing part is that sometimes not placing an item in a category is the correct thing to do, even though most of the time it's not. That's actually caught me a time or two. This has revolutionized the way our family spends money. The budget is no longer a drudgery, but rather is totally freeing. I know we are all busy, but I do feel like paying attention to the budget (I do manual entry and probably always will) has been a major factor in our success thus far. I have recommended YNAB to all of my friends and several are using it now with similar results. Let's say your car breaks down and its $900 to get it repaired. Without a budget, this can overwhelm you easily.
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YNAB is a very slick piece of software that guides you through the process of creating a budget. MILITARY SLEEPING BAGS.
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