What is ynab

No guilt necessary. Plans change? Change your budget. Most budget programs are set it and forget it. Which is the problem: once you set it, you forget it and you drift away from your spending plan. The beauty of YNAB is that it is flexible and dynamic, and allows you to adjust your spending plan as you need to.

I found the program itself is well designed, reliable, and easy to use. But YNAB did a good job of communicating how they were working to resolve the issues. In the beginning it does take a few hours to set up categories and get banks connected, mainly because it is so customizable, but once it is set up it is virtually effortless to maintain. Do watch the tutorials first on how to set it up. But then I spend 1 to 3 minutes each morning reviewing the previous days expenditures, and maybe 10 minutes a month reconciling my accounts.

It shows monthly and quarterly reports so I can see trends over time. The only tricky bit is understanding how YNAB budgets your credit card purchases. That is not intuitive the way the rest of the program is. But they produce tutorials that explain it well. The web platform is easiest to use for setting up your categories, and for reconciliation. But the phone app is essential for quickly checking your remaining budgets on the go, especially as you get close to your next payday.

I highly recommend it for those who want to be in charge of their spending habits. Having said all of that, I find myself using my iPad Pro to access the web client, as the app itself is so kiddy and limited that it makes it actually harder to digest the information presented and make the most sense of it.

Really the app could be and needs to be as feature-rich and dense as the web app; basically take the web app and adapt it to be touch targets and color coded like the app is. It could be so much BETTER than the web interface with all the screen real estate on the iPad and the easy entry and basic structure they have in place for it already.

Because of YNAB I have been able to carefully weigh any debt I did take on training for a career switch, a car and pay it down without any stress.

This way, you can plan where your money is going to go before you spend it. For this reason, the app keeps you focused on the money you have available before you spend it so that you have total control over where it goes. While the website and app are designed similarly with a spreadsheet feel, it can still be a little intimidating to begin with. You can choose to have information imported automatically, such as account balances and cleared transactions from a linked account.

Or you can start with an unlinked account by entering your current balance and then manually keeping up with transactions. Either method works, but I linked my accounts to make it easier. You can add accounts from the website or from the app.

You will need your account information to add a linked account , so have that handy if you plan on going this route. The goal is for you to decide where that money needs to go before you get your next paycheck. You can also get more specific and assign your savings to a few different categories such home improvement or travel. You may be starting from scratch. In this case, YNAB is a great way to prioritize your immediate needs and take control of your current funds.

Start by assigning the money you have to your most immediate obligations such as bills or groceries. YNAB believes that your budget, not your bank account, should guide your spending. Now you look at the amount available in your budget for each category before deciding how much to spend.

Of course, you can adjust your budget at any time. Over the first month, you may have to do this a few times as you realize how much you actually need for each category. I used the automatic import feature when I tried out YNAB, but tracking your transactions manually works just as well. You can also do both!

When it comes to cash, YNAB recommends creating a category for cash spending. Roll with the punches. If you overspend on one category, you can move funds over from another category to cover the cost.

Age your money. YNAB works by using money earned the previous month to fund your budget. Security Security is always a priority whenever you connect financial or personal information to third-party software.

Pricing YNAB is a paid app and one of the more expensive ones to use at that. Pros Available on multiple platforms Manual and automatic account linking options It comes with a day free trial period Cons Higher price than most budgeting apps No bill tracking feature Steep learning curve How YNAB Stacks Up Budgeting often carries a negative connotation, either for being too restrictive or too hard to maintain.

Was this article helpful? Share your feedback. Send feedback to the editorial team. Rate this Article. Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Best Ofs. Best Savings Account. Best CD Rates by Term. Fintech And Online Banking. More from. Napoletano Contributor. By Ben Gran Contributor. Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances.

We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available.

Kevin Payne Contributor.