I am actually going to say something a little controversial but my mental health has improved thanks to YNAB hugely. The amount of peace of mind that I have now means I have less anxiety attacks, can control my eating disorder much better and I am a lot more present with my loved ones. Thank you YNAB ❤
I know the last time I got my hair done by looking on my....calendar? LOL. I search my calendar all the time. I used to keep a paper calendar, but search is one of the huge benefits of going electronic.
@@YNABofficial I've been a smoker for about 10 years (started with causal cigarettes and then ended up as a regular smoker!). When I started Ynab I was trying to quit, but nothing was working: tried nicotine patches, vaping, but nothing would actually get me out of the vice. When I set up YNAB for the first time I quickly realised that I needed to create a 'Smoking' category and I REALLY didn't want to do that! I faced the fact that smoking was eating up not just my finances and my health but also the opportunity to do what really was important for me, my priorities (and my wish farm!) So I deleted the category, I stopped, and never looked back!
Me too! I had been a smoker for about 30 years. I stopped smoking about 5 weeks after starting YNAB. The power of seeing your priorities right there in front of you. Congratulations 👏🏼
@@bec481 I would LOVE to hear more about your story. If you're comfortable sharing more and possibly letting us tell other YNABers about it, fill out this form. ~BenB youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories
In my circle of friends and family, my diligence with budgeting is pretty much seen as an eye-rolling obsession, but I listen to you Ben & Ernie, the budget nerds, and see that I am just a normal run of the mill nerd. Your opening statement says it all: I am not alone! That was truly an unexpected benefit from budgeting with YNAB. Thanks.
Budgeting with YNAB has also encouraged me to drink very little! And it helped me find every “leak,” - a forgotten subscription, a bill that could be negotiated down, etc. and it showed me exactly how much I have available to save for retirement (way more than I thought!).
I work as a freelance content writer & a tutor to earn some extra money while being a student. Surprising to me, YNAB has motivated me to have straightforward conversations about payments whereas before I would avoid talking about money until the last moment possible. I have also been taking on more work than before and willing to do them as YNAB has gamified earning money and funding categories for me 😁
I have learned the power of 0.00 scheduled transactions for home maintenance: Gutter cleaning and furnace inspection in the fall and then washing windows and checking caulking in the spring. The bonus in this is that if you do need a repair, its usually minor with less of a budget hit and true expenses can grow faster.
YNAB helped me feel comfortable to actually retire - early!! I fully embraced "true expenses" and projected out the big things (like a new roof in 20 years, painting the house in 5 years, a new car in 15 years, etc.) into my retirement plan. With this plan and my YNAB habits, at the end of last year I was able to see that I could take a job loss and shift it into an early retirement without any stress. But the best unexpected benefit has been getting to watch Ben & Ernie to nerd out about budgeting.
We recently had a YNAB win with our dog. She developed an ear infection and a sprained ankle in the same week. Thanks to YNAB, we were able to contain the vet bills to the pet category, with only a bit spilling out of the health and wellness fund.
Of course, you have to keep the quadruple burger with extra bacon and fries! Great segment. I have no problem letting someone know I have to sit something out becuae it's not in the budget. One of the benefits of being subscribed to the channel is being reminded to update my budget when a notification comes across my phone you've uploaded new content.
I became aware of everything I couldn't track, but also didn't have to remember to be aware of everything thanks to the automation of linking to my accounts. It saved my poor ADHD brain from needing to ever remember to do the budget. The budget just happened with every notification of a new transaction to import and a new paycheck to assign.
The Huckleberry Shake place is the Victor Emporium in Victor, Idaho (just Northwest of Teton National Park), though our favorite huckleberry shake is at the Pioneer Grill inside Jackson Lake Lodge in the park, for what it's worth. :)
I’m a record collector Stopping collecting won’t work for me Choosing one record, saving for that one record, ordering it online, picking one more record, saving for it, ordering online etc etc won’t work for me either. I like going to the store. I like the interaction of that. I like not being sure what I’m going to find. That’s a huge part of what makes this hobby fun for me. I love listening to music. I love doing it offline, away from screens and subscriptions. I love holding them in my hands. I was scared I was going to just have to bend on that. I was scared I’d buy no records and certainly no rare records, and that I’d have to have a collection that kinda sucked because I needed to deprive myself because I needed to die with a pile of unspent money I grasp it’s not a hobby that everyone sees any point to. I get there is UA-cam Music. I get there is Spotify. They aren’t what makes me happy. Vinyl is. That’s just the way I am. Here’s the thing - I’m buying more records, not fewer. I’m buying more *rare* records. Not fewer. I’m also giving more money away. And I’m still filling the other categories too. I had a damp problem in my conservatory. I just had enough money to fix it. It was just there. I didn’t even have to sell my beloved records to do it: I can do that, because I’m focussed on the hobby that works for me. I’m not wasting money on hobbies that don’t work for me or don’t work for me as well. I have a virtual envelope called Record Shop. Before I go to the counter, I pull out my phone. It tells me if I can afford the records I have pulled out. It’s very simple. It’s yes or no. There’s no guessing. If it’s yes, no guilt in purchasing. If it’s no, I put them back, so there no messing up my other budgets. I’ve stopped drinking. I’ve cancelled most of my streaming services. I’ve cancelled several subscription boxes. I’m not paying off a credit card. I’m not overdrawn. This is awesome
After many years in YNAB, it has helped us age our money to a point my attitude at work has shifted dramatically. We're through the debt payoff stage which reduced a lot of stress in our marriage. Now I feel more confident and assertive at work knowing we finally have enough saved to survive even a job loss storm. Now our next big goal is upgrading our minivan with cash and we're almost there!
More confident and assertive with less stress-that's huge! And I'm so curious about the minivan upgrade. I assume you mean buying a new van, but in my mind I really hope it means you're souping up your current minivan 🤣 ~Ernie
I'm starting to have less stress about retiring as I'm starting to be able to fund my need bills out a month already, and can plan for streaming subscriptions, vacation and investments. The only debt I have are credit card bills but YNAB makes it easy not to stress over those anymore.
I've started and stopped YNAB a shameful amount of times for a variety of reasons and although I'm on another refresh 1-month, I feel motivated to stay on mission to remain focused. As I'm watching your show I'm jotting down the benefits that I relate to so that I can read them often and avoid being discouraged by my debt. The load planner ROCKS!! THANK YOU!!!!
Oh yes, removing judgements from money discussions with the hubs is worth its weight in gold. He is not at all interested in interacting with our budget on the regular. If there is something that he (or I) want outside our 'usual' expenses, he just wants to know whether or not we can afford it. YNAB gives me the framework to say yes, no, or 'we can if we....' which is just a healthier way of discussing both our individual and shared priorities.
You guys are doing such a wonderful welcoming job.. your warmth and fun has sucked me into this community.. THANK YOU from my first 7 days of investigating a YNAB life! You have reversed my fears on who these budgeters are and how they live..
So ynab and budgeting was one of the major targets on why my husband and I nearly got a divorce. I am a budgeter, it's part of my job. He is a spender and refused to want to budget. He has a spreadsheet now and he only references it. I use and love YNAB because it makes balancing my personal budget and the joint/his budget easy. I have told so many people to use it and they love it. I also spend more on books because I know I have the money, but not the room
Something similar happened for a couple I’m friends with One of them was spending a great deal on their hobby. The other one was always scared of bailiffs coming ‘round and didn’t want either of them to ever spend anything on hobbies It was “you’re trying to take my hobby away from me” vs “you’re gonna get us evicted”. They argued about it kind of a lot. Both felt the other was being utterly unreasonable. They nearly split up. Then they both got YNAB After about two months, the one who who was the spender called a budget meeting The upshot was this: The one who was a spender had realised they couldn’t afford to spend as much on their hobby as they were The one who was a saver had realised that they didn’t necessarily need to put every last penny aside and they could actually live a little. Now they BOTH have hobbies, which BOTH require spending. They are saving some too. They trusted the numbers and now they literally trust each other more too Neither feels deprived. Neither feels they can’t ever have any fun at all. Neither feels that they can’t have a hobby because of money.
How do I know the last time I went to the dentist? Name your calendar events the same way every time. Dentist Appt w/ Dr. Name and search calendar events. Also Duplicate event at the counter when you’re scheduling to automatically copy over the office address and just change the date and time. I click the address from my calendar to navigate places. Another thing I do that is maybe weird, when I buy stuff I take a picture of the packaging and tag it Manuals in Evernote. Manuals is sort of a catch all for Instructions but I have socks in there for example.
Ernie and Ben, could you do a segment on we can determine how much of our “budget” can be in a Savings account where we can earn some interest. I’m starting to see much larger balances in my Checking account and feel I need to move some of it to savings to get the 4% interest. Maybe use Views to see longer term budget items to get a sense of what could go into Savings? Would love to know how you two decide how much to put in Savings account
That's a great topic-I just added it to our list of possibilities! It's been trial and error for me. There's a certain amount that I don't like dipping below, so if I'm regularly getting close to that I know I might need to transfer some from savings. I don't know what my upper limit is. That's more of just a gut feeling and then I shave some off and move to savings. The great thing with YNAB is you don't have to get the amount right. You can make as many transfers as you want without impacting category balances, so it might be best to make a transfer and see how that feels/works out. And then do another one and another one until you dial in those lower and upper baselines. Hope that helps! ~Ernie
You can use the spend reports in YNAB to see how much you actually have leaving your account each month and use your monthly spend as the minimum so you aren't in danger of overdraft. I personally have my paycheck deposited to my savings account and then have a monthly automatic transfer to my checking account to cover my normal monthly expenses so interest is maximized without me thinking about it.
Having a budget in YNAB specifically, with it’s flexibility throughout the month, has freed me from food shame. I have a lot of food allergies and get excited when I find things I can actually eat without having to make it from scratch. I used to feel guilty buying those things because they weren’t on the meal plan, and more importantly they weren’t planned for in the grocery budget. Since starting YNAB my husband and I have separate fun money categories and I have used that for these exciting food explorations without guilt or feeling the need to play hide and seek from him with the money or the food. Thanks YNAB
Best benefit for me is tax time - I can just print out everything for our accountant and not be wondering if something was missed. No more digging through filing cabinets.
The growing bank balance that comes with YNAB over time also means that if something unexpected happened like a car accident and I couldn’t do my own banking for a bit, there’s money in there for auto-pay bills like mortgage until someone could get access to my account (I’m single so no spouse on the account to step in). Weird thought perhaps, but I help people with wills & estate planning so I think about these what-ifs.
I've often thought about the what-ifs for when I'm not around, but I really like how this can also cover the what-ifs for those situations where I couldn't do my own banking for a bit. Thanks for sharing! ~Ernie
10 years with ynab and the biggest win was getting a newly married couple on the same page. we're hyper aligned with our short and long-term goals, and we spend money on things we value, and we don't spend on things we don't value.
It’s up to you really. I have been on the same budget for about 5 years. I changed categories a few times, reorganized things, but always on the same budget. As long as your budget reflects your current needs and your future plans there’s no need to change.
It is very active! The Fans group is unofficial led by YNABers, so we at YNAB don't have control there. Just sit tight, I'm sure they'll approve you soon. ~BenB
I am actually going to say something a little controversial but my mental health has improved thanks to YNAB hugely. The amount of peace of mind that I have now means I have less anxiety attacks, can control my eating disorder much better and I am a lot more present with my loved ones. Thank you YNAB ❤
Wow, I love this all so much. Thank you for sharing! ~Ernie
Good for you. I don't think that's controversial at all!
I know the last time I got my hair done by looking on my....calendar? LOL. I search my calendar all the time. I used to keep a paper calendar, but search is one of the huge benefits of going electronic.
I stopped smoking thanks to Ynab ❤
Whoa! Would love to hear more of this story! ~Ernie
@@YNABofficial I've been a smoker for about 10 years (started with causal cigarettes and then ended up as a regular smoker!). When I started Ynab I was trying to quit, but nothing was working: tried nicotine patches, vaping, but nothing would actually get me out of the vice. When I set up YNAB for the first time I quickly realised that I needed to create a 'Smoking' category and I REALLY didn't want to do that! I faced the fact that smoking was eating up not just my finances and my health but also the opportunity to do what really was important for me, my priorities (and my wish farm!) So I deleted the category, I stopped, and never looked back!
How did that happen?!!
Me too! I had been a smoker for about 30 years. I stopped smoking about 5 weeks after starting YNAB. The power of seeing your priorities right there in front of you. Congratulations 👏🏼
@@bec481 I would LOVE to hear more about your story. If you're comfortable sharing more and possibly letting us tell other YNABers about it, fill out this form. ~BenB
youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories
In my circle of friends and family, my diligence with budgeting is pretty much seen as an eye-rolling obsession, but I listen to you Ben & Ernie, the budget nerds, and see that I am just a normal run of the mill nerd. Your opening statement says it all: I am not alone! That was truly an unexpected benefit from budgeting with YNAB. Thanks.
Budgeting with YNAB has also encouraged me to drink very little! And it helped me find every “leak,” - a forgotten subscription, a bill that could be negotiated down, etc. and it showed me exactly how much I have available to save for retirement (way more than I thought!).
I work as a freelance content writer & a tutor to earn some extra money while being a student. Surprising to me, YNAB has motivated me to have straightforward conversations about payments whereas before I would avoid talking about money until the last moment possible.
I have also been taking on more work than before and willing to do them as YNAB has gamified earning money and funding categories for me 😁
How about doing a video with your spouses ,Ben & Ernie????
No more late/overdraft fees! 🥳
I have learned the power of 0.00 scheduled transactions for home maintenance: Gutter cleaning and furnace inspection in the fall and then washing windows and checking caulking in the spring. The bonus in this is that if you do need a repair, its usually minor with less of a budget hit and true expenses can grow faster.
YNAB helped me feel comfortable to actually retire - early!! I fully embraced "true expenses" and projected out the big things (like a new roof in 20 years, painting the house in 5 years, a new car in 15 years, etc.) into my retirement plan. With this plan and my YNAB habits, at the end of last year I was able to see that I could take a job loss and shift it into an early retirement without any stress. But the best unexpected benefit has been getting to watch Ben & Ernie to nerd out about budgeting.
❤️ we appreciate that! And congrats on the early retirement. I love that you were able to do that and do it without stress! ~Ernie
We recently had a YNAB win with our dog. She developed an ear infection and a sprained ankle in the same week. Thanks to YNAB, we were able to contain the vet bills to the pet category, with only a bit spilling out of the health and wellness fund.
A huckleberry is a berry local to the pacific northwest! That stand is in Montana close to the boarder with Idaho. They're famous and delicious.
Of course, you have to keep the quadruple burger with extra bacon and fries! Great segment. I have no problem letting someone know I have to sit something out becuae it's not in the budget. One of the benefits of being subscribed to the channel is being reminded to update my budget when a notification comes across my phone you've uploaded new content.
I became aware of everything I couldn't track, but also didn't have to remember to be aware of everything thanks to the automation of linking to my accounts. It saved my poor ADHD brain from needing to ever remember to do the budget. The budget just happened with every notification of a new transaction to import and a new paycheck to assign.
That's a good point-we can lean on YNAB to do some of the heavy lifting for us! ~Ernie
Yay!!!!!! I love watching your show!
The Huckleberry Shake place is the Victor Emporium in Victor, Idaho (just Northwest of Teton National Park), though our favorite huckleberry shake is at the Pioneer Grill inside Jackson Lake Lodge in the park, for what it's worth. :)
I’m a record collector
Stopping collecting won’t work for me
Choosing one record, saving for that one record, ordering it online, picking one more record, saving for it, ordering online etc etc won’t work for me either. I like going to the store. I like the interaction of that. I like not being sure what I’m going to find. That’s a huge part of what makes this hobby fun for me.
I love listening to music. I love doing it offline, away from screens and subscriptions. I love holding them in my hands.
I was scared I was going to just have to bend on that. I was scared I’d buy no records and certainly no rare records, and that I’d have to have a collection that kinda sucked because I needed to deprive myself because I needed to die with a pile of unspent money
I grasp it’s not a hobby that everyone sees any point to. I get there is UA-cam Music. I get there is Spotify. They aren’t what makes me happy. Vinyl is. That’s just the way I am.
Here’s the thing - I’m buying more records, not fewer. I’m buying more *rare* records. Not fewer. I’m also giving more money away.
And I’m still filling the other categories too. I had a damp problem in my conservatory. I just had enough money to fix it. It was just there. I didn’t even have to sell my beloved records to do it:
I can do that, because I’m focussed on the hobby that works for me. I’m not wasting money on hobbies that don’t work for me or don’t work for me as well.
I have a virtual envelope called Record Shop. Before I go to the counter, I pull out my phone. It tells me if I can afford the records I have pulled out. It’s very simple. It’s yes or no. There’s no guessing. If it’s yes, no guilt in purchasing. If it’s no, I put them back, so there no messing up my other budgets.
I’ve stopped drinking. I’ve cancelled most of my streaming services. I’ve cancelled several subscription boxes. I’m not paying off a credit card. I’m not overdrawn.
This is awesome
I love reading the story of how you love spending your money. Thank you so much for sharing, Samantha! ~Ernie
I paid off all my debt thanks to YNAB
After many years in YNAB, it has helped us age our money to a point my attitude at work has shifted dramatically. We're through the debt payoff stage which reduced a lot of stress in our marriage. Now I feel more confident and assertive at work knowing we finally have enough saved to survive even a job loss storm. Now our next big goal is upgrading our minivan with cash and we're almost there!
More confident and assertive with less stress-that's huge! And I'm so curious about the minivan upgrade. I assume you mean buying a new van, but in my mind I really hope it means you're souping up your current minivan 🤣 ~Ernie
@@YNABofficial A 500HP minivan does sound like more fun that just a newer one that's reliable. 😂
One of the all time great episodes
I'm starting to have less stress about retiring as I'm starting to be able to fund my need bills out a month already, and can plan for streaming subscriptions, vacation and investments. The only debt I have are credit card bills but YNAB makes it easy not to stress over those anymore.
I've started and stopped YNAB a shameful amount of times for a variety of reasons and although I'm on another refresh 1-month, I feel motivated to stay on mission to remain focused. As I'm watching your show I'm jotting down the benefits that I relate to so that I can read them often and avoid being discouraged by my debt. The load planner ROCKS!! THANK YOU!!!!
All that matters is you're trying again! And kudos to your perseverance. ~Ernie
Oh yes, removing judgements from money discussions with the hubs is worth its weight in gold. He is not at all interested in interacting with our budget on the regular. If there is something that he (or I) want outside our 'usual' expenses, he just wants to know whether or not we can afford it. YNAB gives me the framework to say yes, no, or 'we can if we....' which is just a healthier way of discussing both our individual and shared priorities.
"YNAB gives me the framework to say yes, no, or 'we can if we....' " ❤️❤️❤️ ~Ernie
You guys are doing such a wonderful welcoming job.. your warmth and fun has sucked me into this community.. THANK YOU from my first 7 days of investigating a YNAB life! You have reversed my fears on who these budgeters are and how they live..
So ynab and budgeting was one of the major targets on why my husband and I nearly got a divorce. I am a budgeter, it's part of my job. He is a spender and refused to want to budget.
He has a spreadsheet now and he only references it. I use and love YNAB because it makes balancing my personal budget and the joint/his budget easy. I have told so many people to use it and they love it. I also spend more on books because I know I have the money, but not the room
Give every bookshelf a job!
I'm so glad you found a system that works for your personality and priorities! ~Ernie
Something similar happened for a couple I’m friends with
One of them was spending a great deal on their hobby. The other one was always scared of bailiffs coming ‘round and didn’t want either of them to ever spend anything on hobbies
It was “you’re trying to take my hobby away from me” vs “you’re gonna get us evicted”. They argued about it kind of a lot. Both felt the other was being utterly unreasonable. They nearly split up.
Then they both got YNAB
After about two months, the one who who was the spender called a budget meeting
The upshot was this:
The one who was a spender had realised they couldn’t afford to spend as much on their hobby as they were
The one who was a saver had realised that they didn’t necessarily need to put every last penny aside and they could actually live a little.
Now they BOTH have hobbies, which BOTH require spending. They are saving some too.
They trusted the numbers and now they literally trust each other more too
Neither feels deprived. Neither feels they can’t ever have any fun at all. Neither feels that they can’t have a hobby because of money.
How do I know the last time I went to the dentist? Name your calendar events the same way every time. Dentist Appt w/ Dr. Name and search calendar events. Also Duplicate event at the counter when you’re scheduling to automatically copy over the office address and just change the date and time. I click the address from my calendar to navigate places. Another thing I do that is maybe weird, when I buy stuff I take a picture of the packaging and tag it Manuals in Evernote. Manuals is sort of a catch all for Instructions but I have socks in there for example.
YNAB has COMPLETELY shifted my perspective on impulse spending. I could go on, but that one is huge in and of itself. 🙏🏼💪🏼
I agree-that is huge! Thanks for sharing! ~Ernie
Ernie and Ben, could you do a segment on we can determine how much of our “budget” can be in a Savings account where we can earn some interest. I’m starting to see much larger balances in my Checking account and feel I need to move some of it to savings to get the 4% interest. Maybe use Views to see longer term budget items to get a sense of what could go into Savings? Would love to know how you two decide how much to put in Savings account
That's a great topic-I just added it to our list of possibilities! It's been trial and error for me. There's a certain amount that I don't like dipping below, so if I'm regularly getting close to that I know I might need to transfer some from savings. I don't know what my upper limit is. That's more of just a gut feeling and then I shave some off and move to savings. The great thing with YNAB is you don't have to get the amount right. You can make as many transfers as you want without impacting category balances, so it might be best to make a transfer and see how that feels/works out. And then do another one and another one until you dial in those lower and upper baselines. Hope that helps! ~Ernie
You can use the spend reports in YNAB to see how much you actually have leaving your account each month and use your monthly spend as the minimum so you aren't in danger of overdraft. I personally have my paycheck deposited to my savings account and then have a monthly automatic transfer to my checking account to cover my normal monthly expenses so interest is maximized without me thinking about it.
Having a budget in YNAB specifically, with it’s flexibility throughout the month, has freed me from food shame. I have a lot of food allergies and get excited when I find things I can actually eat without having to make it from scratch. I used to feel guilty buying those things because they weren’t on the meal plan, and more importantly they weren’t planned for in the grocery budget. Since starting YNAB my husband and I have separate fun money categories and I have used that for these exciting food explorations without guilt or feeling the need to play hide and seek from him with the money or the food. Thanks YNAB
Best benefit for me is tax time - I can just print out everything for our accountant and not be wondering if something was missed. No more digging through filing cabinets.
I am totally sharing this video with people! Yes to all of these amazing benefits!
Loved this episode, many of the comments resonated with me.
The growing bank balance that comes with YNAB over time also means that if something unexpected happened like a car accident and I couldn’t do my own banking for a bit, there’s money in there for auto-pay bills like mortgage until someone could get access to my account (I’m single so no spouse on the account to step in). Weird thought perhaps, but I help people with wills & estate planning so I think about these what-ifs.
I've often thought about the what-ifs for when I'm not around, but I really like how this can also cover the what-ifs for those situations where I couldn't do my own banking for a bit. Thanks for sharing! ~Ernie
It is almost criminal both of you don't know what a huckleberry milkshake is lol.
I have a new mission in life-try a huckleberry milkshake. ~Ernie
10 years with ynab and the biggest win was getting a newly married couple on the same page. we're hyper aligned with our short and long-term goals, and we spend money on things we value, and we don't spend on things we don't value.
Love it!!! It's amazing what this will do for your relationship long term! ~BenB
Great show guys, love it 😂
Ben, Ernie, I need a new YNAB mug.
Is it actually a good idea to start with a new budget at the beginning of the year? Is it OK to just keep going?
It’s up to you really. I have been on the same budget for about 5 years. I changed categories a few times, reorganized things, but always on the same budget. As long as your budget reflects your current needs and your future plans there’s no need to change.
👆
What is Ynab
You Need a Budget
YNAB is a tool that opens up your eyes to your true spending habits and helps you align your present actions with your future dreams.
I've been waiting on approval into the ynab fans Facebook group for a while. Is it even still active??
It is very active! The Fans group is unofficial led by YNABers, so we at YNAB don't have control there. Just sit tight, I'm sure they'll approve you soon. ~BenB