YNAB Review

YNAB, which stands for You Need A Budget, is unique Personal Finance App With a singular focus: to teach you smarter ways to spend your money so you can save more. It has a steep learning curve and requires constant attention, but the end reward is a flexible monthly spending plan tailored to meet your goals. This is an app that can change the way you think about money. YNAB is an Editors’ Choice winner, though it’s less traditional than our other top picks. We recommend simplified Most people and Fast classic Those who micromanage their finances.

How much does YNAB cost?

YNAB costs $14.99 per month or $99 per year ($109, as of August 1, 2024, for new signups). There is a 34 day free trial. Why 34 days? After a month, you’ll just begin to understand your budget and expenses. So, YNAB gives you a few extra days to think about it. No credit card is required to try it out, and students can apply to have their account fees waived for a year.

YNAB is more expensive than most of the finance apps we reviewed, though Monarch Money charges $99.99 annually. I think YNAB has value, especially with new features like Apple Card integration, YNAB Together (account sharing, up to six people), and advanced category management.

What YNAB is and what it is not

We have to call YNAB a budget solution—it’s in the app’s name. You set spending goals for how much money you need for bills (such as electricity and internet), needs (categories with more variety, such as groceries and medical expenses), and wants (optional expenses such as food, entertainment, and donations). But you can’t actually put a dollar amount in those categories until you receive the money, like a paycheck. Transactions are either imported from your online bank and credit card accounts or entered manually

YNAB is based on a philosophy called zero-based budgeting, which means you allocate dollars to departments until all the money is gone. In fact, this is the first of YNAB’s four rules that underlie its design:

1. Give a job per dollar

2. Embrace your true expenses (turn large, infrequent expenses into manageable chunks)

3. Roll with the punches (adjust if you overspend in one category)

4. The age of your money (spend less than you earn and eventually, you will spend the money you earned a month or more ago)

Common budgets, such as monarch money are available and Rocket Money, rely on forecasts. You estimate your future income and expenses, and the apps show you where your actual cash inflows and outflows fall against your goals. This can be enough for people who just want an account of their progress and who don’t want to spend a lot of time fine-tuning their budget.

YNAB also differs from competitors in that it doesn’t include bill paying, investment tracking, and goal management…although, if you think about it, with YNAB your job is to set and meet all-inclusive financial goals. You don’t just say you want to save $3,000 for a vacation and let the app monitor your progress; You teach YNAB how to match all of your spending patterns to your goals and how your income and expenses break down over the course of several months. Thus, YNAB is a good choice for people with unpredictable income and expenses like gig workers. YNAB gives you tools to help you fix your budget. But if you to do Want a more traditional way to pay bills, track investments, and set financial goals, go with Quicken Classic instead.

Another difference is that YNAB’s Android and iOS apps, as attractive and intuitive as they are, aren’t as full-featured as the browser-based versions. Unlike some personal finance apps, Credit action An example is because it has some features that are exclusive to mobile apps.

dislike Fast classic, which gives you numerous customizable reports, the browser-based version of YNAB only has three: Expenses, Net Worth, and Income vs. Expenses. The mobile app has just two: Net Worth and Edge of Money, which measures how long, on average, your money sits in your account between earnings and expenses. If a few of these reports resonate with you, it’s probably a good gauge you should stick with YNAB.

Learn to use YNAB with help

The mechanics of using YNAB aren’t that difficult—if you take advantage of the app’s support and education services (more on that later). From the start, it is friendly and easy to use. It learns about your lifestyle and finances, as most personal finance apps do when you start with them, and creates an initial list of categories that will apply to each line item of your income and expenses. You can add and edit these categories at any time.

If you want to import transactions from your bank accounts, credit cards and other financial accounts, you need to connect to each account by logging into YNAB. YNAB uses multiple third-party financial connectivity services, including Plaid, to ensure connections are safe and secure

When setting up, it’s best to work on a computer or laptop and use the browser-based version of YNAB, which presents your budget like a mini-spreadsheet with columns labeled Category, Assigned (your actual dollars allocated). , activity (imported or manually entered transactions), and available (what is left). These numbers change as you budget dollars.

A vertical pane on the right shows your options for each category, including frequency (whether the income or expense recurs weekly, monthly, annually, etc.), amount, day of the month for the transaction, and your choice for the next month. Management of that department (often, the same amount allocated). YNAB also tells you if you have cash left over from the previous month You can have YNAB automatically assign categories based on what it learns.

Once you’ve used the app for a few months, you’ll get an ongoing update of that category’s behavior as well as historical information about each.

A long work in progress

YNAB may take a while to click. You probably won’t hit your target amount the first time you set up your financial structure in YNAB. You may not even succeed the second or third time. And no matter how long you use it, you’ll probably need to adjust over the course of a few months. But the longer you use YNAB and the more it learns about your money habits, the more accurate your target amount will be. Awareness of your monthly spending patterns can lead to more disciplined spending—and hopefully, more money left over.

getting help

YNAB knows you’ll struggle at first, and it does a great job of providing guidance. Its educational tools are presented in a lively, entertaining fashion.

A searchable help system has well-written and understandable articles You can contact support via email and chat and expect a response within one to two business days. YNAB has dozens of free workshops and webinars every week and a robust YouTube channel. You may want to spend some time just watching videos and taking a webinar before you even start working with the app.

Is YNAB safe to use?

YNAB has been around for 20 years. The Company promises to keep your information encrypted and secure, and does so Security policy Open to the public. Policy is strong. YNAB uses bank-grade or better encryption and does not store your bank credentials. Additionally, the app uses multiple types of security including Multi-factor authentication.

Verdict: Spend money to save money

Using YNAB is not difficult. The challenging part is understanding the philosophy behind it and turning it into smart financial management. But the payoff is worth it. YNAB is an Editors’ Choice winner because it can change the way you spend and help you save in the process, as long as you’re diligent. Quick simplification And Fast classic Two other Editors’ Choice winners for their excellent but more traditional personal finance management. Simplify is best for most people, and Quicken Classic is for those who prefer micromanaging money.