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Original poster

Does anyone recommend YNAB

29 replies

FrankWelker · 26/08/2017 20:34

Does anyone use and recommend or not, YNAB. Can you tell me if it did/not work and if it did how much it saved. I am massively guilty of just spending however I feel and need something to keep me accountable. Now that you have to pay for it I want to get some ideas whether it's worth it or not. Thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
FrankWelker · 31/08/2017 20:45

Anyone?

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Theorchard · 31/08/2017 20:49

It's good but for some reason I preferred the interface and usability of goodbudget. Either will transform your finances if you get on board with them. We saved nothing before, now we save a third of our income ( excluding pensions) it's amazing! But it does need effort, you have to strict about logging transactions and reconciling your accounts. Still we log transactions as we go which takes seconds, and reconciliation is a couple of hours checking each month, but it is time well spent!

Original poster
FrankWelker · 17/09/2017 17:18

Thanks for your reply. I've given up and deleted my YNAB account now. I don't understand it, their help was poor and it was getting too frustrating! Judging by the lack of responses on this thread it doesn't look particularly popular anyway.

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Iloveantiques · 17/09/2017 17:23

Oh what a shame.

YNAB has made a world of difference to my finances since I've been using it. By allocating my money to categories - 'giving every pound a job' I've stopped a lot of very unnecessary spending and built up a buffer.

It takes some time to set up, you need to really think about your priorities and where you already spend money and where you want to spend it in the future.

I would highly recommend the Facebook group for support and watching some of the introductory videos. The app is excellent for entering spending on the go and it's easy to move money around.

What is it you were hoping it would do that it didn't?

Original poster
FrankWelker · 17/09/2017 17:32

I literally did not know what to do. I couldn't find any training videos on the site, only people's own ones on YouTube which I didn't want to use. I didn't understand how you could get to live on last months income etc etc. I didn't even know a Facebook group existed. I emailed them several times and their responses were rubbish- just automated responses. I really could not find any training on their site and they couldn't direct me to any. I certainly wasn't going to start paying for it after 34 days of clutching at straws. I get really worked up in these situations (overachiever) so I (childishly) deleted it.

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Callmecordelia · 17/09/2017 17:38

I've used it since 2013 and credit it with completely turning our finances around. Did you sign up for one of their online classes? That's what they generally say to do first.

There used to be a very active YNAB thread on here, but it's fallen out of threads I'm on. It's helped lots of mumsnetters, although admittedly most of that thread was about the older YNAB 4 version that I still use, I haven't upgraded to the new online one yet. However the principles and philosophy are the same. It's a pity you didn't get the help you needed.

Original poster
FrankWelker · 17/09/2017 19:36

I couldn't even find any online classes and the staff weren't remotely helpful. I think in the end I didn't want to pay each year for such poor customer service. Ah well...tried for 28 days for free

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Callmecordelia · 17/09/2017 20:33

I think you're being a little unfair there. I just checked the YNAB website and there is a link to classes right at the top. All you need to do is click on it, and it comes up with an option to pick your timezone so you can do a 30 minute class when it suits you. They employ people round the clock to run them. The link is here - www.youneedabudget.com/classes/
The classes are good, you get to ask questions from the tutor if you don't get something.

There's an animation showing the basic method and how to budget right on the front page of the website.

It's not ever been just a budgeting program, it's also a philosophy, and some people really click with it, and some people don't. That's OK, and I think is probably what's happened here.

I'm not defending that they didn't reply to you, that's completely unacceptable.

TuftedLadyGrotto · 26/09/2017 16:09

I was going to start a thread asking if anyone found this useful. I think I'm going to try the trial with the classes etc. So do people think is worth the money?

@Theorchard is goodbudget free or a paid one too?

Callmecordelia · 27/09/2017 00:00

I use an older version, which means you don't pay monthly for it, and I'm only just considering switching now, as they have finally released features on the online version that make it possibly worth it (the new mobile app and reports).

If I was starting from scratch, then I'd say the newer version is worth it, if you click with the philosophy. It's a method and lifestyle change as much as a tool, the apps and website help keep you to it. That method transformed our finances, and we've spent nothing since November 2013 that didn't go into YNAB. It's paid for itself many times over in our case. We've coped with some serious dips in income in that time period thanks to YNAB.

TuftedLadyGrotto · 27/09/2017 19:04

I've got the trial. The only annoying thing is that money that goes out on 1st of month doesn't show as orange on the budget section. Presumably they will as soon as it is October. So I had to go through individually and see how much was due and assign money. Wonder whether to set the bills as 30th of month instead to make it easier.

But then even stuff that comes out on 6th isn't showing, but that needs assigning now.

MyBrilliantDisguise · 27/09/2017 19:06

Can it be used if you get your money at irregular intervals? I'm self-employed so don't get a regular sum.

TuftedLadyGrotto · 27/09/2017 19:11

Yes, in fact thy have specific guidance for that and a class. I took an intro class last night, it was brilliant. It is an actual person and you can ask questions via a message function.

Karak · 27/09/2017 19:21

Yes. It's actually designed for the US system where people seem to get paid weekly (which is why there's a big think about getting a month in hand because people are living one week's paycheck to the next, whereas in the UK we tend to be living one month to the next). You don't have to get your income at any particular time though.

Try it but it is really worth doing the online course before you start. Also start when you actually have some money in your account to budget!

Karak · 27/09/2017 19:23

tufted - none of bills are due/ standing order (not in UK). I put a note in the note section for a category on when in each month it needs to be paid and how much. I then look at that when I have money to allocate.

tribpot · 27/09/2017 20:52

I'm very surprised to hear that YNAB were not responsive to support tickets, that really isn't like them at all. They got completely overwhelmed when they first released the new version of YNAB but other than that they have always been extremely helpful. And there is a training material plus the classes, as mentioned above.

The method does take some getting used to, and needs some practice. It works extremely well for people with irregular or varying income, MyBrilliantDisguise, and I actually use it for my business accounts as well (my accountants hold the master accounts in Xero but for my personal copy of my business accounts, to put money aside for dividends, etc. I use YNAB).

Disclaimer: I'm still on the old version. I didn't like the new one at all when it first came out, and I would feel much happier if it supported a hybrid offline/online model like OneDrive or GoogleDrive (or Dropbox, which the old version is built on!), so you still have access to the data (and have a local copy of it) when you're offline and/or the website is unavailable. I didn't like some of the changes, particularly the handling of income available next month and being able to manage debt which is caused by a lag in payments, i.e. job expenses which will be reimbursed in the following month.

Callmecordelia · 28/09/2017 09:27

Hi Tribpot! I'm still wondering whether to change. I love the functionality of the new app, and a lot of my issues were solved with the YNAB toolkit and reports, but I still don't like the credit card handling, loss of walled months and lack of red arrow to the right. I suspect I'll be on YNAB4 until the Dropbox link finally breaks.

tribpot · 29/09/2017 05:51

Callmecordelia, I'm also going to stick with YNAB 4 until the Dropbox integration fails.

I keep meaning to try out MoneyWiz, which looks similar, although from reading through how they manage budget categories this morning, I think possibly not similar enough. Failing that, I think I will go back to YNAB's roots and see if I can mimic enough functionality in Excel.

splendide · 30/09/2017 21:45

I've just started using this. It's a bit tricky but I think I'm getting the hang of it.

I've linked my bank accounts but I think that might be making things more confusing. The problem I have is that my main spending is done on a joint account and a joint credit card so I really need to be budgeting for me and DH for it to work.

splendide · 30/09/2017 21:49

I mean I don't have "my money" really. It's all ours. Only thing I can think is to allocate quite a generous amount to DH general spends and then if it's less sweep it into savings.

tribpot · 30/09/2017 21:51

splendide you could just have a category of 'DH' and then every transaction on the joint account/card that relates to a DH purchase goes into that - that would at least allow you to be able to reconcile the accounts and do proper categories for your own purchases. May be hard to budget for the 'DH' category if he spends different amounts without any warning each month. It certainly would be better to budget for all joint spending - or I guess not have any.

splendide · 30/09/2017 22:00

To be honest DH isn't really a big spender. It's me that needs a bit of reining in so that might work. I could also (to make our finances fairer!) keep a running tally of how much less frivolous/ personal spending he does and suggest he either does something with it or puts it in his own savings (he's a SAHD).

splendide · 30/09/2017 22:00

Less than me I mean.

tribpot · 30/09/2017 22:03

That could work, although presumably not all of his spending in your joint account is on frivolity? Is it obvious that if it's Asda it's a grocery shop but if it's Amazon it's something frivolous, maybe? My DH (who's a SAHD as well) basically spends nothing at all (mainly because he's too ill to) so I manage our joint account and my accounts via YNAB but not his personal account where his PIP is paid.

splendide · 30/09/2017 22:07

Yes that's right - most of his spending would be joint expenses like groceries/ bills and so on and they'd be quite identifiable, so I can put those in the right place. Then I could have a DS bucket for days out and so on. That would mostly be DH actually spending.

Sorry about your DH's health by the way.