Is YNAB still the best app for budgeting?

[Ra33it76]

I want to budget better. I'm not bad with money (save regularly, have a S&S ISA, no debt beyond mortgage) but too used to spending without checking balances especially on top up foods, treats for the kids, etc. With a much higher remortgage rate starting tomorrow and general cost of living, I can't continue!

YNAB seems to be the best but slightly complicated. Also seen Emma recommended.

And if anyone does recommend YNAB, very open to a referral code!

Bumping this as I have also been wondering the same question!

I’ve used YNAB for about 8 years. It’s taken me from in a similar position to OP, & slightly “overspending” every month to being totally on top of things.

worth every penny imo

https://ynab.com/referral/?ref=xAYEc9LvCLHdybJo&sponsor_name=Rachel&utm_source=customer_referral

I agree, I also have used it for a few years and it’s helped me so much.

Pressed send too early. It’s allowed me to stay on top of things like annual home insurance, putting enough money aside for Christmas/birthdays etc. I can quickly check if I can afford something before I buy, and if I can’t, I can decide to reassign money from elsewhere or just choose to wait. It helps me make better decisions I’d say.

Yes indeed.

i do recall there being a lot to learn & getting a bit obsessed at first. 😬

but now a few years in I’m totally used to having money allocated for all the bills ready to pay the bills before they occur.

I love YNAB! It’s genuinely the only way that I’m able to keep on top of our finances and have money ready for all planned outgoings. There may well be other budgeting apps out there too, but YNAB was recommended to me by a friend and I think it’s flexible enough for any kind of budget really. It’s still the only app that I pay a subscription for, which says a lot for me.

I ended up signing up for the free YNAB trial. I couldn't get the hang of it. I set a budget but found the allocation more challenging. I will admit to not trying very hard to understand it - I didn't watch any of the videos. I couldn't get it to pull through my AMEX transactions and I have money in different accounts which I couldn't quite square.

I jumped ship to Emma as they have a 7 day free trial. I have found it much better and have since paid for access. I wanted to see where my money was going which I can do by allocating the transactions in Emma.

Once I've recorded a few months of spending, I'm going to revise my budget to bring things under control. I found out we spent over £1200 on groceries last month 😱😱 and we spend much more on eating out than I thought.

Maybe I should have persevered! I'll see how I go with Emma and if it's not working out, try harder with YNAB 😬

I use YNAB and now I’m used to it I use it without a second thought. If you’re finding Emma helpful though I’d stick with that. The important thing is that you know where your money is going and can plan expenditure better - whatever method you use.

I find it much cheaper and easier to use an excel spreadsheet!

Chat GPT was a great help in the first few weeks of using YNAB.I could upload a screenshot & could then get step by step instructions of what to do next.
I’m so grateful to have discovered YNAB. No more living from paycheque to paycheque.

You don't need to pay for a special app to do a budget. You can download your transactions into a spreadsheet and split by category to get the same information.

You can also split your money into separate pots or accounts to spend from using monthly standing orders. If you treat these as 'when it's gone, it's gone' you're forced to stick to the budget otherwise you need to work out where else you can pull money from.

But you've identified that groceries and eating out is a spending issue so if those amounts are not affordable, reducing what you can spend on other things or are able to save that's what you need to work on changing.

Are you wasting food? Are you buying expensive things that could be swapped for cheaper from different shops, buying in bulk when on offer or changing what you buy? Getting a takeaway when you could make easy food at home? Buying lots of snacks, drinks and treat food? Spending a lot on coffee and lunches?

I love YNAB. I used Emma before but I found YNAB is the one that stopped me from overspending because of the zero based budgetting. Once I 'got it' it was easy.

That’s a great tip, thanks. I used YNAB for a couple of years, found it brilliant but then fell off the wagon. Am going to get back into it but was dreading trawling through those videos again. I’m going to try Chat Gpt instead.