YNAB (You Need a Budget) – App Review

Personal budgeting has become much simpler with budgeting apps like YNAB.

YNAB helps you plan for every dollar you make while managing savings goals, tracking your finances, and building a strong financial future. Rather than automating everything for you, it uses a four-step system to educate and guide you toward building healthy financial habits.

Overview

YNAB is short for You Need a Budget. Early software was created in 2004, eventually transforming into an app that makes budgeting simple for everyone, whether you’re completely new to budgeting or have budgeted and saved for years and just want a little help automating it. YNAB uses the zero-based budgeting system to help users decide where their cash goes.

Pros

• Easy to customize your goals
• Connects to more than 100 financial institutions
• Up to six people can share one account
• Generous 34-day free trial

Cons

• Zero-based budgeting can feel restrictive for some
• No bill pay features
• Can’t track investment accounts
• No free version

Highlights

Type of Personal Budget: Zero-based budgeting
Best For: Accounting for every dollar
Cost: $14.99/month or $99/year
Free Trial: Yes
Links to Accounts: Yes; Bank accounts
Apple App Store Rating: 4.8/5
Google Play Rating: 4.7/5

You can create your own stress-free goals, and YNAB will help you reach those goals by leading them to make over their spending and savings habits in doable ways. YNAB uses a four-rule approach to budgeting and saving that’s meant to be easy to follow and not put unnecessary pressure on users.

Why We Like YNAB

YNAB has a very precise method known as “The YNAB Method” that helps users become successful savers and budgeters.

The YNAB Method consists of four rules:

1. Give every dollar a job: This rule requires you to have a purpose for the money you bring in, even if it’s just sending your last dollar to your retirement account. This approach makes it easier to save and stop spending mindlessly.

2. Embrace your true expenses: This YNAB rule teaches you to break large expenses into smaller, monthly expenses – like paying your auto insurance monthly instead of every six months – to make your payments more manageable.

3. Roll with the punches: Unexpected expenses can happen, and in some months, you might spend more than others. That’s why YNAB gives you some breathing room to adjust your savings goals and budget when necessary.

4. Age your money: The fourth rule helps you save, budget, and spend more mindfully to give you more wiggle room for investments and future planning.

Who Is YNAN Best For?

YNAB is best for people who want to track their cash, down to the last dollar, whether it’s someone new to budgeting who wants to learn the ropes or an experienced saver who thrives on knowing where all their cash needs to go.

YNAB is known for its commitment to assigning every single dollar you earn a “job,” essentially accounting for all your cash, whether it’s going toward bills, savings goals, or investments. Using the YNAB approach helps fans of the app stay on track and work toward their savings goals efficiently.

👉 Get your budget on track with YNAB!

Pricing & Plans

YNAB costs $14.99/month or $99/year, with an annual plan offering more than $80 in savings compared to a monthly plan. You can also try YNAB for 34 days completely free, just to make sure it has everything you need before committing to a paid subscription.

YNAB lets you subscribe directly through the app or by using your App Store or Google Play account, giving you plenty of options to pay for YNAB, such as using a connected bank account or credit card.

YNAB doesn’t have a free version, so all features are available to you as soon as you subscribe, including group money management, transaction splitting, and bank connections, with no ads interfering with the interface.

How It Works

YNAB uses zero-based budgeting, which is one of the most popular types of personal budgets. Zero-based budgeting gives all your money a purpose as you split your income between necessary bills, savings, and personal spending needs. Ultimately, it helps you set aside a specific amount for each goal to help you spend less money frivolously.

After downloading the app and signing up for YNAB, you can begin connecting your accounts. Linking an account lets you sync all your transactions with YNAB to track your income and expenses. Do this by clicking “Add Account” from the app. Then, select your region and search for your financial institution. Click on it to follow the instructions for linking your account.

Once your accounts are connected, YNAB will take a few minutes to sync all of your transactions and display your available cash flow. You can then use this amount to set up your budgeting and savings goals.

Now, it’s time to set up targets. In YNAB, “targets” are the goals you have for your money, whether it’s a weekly target of saving $100 for gas or a monthly target of putting $500 into savings. These targets always show on YNAB so that you can keep track of your progress toward each goal. You can also assign yearly targets for bigger goals, like vacation or holiday gifts, and save a set amount each week or month toward those targets. With your available balance, you can move money manually to each target or have YNAB auto-assign cash toward your targets.

YNAB also allows budgeting and saving with a partner using YNAB Together. YNAB Together allows you to add group members to your account while keeping your account information and permissions secure. Group members can create budgets and share budgets with you but won’t have access to your billing information or account settings. As the subscription owner, you can remove or add group members at any time through the YNAB app.

Additional Features

Here are a few additional stand-out features of YNAB:

Detailed Reporting: Learn more about your money with YNAB’s detailed reports and reporting tools. YNAB offers reports for your net worth, money age, income vs. expenses, and more, all of which you can view right on the app.

Mobile Widgets: YNAB has mobile widgets that allow you to see specific categories in your budget right at your fingertips without needing to open the app.

Syncing Across Devices: If you want to check YNAB from multiple devices during the day, you can do that seamlessly. YNAB syncs across any devices on which you have the app installed, and you can even use the app when you’re offline.

Free Workshops: YNAB offers free workshops to help you understand how to use YNAB to its fullest potential, how to manage credit card debt, and provide guidance on other must-know financial topics. You can sign up for free workshops via the YNAB website.

How To Sign Up for YNAB

Visit the YNAB website to sign up for a free trial for 34 days. Simply enter your email address and set a password or sign up with Apple or Google. Then, YNAB will send you a link to download the app to your device. Once you do that, you can begin setting your budget and savings goals using the app walk-through.

Alternatively, you can download YNAB from the App Store or Google Play and sign up for an account through the app.

How To Contact Tech Support

YNAB’s tech and customer support email address is [email protected], which you can contact at any time if you have a question about your account, need help getting set up, etc.

You can also use the in-app messaging center by clicking the help widget in the YNAB app. This opens a chat window with a virtual assistant. Let the virtual assistant know what you need help with, and it will connect you to a live support professional who can help.

How To Cancel YNAB

You can cancel your YNAB subscription at any time by visiting your account settings through the app or website and clicking on “Cancel Your Subscription.” Follow the instructions to complete the cancellation. You’ll still have access to your YNAB account and all paid features until the end of your monthly or annual billing cycle.

How Does YNAB Compare?

Although other apps use the same zero-based budgeting system that YNAB uses, YNAB is one of the few that critically analyzes the actual amount of money you have to work with each month. In other words, you can only budget for the true amount of money in your accounts, which can help you control your spending habits and avoid overspending in unnecessary areas.

Other apps that use zero-based budgeting, on the other hand, may give you a little more wiggle room to overspend in some categories because they use an estimate of your income each month rather than your actual income.

Is YNAB Worth It?

There’s a reason that YNAB is continuously touted as one of the best budgeting apps to exist: It really works. Users note that YNAB has completely transformed the way that they budget, allowing them to see where their money needs to go and make important financial decisions, like deciding what categories need most of their attention month by month.

If you’re someone who wants an app that automatically tracks your transactions and gives you an accurate picture of the money you have available to place into categories, YNAB fits the bill. Take advantage of its 34-day trial to test its features before signing up for a subscription.