The YNAB Blog
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Best practice: Check the dates on your transactions at the beginning of the month
I’m writing this on October 2. When I did my daily YNAB check-in this morning, I saw that some transactions dated September 30 had imported overnight, which created some overspending on my September budget. This is why it’s so important in a new YNAB month to go back to the prior month budget screen at…
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YouTube channel recommendation: Suddenly Stay at Home
If you’ve been around YNAB awhile, you probably remember the great Heard It From Hannah YouTube videos. Hannah, a YNAB employee, did a great job of explaining YNAB stuff in a really entertaining way. Her brother, Ben, was also a YNAB content creator and his excellent Sketchy Advice videos touched on the psychological side of…
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YNAB’s opening a merch store!
I’ve been using YNAB long enough to know that they occasionally would have flash sales of YNAB-branded merchandise. I snagged a sweet YNAB ball cap a number of years ago that I wear at least once a week. (In fact, it helped me make a friend in my apartment building!) Then when I went to…
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How to Reconcile in YNAB (and Why Waiting Makes It Harder)
Reconciling your accounts so that YNAB matches your bank/credit card balances is mandatory if you want to trust your spending plan. Unfortunately, many of my clients seem to have difficulty reconciling their accounts. What tends to happen is that the account won’t reconcile and if the clients they tend to either walk away (assuming they’ll…
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It’s all about spending
I’m on the Book Launch Team for YNAB founder Jesse Mecham’s new book (due out in less than two weeks!), Never Worry About Money Again. This book is a quick read and offers laser clarity on the principles behind YNAB. I’m excited for it to be a new introduction to the YNAB method for new…
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A tale of two poop bags
I have a wonderful standard poodle named Bix. He’s the fifth standard poodle we’ve had over the last 34 years. We live in a city and take twice-daily walks, as we have with all our dogs. Needless to say, I know something about poop bags. For years I’ve used the DOOG pick-up bags, which come…
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My first-day-of-the-month routine
It’s July 1 and this morning I had the pleasure of assigning money to meet all this month’s targets. Being a month ahead makes everything easier, including assigning money in YNAB. Since I was fully funded on June 1, all money that came in to my bank account in June was assigned to my Next…
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Let go of perfectionism around your money
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here, but I’m the co-host of a weekly podcast called Getting to Good Enough, which is all about letting go of perfectionism so you can live with more ease, less stress, and a lot more laughter. My co-host is life coach and fellow YNAB Certified Coach, Shannon Wilkinson.…
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The YNAB Memo Field: Why It’s Worth Using (and How It Helps Later)
When you’re in the flow of approving transactions in YNAB, it’s so easy to skip the YNAB memo field. But that little field is one of the simplest ways to make your budget clearer—both now and later. To be clear: not every transaction needs a memo. Your monthly electric bill probably speaks for itself. But for many day-to-day purchases, a…
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