The YNAB Blog
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YNAB Benefit: Catching missed bills
My memory isn’t what it used to be and I can’t rely on it to make sure I receive and pay bills, particularly annual bills. Thanks to YNAB and my annual targets, though, I notice when expected bills aren’t received. At the beginning or end of every month I scan the available money in my…
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Does your spending plan tell your story?
In my YNAB coaching training (or perhaps it was at the YNAB Fan Fest) I heard someone suggest that an individual YNAB user’s spending plan ought to reveal something about the user. I love the idea that I can tell what my priorities are (or what a coaching client’s priorities are) by glancing at a…
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Be very careful of phishing scams
I feel like the fraudsters are getting more and more clever as they imitate actual financial institutions in their emails in an effort to get you to click on their link and enter your username and password. Recently I received an email purportedly from the Capital One Fraud Monitoring Department telling me they’d identified activity…
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Give every single dollar a job
As you may recall, YNAB used to have four rules and Rule One was Give Every Dollar a Job. Now YNAB. has Five Questions that support the whole method. And the method is Give Every Dollar a Job. I’ve noticed in clients a temptation to leave money in Ready to Assign (RTA) when their immediate…
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Starred Accounts are here!
YNAB has been cranking out the updates lately, some larger than others. I’m really excited about one subtle change that just appeared in my desktop app. I wanted to make sure you noticed it. You can now star your favorite accounts so that they’re grouped together at the top of the left sidebar on your…
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Do these five things for stress-free YNABing
It took me a few years to get so comfortable with YNAB it didn’t spark a little stress or overwhelm. Now, seven years into my YNAB journey I experience no stress with it and in fact really enjoy my daily YNAB routine. I actually check my budget several times a day but the morning check-in…
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Using the Toolkit for YNAB
If you use YNAB on your desktop (versus the mobile app), there may be some features you wish it had. These days, YNAB is making lots of improvements and your wishes may be granted, especially if you expressed them through the feature request form. It’s possible, though, that the Toolkit for YNAB, a free, community…
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No more second guessing
I attended the YNAB Fan Fest in San Diego over the weekend. It was so much fun to be in a big room with people who are as nuts about YNAB as I am. The YNAB staffers were amazing and it’s so clear that the company culture is all about having fun while changing the…
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Use that memo field!
When you’re in the flow of approving transactions, it can be easy to not take the time to make a note in the memo field about that transaction. But in my opinion, it’s worth the time. Many transactions don’t merit a memo. The monthly electric bill, for example, might be completely obvious. But for most…
Are there any YNAB or spending topics you’d like me to write about?