The YNAB Blog
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Credit Card Fraud Is Inevitable—But YNAB Can Help
Credit card fraud is, unfortunately, a fact of modern life—even for the most careful among us. But with the right tools and habits, you can catch fraudulent charges early and make recovery so much easier. YNAB (You Need A Budget) is my secret weapon for staying on top of my finances and turning a stressful…
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Give the gift of YNAB
As a professional organizer, I’ve been blogging for years about giving clutter-free gifts. People have a hard time letting go of gifts, even those they don’t love or use. And then they end up with too much stuff. So I always suggest giving experiences or donations or other non-tangible gifts instead. Here’s a great clutter-free…
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Eleven reasons I’m grateful for YNAB
I wrote this post two years ago around Thanksgiving. Here’s a lightly edited version of that post. I added an 11th item–how YNAB helped us navigate a life-changing move. I’m being completely honest when I say I’m not sure where I’d be without YNAB! It’s the season to express gratitude and I am so very…
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Is YNAB worth $109 a year?
Sometimes in social media groups I hear people grumble that YNAB is too expensive. To some, it feels counterintuitive to spend $109 a year (in the U.S., when paid annually) for an app that is supposed to help you spend less. A couple of years ago, I blogged about why YNAB is worth it for…
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PSA: Open your mail!
I wrote this post for my organizing blog, but I realized it would be valuable for readers of this blog as well. Here’s a slightly edited version. Over the years, I’ve encountered many organizing clients who don’t open their postal mail. I get it. Mail can be scary. I remember back when I was dealing…
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How to Categorize Big-Box Store Purchases in YNAB: Split Transactions Made Easy
Splitting transactions in YNAB can feel overwhelming, especially after a big shopping trip to Costco, Target, or Walmart. When one receipt includes groceries, household items, and personal care products, how do you categorize it accurately without spending an hour on your budget? Here’s a quick method that takes just minutes and keeps your YNAB reports…
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Tracking down mystery Apple charges
Apple subscriptions are ubiquitous and easy to forget. One great thing about YNAB is that it brings them to your attention. But it can be tricky to figure out what the charge is for. This morning, I had a mysterious $89.99 charge in my PayPal account from “Apple Services.” Here’s what I did to try…
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How to Plan Holiday Spending: A Guide to Stress-Free December Finances
It’s never too early to start planning for the holidays. If you start now, your December self will thank you. September might feel early to think about holiday budgeting, but here’s the truth: the best time to prepare for holiday expenses is right now, when you’re not in the thick of the season’s chaos. If…
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Living a spendful life
YNAB describes itself as a spendfulness app. It coined the term “spendfulness,” which it introduced in December 2024. Ordinarily, I bristle at invented words. But in this case, spendfulness resonated with me immediately. So I’m all in. (My testimonial is even included on this spendfulness page.) Here’s YNAB’s definition: Spendfulness is the alignment between how…
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