The YNAB Blog
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How to get back on track with YNAB (without doing a Fresh Start)
If it’s been a few weeks since you categorized and approved transactions in YNAB, it might feel overwhelming to catch up. You technically don’t have to catch up. You could start over with a Fresh Start, but your transaction history would be archived. The Fresh Start can be a great thing to do if you’re…
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Introducing my new 6-month YNAB coaching program for deep financial transformation
I’m thrilled to share a brand new way to work with me that goes far beyond what I’ve offered before. It’s my new From Scattered to Spendful 6-month coaching program. A new approach to budget coaching For awhile now, I’ve offered individual sessions and session packs. While these have been wonderful for addressing specific budgeting…
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Why paying someone to help you spend less actually makes sense
Yes, you read that right. And no, it’s not as backwards as it sounds. “Wait, I’m supposed to pay someone to help me spend less money? Isn’t that kind of… counterproductive?” I completely understand the hesitation. It makes perfect sense that you’d question it. But here’s the thing: budget coaching isn’t about spending money to…
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Don’t be afraid of your YNAB!
If you’ve had some unanticipated money woes, like a big repair or a shopping spree you’re second guessing, it can be really easy to avoid YNAB. I totally get it; I’ve been there. It’s hard to face hard financial truths sometimes. But I’ll argue that when money’s tight it’s extra important to spend time with…
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Figuring out a mysterious Amazon charge
Today, an Amazon charge was imported to my Chase Amazon Prime credit card account in the amount of $24.15 and it was a real head scratcher. I immediately checked my Amazon order history (using this trick within YNAB) and there was no transaction for $24.15. I checked my husband’s Amazon order history. The order was…
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Doing YNAB daily
As a professional organizer, I’m a huge fan of creating daily routines to keep life running easier. In fact, earlier today I re-ran a 2021 post on my organizing blog about using daily routines to add ease to your life. One of my strongest daily habits is doing my YNAB. As I’ve outlined here, every…
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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…
Are there any YNAB or spending topics you’d like me to write about?