Last week, YNAB made a big announcement. They revamped the way they’re teaching YNAB. Gone are The Four Rules. Only Rule One, Give Every Dollar A Job, was retained and it is now the whole method. Give Every Dollar a Job is now backed up by five carefully thought out questions.
If this is the first you’re hearing of it, check out this blog post, The YNAB Method: ‘Give Every Dollar A Job’ Takes Center Stage, written by Erin Lowell, who, among other roles, is the leader of the coaching program. (She’s a rock star.) It spells out the history of how YNAB’s been taught and explains the new approach, including the five questions.
Another big shift announced last week was the introduction of the word spendfulness. The creative folks at YNAB coined the term, which they’re defining as “a state of alignment between the way you spend your money and the way you want to spend your life.” (I’m quoted on the new spendfulness page!) Spendfulness is described nicely in this blog post as well as in this terrific video.
You may noticed that the word “budget” is no longer prevalent in the YNAB vernacular. Now, you’ll see “spendful” and its variants “spendfulness” and “spendfully” along with “spending plan” on the YNAB website and in its videos. (The videos in the YNAB channel on YouTube aren’t going anywhere, though.)
The coaches were told about this change in advance of the announcement, so I’ve had a little while to get used to it. I’m a grammar curmudgeon from way back who doesn’t take lightly to the invention of new words. But as soon as I heard about the change, I got very excited. The term, which instantly evoked “mindful spending,” was easy for me to grasp. I feel it really captures something that is otherwise hard to explain.
I’m thrilled about these changes. The word budget has a negative connotation to most people and I’m not going to miss it. But more importantly, I realize that being spendful–aligning your spending with your priorities and values–is what YNAB is really all about. And it’s absolutely life enhancing.
I decided to change the name of my coaching business to reflect this new focus. I’m no longer Peace of Mind Budgeting. I’m now Peace of Mind Spending! When you think about it, all conversations about money boil down to conversations about spending. Even saving is about spending, since you’re saving money to spend down the road.
Thanks to YNAB, I feel great about spending money because my spending and values are in alignment. I’m living spendfully. And I’ll talk to anybody who will listen about it. I’d love to help you live spendfully!
Leave a Reply