- Platform: Windows, Mac OS X
- Media: CD-ROM
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Product Description
Praised across the internet as hands-down the "best budgeting software", You Need A Budget (YNAB) cuts to the chase with your finances. The software focuses you on the foundation of your finances: the Budget. Experience has shown that when your budget is intact, and functioning correctly, everything else takes care of itself (the bills are paid on time, retirement contributions are made, and unnecessary debt is eliminated). The software is built around Four Rules of Cash Flow. These Four Rules will help you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle, get out of debt, and save more money faster. Where other software packages tend to be the products of years of feature creep, YNAB offers you exactly what you need: a simple, straightforward system to manage your money.
Remember to take advantage of YNAB's fantastic support resources: video tutorials, and free live budgeting classes for any and all interested!
YNAB is built on the powerful Adobe AIR platform, which means you can run it on Windows, Mac, or Linux!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
194 of 199 people found the following review helpful
I earn a good living. Yet earlier this year, several months after buying a house and getting settled back into the swing of things I couldn't escape the notion that my family was living beyond its means.
And we were. And YNAB helped me see it.
I'd previously used Quicken and Microsoft Money in an effort to do budgeting to no real effect. The truth is, Quicken and Money are more about having fancy checkbook registers than they are about helping you identify and conform to a budget. This is where they fail.
YNAB is straightforward and it does one thing, and one thing only -- it helps you create and manage a budget. With careful record keeping, you can do the same thing YNAB does with a pen and paper, or with Excel -- but the software is simple and easy-to-use and readily imports transactions (without fail) from my banking institutions.
I used to worry that the number in my checking account may not be enough to make everything come together. I can unequivocally state that now... I just don't care. Because of YNAB, I absolutely know that there's always money enough for anything that's going to come along.
YNAB has helped me exercise some discipline and do so without significant data entry or long, tortured sessions at the computer. If you're looking for something to help you manage your budget this is the software you should get. Ignore the name brands that simply aren't up to the task.
And we were. And YNAB helped me see it.
I'd previously used Quicken and Microsoft Money in an effort to do budgeting to no real effect. The truth is, Quicken and Money are more about having fancy checkbook registers than they are about helping you identify and conform to a budget. This is where they fail.
YNAB is straightforward and it does one thing, and one thing only -- it helps you create and manage a budget. With careful record keeping, you can do the same thing YNAB does with a pen and paper, or with Excel -- but the software is simple and easy-to-use and readily imports transactions (without fail) from my banking institutions.
I used to worry that the number in my checking account may not be enough to make everything come together. I can unequivocally state that now... I just don't care. Because of YNAB, I absolutely know that there's always money enough for anything that's going to come along.
YNAB has helped me exercise some discipline and do so without significant data entry or long, tortured sessions at the computer. If you're looking for something to help you manage your budget this is the software you should get. Ignore the name brands that simply aren't up to the task.
280 of 292 people found the following review helpful
YNAB Rocks! In a truly frightening kind of "I spend that much money on THAT!" way but in a great way because you can see the impact of your daily coffee habit on your car insurance payment 6 months away.
YNAB allows you account for all your annual bills in 1/12 increments and then when they roll around the money is there to pay for them.
The heart of the YNAB system is a "buffer" which is comprised of last months paychecks in order to allow you to save this months paychecks. You can only live on last months money that you have budgeted into categories beforehand. The premise is that you are never broke and will not have to worry about fluctuations in income if you are living on what you have ALREADY earned.
So the buffer is one full months income. So I'm earning May's income and it is just pouring into my checking and sitting there. Also sitting there is all of April's income. April's income is what I'm paying my current bills with. May is accruing. And I'm budgeting for June's expenses with an eye to leftover April income instead of instantly using Mays.
The way I'm beginning to think of it is: Quicken is a snapshot of yesterday. YNAB is a crystal ball showing me the future.
This is a stand alone piece of software that can download transactions right from your bank so if you use a debit card you don't need to enter receipts for things. I can also say the tech support is the most amazing I have ever dealt with. I sent in a bug report and within 15 minutes had email waiting for me telling me to delete a particular font and then it worked perfectly.
Two thumbs way up but only if you want to see all the leaks in your money handling.
YNAB allows you account for all your annual bills in 1/12 increments and then when they roll around the money is there to pay for them.
The heart of the YNAB system is a "buffer" which is comprised of last months paychecks in order to allow you to save this months paychecks. You can only live on last months money that you have budgeted into categories beforehand. The premise is that you are never broke and will not have to worry about fluctuations in income if you are living on what you have ALREADY earned.
So the buffer is one full months income. So I'm earning May's income and it is just pouring into my checking and sitting there. Also sitting there is all of April's income. April's income is what I'm paying my current bills with. May is accruing. And I'm budgeting for June's expenses with an eye to leftover April income instead of instantly using Mays.
The way I'm beginning to think of it is: Quicken is a snapshot of yesterday. YNAB is a crystal ball showing me the future.
This is a stand alone piece of software that can download transactions right from your bank so if you use a debit card you don't need to enter receipts for things. I can also say the tech support is the most amazing I have ever dealt with. I sent in a bug report and within 15 minutes had email waiting for me telling me to delete a particular font and then it worked perfectly.
Two thumbs way up but only if you want to see all the leaks in your money handling.
142 of 152 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I love the concept of YNAB: spending money from the previous month, planning ahead, etc. I had switched from MS Money to Quicken, and then tried YNAB. Yes, the tutorials are great, but they're really time-consuming. However, I spent the time, took the tutorials, and set up my finances in YNAB.
After a couple of months, however, I went back to Quicken. I found that Quicken also has good budgeting features, and while not in the same vein as YNAB, I just find Quicken easier to use. All of my accounts get automatically downloaded to Quicken, a feature not available in YNAB.
All in all, I just found that YNAB requires way too much manual entry. I might try it again at a later date, when I have the patience to do so.
After a couple of months, however, I went back to Quicken. I found that Quicken also has good budgeting features, and while not in the same vein as YNAB, I just find Quicken easier to use. All of my accounts get automatically downloaded to Quicken, a feature not available in YNAB.
All in all, I just found that YNAB requires way too much manual entry. I might try it again at a later date, when I have the patience to do so.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Little Work Up Front = Absolute Control and Peace of Mind
I was hesitant to try out YNAB. Did I really want to spend the time to work out a budget? Well, I knew what I was currently doing was absolutely NOT working! Read more
Published 1 month ago by PBeth
Great Product
Item was as described, and arrived on time. This is a great product, and very easy to navigate. Makes it much easier to keep track of what you spend. Read more
Published 2 months ago by ryanisonthescene
very complete
I really like the way it was set up to handle just about any problem that could come up when living on a budget. Read more
Published 3 months ago by dclites43
You have to work at it initially, but it is awesome
I purchased this program 18 months ago and had problems getting it setup correctly. My problem was that I could never quite capture a correct starting point. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dov
No more balancing checkbook
Arrived on time works well with my bank accounts was able to download all my transactions without a glitch, now I don't have balance my checkbook since what is in the bank shows up... Read more
Published 4 months ago by garyl
A note to the naysayers
In my personal experience, YNAB works just fine. More than fine! My impression of those reviewers who have negative things to say about YNAB are those who simply haven't given... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Abi Gezint
You really DO need a budget!!!
This software is great! It is easy to use, easy to look at, easy to understand. Once you get your categories set up and filled in, you will be amazed at how easy it is to keep up... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Heather A. Mullholland
Built well, built tough and built to last!
Ah YNAB, in how many ways do I love thee?!
1. I use YNAB only for expenditure and leave my investments/gains/losses out of it. Read more
1. I use YNAB only for expenditure and leave my investments/gains/losses out of it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Proton
No Password Protection
This program is generally a good program based on a good concept. Unfortunately, the developers have chosen not to implement password protection for your financial data. Read more
Published 5 months ago by lakerbob
The other positive reviews are accurate!
I've had the trial version for the past 6 days. I was skeptical that this would provide what I wanted. I've tinkered with this program for 4 of those days. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Stargazer
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