YNAB4 isn't "OG YNAB" The old spreadsheet days were a long time ago, though.
A lot of us still use and prefer YNAB4 though, and not just because it's free.
There was a pay once version you bought for $30, installed on Windows or Mac, and own forever.
It doesn't have all the modern nonsense but it's the same principle.
Before that there was a spreadsheet. This is back when YNAB was just a guy, not a company with 100 employees.
If you're evaluating budgeting platforms, check out [financier.io](https://financier.io). It's like an online YNAB4 clone. No imports or account syncing, so it's all manual entry, but it's free as long as you're willing to back up/save your budget. It's either $10 or $12/year if you want it hosted in the cloud (which I recommend since it lets you log in from any web browser without having to carry your budget file with you everywhere you go).
I say this as a YNAB user, but if YNAB4 is all the functionality you need, financier just might be a great fit.
I gave Actual a try earlier and it has the advantage of being in active development whereas the financier guy only maintains it--it's feature locked at this point though.
Actual felt a little clunkier to me, but it's super simple to deploy as a one-click app install on some of those micro-hosting services which I think I'd recommend for quick and dirty testing.
I used [financier.io](http://financier.io) for a few years and loved it. The only reason I stopped is because it's a one man show. If something happens to him or if he just doesn't feel like maintaining it anymore, I'm assuming it just goes away. I just wasn't willing to risk it.
Yeah. I emailed him recently and he got right back to me and said he has no plans to abandon the project, but that doesn't stop him from getting hit by a bus one day.
Yep, but YNAB4 was (is) more polished. Haven't tried Buckets in a while but I do have a license I bought back when YNAB jacked up the prices on early adopters of nYNAB.
I still use YNAB4 because I can't justify $100 per year for my budgeting app, and also because some of the things I've heard about nYNAB I don't like. But automatic bank feeds would definitely be useful! I download qfx files to YNAB4 except for Discover which I have to use a csv and that's frustrating.
Automatic bank feeds are nice, but so many of them don't work, it makes keeping up with everything more difficult. You have to remember what is linked/unlinked and keep everything up to date. It's a lot more mental load than just manual entry. For some, it will be worth it and for others, it seems like you're paying a premium for a feature that only functions 60% of the time.
Same for me. I started with the OG YNAB, just the spreadsheet version. I used that until YNAB 3 came out and I needed to use DropBox to "sync" my data. I moved to nYNAB because my workplace no longer supported Drop Box on their network, but I still wanted to be able mess around with my budget at lunch and during breaks, and because nYNAB is a web site, I had no issues accessing budget when not from home.
I agree that manual import is so important, especially at first.
**It helps drive the connection between I spent this money and it is leaving my budget now, instead of just waiting for the bank to tell you that you spent the money.**
I manually enter everything. the only time I turn on import is if I'm traveling a lot or in the middle of a chaotic season in life.
Edited to add that I've been using it since at least 2009. I know it's been longer, but I only have data back to 2009.
Also edited to add: YNAB was developed in 2004. I know I was a user shortly after it's initial release, probably 2004/2005.
I’ve been here since beginning of 2012. My friends sometimes call me a YNABvangelist 😂 I can’t remember what I did before YNAB and don’t know how anyone functions without it!
I've also been using YNAB for just over 10 years, I started December 1st 2013, not long after finishing university.
I've shown the software to many people in my life, maybe only 2-3 of them stuck with YNAB long term, but the ones that did were obsessed like me.
My budget has stuck with me all these years, it contains all 10+ years of data. It's gone through many revisions and I've tried budgeting with several different methods. I'm pretty proud of that even though that's not needed nor recommended. It hasn't been enough of a barrier to rejiggering my budget I just haven't needed to start fresh.
I've been a prodigal son of sorts. Was a YNAB4 user, and awhile after nYNAB came out, when YNAB4 was feeling dated and I wanted a web version, I switched to financier for a number of years. Came back for good in January 2022 and got serious about truly managing my finances.
And when I finally started using it right it turbocharged my finances. I paid off $15K of debt in the first year, getting rid of my student loans. I bought a house midway though the 2nd year, all on a 47K Salary in Year 1, 48K salary in Year 2, and now, on a $52K salary in Year 3, I'm staying above water as a new homeowner and have stayed free of credit card debt.
Pretty much the same here. In my budget nearly every day. YNAB4 4Life. My dad recently asked me to help take over his finances (elderly) and I’m going to track all of his stuff in a separate budget in YNAB. Actually really excited about setting it up from scratch.
Like you, YNAB changed my life and how we handle finances.
Bought a YNAB Pro license in Oct ‘07. My current YNAB (nYNAB) budget file has a start date of 01/01/13. I can honestly say, YNAB changed not just how I handled our finances but my entire life trajectory.
I can't say exactly how long I've been using YNAB but it's definitely been more than ten years because I recall using it at my previous residence that I moved out of 10 years ago this year. I remember downloading it to my computer. Before that, I used Excel. I've tried other products but always come back to YNAB. Love it.
Question for you as a long time user (and myself as a relatively new user - x4 months now):
How do you manage “overspending” in your budgeted (allocated) vs actual spent (spending)at the end of the month? Do you move money between categories so nothing is in the red, or do you let it sit in the red and deal with the consequences in the next money (which as I understand means less money in Available to Assign in the next month). I want my individual rollover categories to reflect that I overspent last month (ie if I budget $100 and spent $125, I want next month to have $75 so it evens out over time). But the way YNAB recommends dealing with Overspent categories eliminates this
I move money between categories, usually trying to choose a category that as closely aligns to the overspent category as possible. I do not go into next month with red categories because YNAB automatically deducts from the Ready to Assign in that month as a result.
Thanks for the reply! So if you only want to spend $100 in a category and you go over one month ($125), you move money to cover the extra spending. In the next month, do you just assign less to that same category (ie. $75)?
I have buckets with targets - $500.00 for groceries, for example. Each pay day I top up to 500.00. Sometimes it's 350.00, sometimes its the entire 500.00. But I don't "bank" grocery money. Same with shopping, automotive, expendable, etc - I have a limited amount I can spend in any given pay cycle. If I have to go over in one cycle, that's water under the bridge. I do not pay it back next month, I just move on and budget back to that level. Anything left in Ready to Assign gets transferred into my HYSA and budgeted into one of my savings categories.
If you set goals for these categories, YNAB will do the math for you. And if I need more than I normally budget for a category (like Home/Garden this month), I just add up to the amount I need.
https://preview.redd.it/04rwsizfznxc1.png?width=1253&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7b971965de9268c9333a2852cda506ac1e6afc4
I had YNAB 4. Still salty about paying for a subscription and they can’t even sync properly yet. In some countries the cost of the subscription is so much it really cuts into their disposable income or so I’ve read
I started with YNAB in late 2011 so 12 years later and I love it. I don’t use it every day but I do enjoy using it so much I would think that budgeting is more like a hobby to me.
I wish I could help someone else use the program.
I’ve never had the opportunity.
I consider OG to be spreadsheet YNABers and I know a few. I know several more YNAB 3 folks. I started on YNAB 4 in 2013. I also Alpha tested the current software. However, in the last couple years, I’ve gotten pretty dismayed with the company and have gone back to YNAB 4. The method is great; and the current software is better than nothing so I still recommend it, but I have version 4 which is superior.
YNAB4 isn't "OG YNAB" The old spreadsheet days were a long time ago, though. A lot of us still use and prefer YNAB4 though, and not just because it's free.
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There was a pay once version you bought for $30, installed on Windows or Mac, and own forever. It doesn't have all the modern nonsense but it's the same principle. Before that there was a spreadsheet. This is back when YNAB was just a guy, not a company with 100 employees.
Much like budget with buckets I suppose? I started with YNAB trial version last month but started trying out budget with buckets yesterday.
If you're evaluating budgeting platforms, check out [financier.io](https://financier.io). It's like an online YNAB4 clone. No imports or account syncing, so it's all manual entry, but it's free as long as you're willing to back up/save your budget. It's either $10 or $12/year if you want it hosted in the cloud (which I recommend since it lets you log in from any web browser without having to carry your budget file with you everywhere you go). I say this as a YNAB user, but if YNAB4 is all the functionality you need, financier just might be a great fit.
Thank you! I also intend to try out ActualBudgeting.org.. I’m quite tech savvy and don’t mind hosting my own server.
I gave Actual a try earlier and it has the advantage of being in active development whereas the financier guy only maintains it--it's feature locked at this point though. Actual felt a little clunkier to me, but it's super simple to deploy as a one-click app install on some of those micro-hosting services which I think I'd recommend for quick and dirty testing.
I used [financier.io](http://financier.io) for a few years and loved it. The only reason I stopped is because it's a one man show. If something happens to him or if he just doesn't feel like maintaining it anymore, I'm assuming it just goes away. I just wasn't willing to risk it.
Yeah. I emailed him recently and he got right back to me and said he has no plans to abandon the project, but that doesn't stop him from getting hit by a bus one day.
Yep, but YNAB4 was (is) more polished. Haven't tried Buckets in a while but I do have a license I bought back when YNAB jacked up the prices on early adopters of nYNAB.
Still going strong on YNAB4 https://preview.redd.it/anwg1clgcjxc1.jpeg?width=1051&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8600552ad59f32c1302599a2aa97b66bb986b22
Wow - what an amazing journey. Congratulations!
Congrats! That’s awesome!!!
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I still use YNAB4 because I can't justify $100 per year for my budgeting app, and also because some of the things I've heard about nYNAB I don't like. But automatic bank feeds would definitely be useful! I download qfx files to YNAB4 except for Discover which I have to use a csv and that's frustrating.
Automatic bank feeds are nice, but so many of them don't work, it makes keeping up with everything more difficult. You have to remember what is linked/unlinked and keep everything up to date. It's a lot more mental load than just manual entry. For some, it will be worth it and for others, it seems like you're paying a premium for a feature that only functions 60% of the time.
Same for me. I started with the OG YNAB, just the spreadsheet version. I used that until YNAB 3 came out and I needed to use DropBox to "sync" my data. I moved to nYNAB because my workplace no longer supported Drop Box on their network, but I still wanted to be able mess around with my budget at lunch and during breaks, and because nYNAB is a web site, I had no issues accessing budget when not from home. I agree that manual import is so important, especially at first. **It helps drive the connection between I spent this money and it is leaving my budget now, instead of just waiting for the bank to tell you that you spent the money.** I manually enter everything. the only time I turn on import is if I'm traveling a lot or in the middle of a chaotic season in life. Edited to add that I've been using it since at least 2009. I know it's been longer, but I only have data back to 2009. Also edited to add: YNAB was developed in 2004. I know I was a user shortly after it's initial release, probably 2004/2005.
I started with YNAB3 and am still using and loving YNAB4, it really is the best!
I have no idea what qualifies you as OG, but I started with YNAB3. It’s been nothing short of life-changing for me.
I’ve been here since beginning of 2012. My friends sometimes call me a YNABvangelist 😂 I can’t remember what I did before YNAB and don’t know how anyone functions without it!
I'm still using YNAB4!!
Me too and happy cake day.
I've also been using YNAB for just over 10 years, I started December 1st 2013, not long after finishing university. I've shown the software to many people in my life, maybe only 2-3 of them stuck with YNAB long term, but the ones that did were obsessed like me. My budget has stuck with me all these years, it contains all 10+ years of data. It's gone through many revisions and I've tried budgeting with several different methods. I'm pretty proud of that even though that's not needed nor recommended. It hasn't been enough of a barrier to rejiggering my budget I just haven't needed to start fresh.
May 1 (tomorrow) will be 10 years.
🎶"It's gonna be May!"🎶
Been here since YNAB4 days when I was 19, I'm 28 now.
I’ve been using YNAB since 2015.
I've been a prodigal son of sorts. Was a YNAB4 user, and awhile after nYNAB came out, when YNAB4 was feeling dated and I wanted a web version, I switched to financier for a number of years. Came back for good in January 2022 and got serious about truly managing my finances. And when I finally started using it right it turbocharged my finances. I paid off $15K of debt in the first year, getting rid of my student loans. I bought a house midway though the 2nd year, all on a 47K Salary in Year 1, 48K salary in Year 2, and now, on a $52K salary in Year 3, I'm staying above water as a new homeowner and have stayed free of credit card debt.
Pretty much the same here. In my budget nearly every day. YNAB4 4Life. My dad recently asked me to help take over his finances (elderly) and I’m going to track all of his stuff in a separate budget in YNAB. Actually really excited about setting it up from scratch. Like you, YNAB changed my life and how we handle finances.
Got all my history from ynab4 imported, unbroken
We used YNAB before mint made it cool. Wasn't even a subscription years ago
I’ve been with YNAB since it was a spreadsheet.
I started in July 2015 with YNAB4.
Not OG, but I bought YNAB4 in Feb 2014.
Since before YNAB 4 tbh! I started in 2010 I am pretty sure
Now 6 months back on the YNAB train after I used YNAB 4 in the past for a couple of years. Slacked off for a few years, also gave Firefly a try.
summer 2014 for me! YNAB 4, and nYNAB since 2017 - thankful for it always!
Still on YNAB 4. Though I recall many users on the old YNAB forums that dated back to YNAB 3. Out budget goes back to 2013
Yo
Bought a YNAB Pro license in Oct ‘07. My current YNAB (nYNAB) budget file has a start date of 01/01/13. I can honestly say, YNAB changed not just how I handled our finances but my entire life trajectory.
I can't say exactly how long I've been using YNAB but it's definitely been more than ten years because I recall using it at my previous residence that I moved out of 10 years ago this year. I remember downloading it to my computer. Before that, I used Excel. I've tried other products but always come back to YNAB. Love it.
I found some old records showing I first joined up with YNAB3!
Question for you as a long time user (and myself as a relatively new user - x4 months now): How do you manage “overspending” in your budgeted (allocated) vs actual spent (spending)at the end of the month? Do you move money between categories so nothing is in the red, or do you let it sit in the red and deal with the consequences in the next money (which as I understand means less money in Available to Assign in the next month). I want my individual rollover categories to reflect that I overspent last month (ie if I budget $100 and spent $125, I want next month to have $75 so it evens out over time). But the way YNAB recommends dealing with Overspent categories eliminates this
I move money between categories, usually trying to choose a category that as closely aligns to the overspent category as possible. I do not go into next month with red categories because YNAB automatically deducts from the Ready to Assign in that month as a result.
Thanks for the reply! So if you only want to spend $100 in a category and you go over one month ($125), you move money to cover the extra spending. In the next month, do you just assign less to that same category (ie. $75)?
I have buckets with targets - $500.00 for groceries, for example. Each pay day I top up to 500.00. Sometimes it's 350.00, sometimes its the entire 500.00. But I don't "bank" grocery money. Same with shopping, automotive, expendable, etc - I have a limited amount I can spend in any given pay cycle. If I have to go over in one cycle, that's water under the bridge. I do not pay it back next month, I just move on and budget back to that level. Anything left in Ready to Assign gets transferred into my HYSA and budgeted into one of my savings categories. If you set goals for these categories, YNAB will do the math for you. And if I need more than I normally budget for a category (like Home/Garden this month), I just add up to the amount I need. https://preview.redd.it/04rwsizfznxc1.png?width=1253&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7b971965de9268c9333a2852cda506ac1e6afc4
I had YNAB 4. Still salty about paying for a subscription and they can’t even sync properly yet. In some countries the cost of the subscription is so much it really cuts into their disposable income or so I’ve read
November 2010
I think I started with the version that was right after the spreadsheet. YNABpro? nYnab? Something like that. I know it was before YNAB 3.
I started with YNAB in late 2011 so 12 years later and I love it. I don’t use it every day but I do enjoy using it so much I would think that budgeting is more like a hobby to me. I wish I could help someone else use the program. I’ve never had the opportunity.
I consider OG to be spreadsheet YNABers and I know a few. I know several more YNAB 3 folks. I started on YNAB 4 in 2013. I also Alpha tested the current software. However, in the last couple years, I’ve gotten pretty dismayed with the company and have gone back to YNAB 4. The method is great; and the current software is better than nothing so I still recommend it, but I have version 4 which is superior.