So, this month’s budget is going to be messed up… I downloaded a trial version of the YNAB software, and am trying it out this month. I’m really hoping that it helps us stay on budget and track our expenses throughout the month to know when we have gone over…
However, because I’m putting in all our accounts for the first time in the YNAB software, it thinks that all of our savings are income for this month, and I’m having to budget for the “funds” that already have some sort of balance in them… So it looks like we are making a lot of money this month… also, because I have put together this budget and the month of April has already started, the balances and such already include some expenses, so those may be missing when we do the review at the end of the month (I don’t really want to bother with putting in past transactions…)
The good folks over at You and Me Make Cents have done their March budget review and April budget preview using a screenshot of the YNAB software, and I have decided to copy them… I hope that is okay…
So without further ado, here is our “budget” for April:
Things to note about April… It is the fiance’s birthday in April, along with a few other birthdays, so I’ve had to up the spending in the gifts department… (that’s in Misc.)
I have only put a small amount in the budget for groceries and the like… well, small compared to the amount that we spent in March on groceries and eating out…
I am planning on hosting a party in April (near the end of April), so I have added some decorations and party supplies to the “household” budget… Not sure if that should really be in the “Fun” budget…
So my one month trial with YNAB starts… wish me luck. I think I’ll need it. If it works out well I will budget next month to pay the $60 or whatever it is to keep the software…
Do you use a budgeting software? Is it YNAB? What are the pros and cons of the software/spreadsheet that you use?
**Edit: I have decided that I don’t want to share my actual numbers on the blog, so I have removed them from this post… Sorry if it makes it a bit confusing or unreadable… Hopefully it isn’t unbearably so.
All-Round Better Me 
I’ve heart of YNAB and I’ve always wanted to try it. I’m currently using Mint and it’s just not working for me. My boyfriend’s birthday is in April and our anniversary is in May so I know what you mean about the gifts, but I’ve been buying little things and setting money aside so I’m all set for his birthday next week and I don’t think we’re going to exchange gifts for the anniversary, I’d rather just do something together instead. Have fun though with all the birthday events this month!
LikeLike
I didn’t like the idea that Mint HAD to have my banking information. With YNAB, I tell the software what I want, and it doesn’t have access to my accounts… requires a bit more input than maybe Mint might require, but so far (I realize I am only 5 days in to April) it has been great. I’m already enjoying looking at the numbers and the graphs.
LikeLike
I’m interested to hear how you like YNAB. I’ve been looking for a better way to track my progress. What I don’t like about Mint is that you can’t make your own categories or delete the ones they have in there that I’ll never use. For now, I’m an excel kind of girl–but open to suggestions!
LikeLike
I will definitely do a post at the end of the month on the results on how YNAB works for us, and if we decide to pay the $60 to license it… but so far it has been great. I have fun looking at the numbers and it does pretty much what I had started coding in Excel, but without me having to do any work or error checking. Plus, both my fiance and I have the app on our phones now, and they all sync up with the software on our computer, so it is so easy to keep up to date. With Excel, I was always waiting until the end of the month to see how we did, which doesn’t help curb spending really…
LikeLike