I / We use YNAB - absolutly brilliant for 2.3 reasons:
1. the software is good and frequently updated. it syncs over dropbox and my phone, computers and GF's phone and computer is always in sync and live. you can put PIN numbers ont he mobile software if you wish, but there's no real 'sensitive' data on there - just howmuch you spend on underpants every month.
2.
the mentality it gives you with money - if you're bad with money or bad at budgeting YNAB will correct you and keep you right - it's felxible enough incase there's a sudden change in circumstance but structured enough to keep you on the right track.
2.1
there's no trawling though history - you start now with the moeny you have now and you go forward from this point - doesn't matter if you have been paid, are going to be paid etc - it's all about 'now'
That being said you do have to make projections ' how much fuel am I likely to need between now and when I next get paid' etc. it doesn't matter if you misjudge something - you can just take money out of another catagory if you overspend and in time you will learn how to more acuratly budget for things like fuel and shopping.
2.2
ther'es no messing around wth putting your monies or partners monies in savings accounts etc - you can if you want but basically we have our own acocunts and a joint account (which is only used for perks) and it doesn't really matter where each £ is located - if you have £500 saved on YNAB for an upcoming job then it doesn't really matter who's account that £500 is associated with.
2.3
everythign is now budgeted for. You can have an emergency fund, all of your bills are taken care of and the moeny you have left you can save or spend, or both.
We budget twice a month - on the 1st day of the month and on our payday. We budget for all likely expenses including grocieries, fuel, bills and work expenses - as well as budgeting for spontanious spending or 'pocket money' We also budget monthly for savings goals - we have a holiday savings goal, a 'getting our dog' goal and other on goaling savings such as 'car repairs and tax' - again the money doens' 'go anywhere' it's just assigned a job and that is tracked in the database.
it's a bizzare thing - it seems to allow you to spend more money than you were before but this time everything of importance is covered.
The only downside is the data-entry. I spend a lot - I spend small amounts very frequently and also do most of the buying for fuel and groceries. I use the app daily for inputting my spending and if I lwt it slip I tend to just do it on the desktop software. my GF on the other hand handles the bigger more infrequent spending so she may only have o input a few items a week and most of it is automated anyway. I don't find the data-entry too bad as the software is slick and sort of aware.
the main thing about YNAB is it's not just a spreadsheet, and it's not just a 'how to budget lesson' both of which you can get for free - it's a complete package that's pretty cheap considering and the software compliments the method perfectly. You will get a lot of nay-sayers saying 'just use a spreadsheet' or 'just use micro money' etc but that's not really the point - you can do that if you know exactly what you are doing - but YNAB is better for most people.
