YNAB OCUKers & 2025 Budgeting!

ShadowMan said:
I have been using YNAB for about a year since separating and needing to get visibility of money. Yes it costs money (I pay yearly for £90ish) but I find its features, bank linking, automation of goals and reporting to be great. The app also means I can check on the go if I want to make a purchase. I have multiple pots building for various expenses and honestly in the last 12 months I have managed to save more money than I have before despite having less income.

Yes many will balk at the cost. Many will say a spreadsheet is fine but everyone e works differently. I like it and the low cost I pay gives me the control I need to manage my budget effectively day to day.

I think I have saved far more than I spent on it by having the visibility of what goes where and many times I have made decisions on spending I wouldn’t have without it.

For context I have over 10 years of accounts in Microsoft Money. Have used spreadsheets to track major bills but the detail in YNAB beat them all and it’s a mindset shift in budgeting.
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Makes total sense, I just need the drive to start using it like my wife does :rolleyes:

@ShadowMan makes a very valid point, depending on the condition of your finances you can easily "make the money back" or "make the investment worthwhile" because of the visibility it provides both short and long term, man I remember people even on here using Microsoft Money in years gone by. I'm picking on excel in fairness, but the time my wife has saved is easily worth the cost per year of her time otherwise spent messing in excel. I just lack discipline!

I'm not promoting it as a platform and I'm very interested in the open source solutions flagged earlier which I will check out come renewal time, I'd just previously seen YNAB mentioned elsewhere on OCUK and was intrigued how people have found it long term, in this community. I'm actually a tad surprised how some people have reacted to the concept in fairness :confused: I do see some of the logic because it costs, but investing in something tends to, be that time, effort or money, each to their own. To me managing an excel sheet is like like going back to overclocking in the mid-90s vs using the modern apps available today (all of which take the fun out of oc'ing and make it too easy, but I don't find excel fun so meh :cry:)
 
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But there’s no “managing” an excel sheet. You put the income in (which for most is the same every month) and the spreadsheet tells you how much you have left. See my example I shared above.
 
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LiE said:
But there’s no “managing” an excel sheet. You put the income in (which for most is the same every month) and the spreadsheet tells you how much you have left. See my example I shared above.
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I get that @LiE totally it's a good sheet too, I'm of the kin that would still doubt excel at times, suppose its a confidence thing? I'd much prefer to be able to have the reassurance of knowing people who work in finance day in day out will have had their eyes on the inner workings of it, then relying on myself not making a mess of things - still possible with the tool I'm using, but a lot more difficult to go down that path. I suppose if you lock cells down etc. it provides some confidence on that front.
 
dlockers said:
Because step 1 of actually taking control of your finances is not ******* money up the wall for apps.
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Outright disagree, that's an opinion, like yours.

Ever use a screw driver head in a drill for fixings? Next time, buy yourself a manual set of screwdrivers eh?

Far cheaper than a financial advisor too as I see it, there is far more to it than income - budgeted outgoings = savings.
 
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DHR said:
Outright disagree, that's an opinion, like yours.

Ever use a screw driver head in a drill for fixings? Next time, buy yourself a manual set of screwdrivers eh?
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That makes no sense. A power drill has a functional advantage.

Not only is 90 a disgrace for folk who can't manage money (but can somehow afford 90 more? Lol) it trains very poor behaviour.

It also isn't functionally as rich as excel and can't manage anything more complex than in or out.
 
dlockers said:
That makes no sense. A power drill has a functional advantage.

Not only is 90 a disgrace for folk who can't manage money (but can somehow afford 90 more? Lol) it trains very poor behaviour.

It also isn't functionally as rich as excel and can't manage anything more complex than in or out.
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As do some of applications, free or otherwise :confused: Whether you choose to see that or not again is your decision and opinion.

I agree the annual cost of this particular platform isn't attractive and I'd never suggest anybody up to the eyeballs in bad finance use it, but it doesn't stop reviewing options available via open source solutions like posted earlier.

The cost on YNAB does go against the grain but it's a convenience all the same, it's a tool fundamentally (and community) that helps quickly provide a single pane of glass and needs little maintenance to get a view over everything from a financial point of view across accounts, mortgages, planning etc. every single day if you so wish.

Many small businesses use Xero, they could do everything in a tool such as excel? Are you suggesting they're ******* money up the wall (as you eloquently put it?) as ultimately it's just income and outcome right?

200sols said:
You mean buy an impact driver and mash that head up.
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It's a pet hate of mine @200sols as you can tell :cry:
 
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DHR said:
As do some of applications, free or otherwise :confused: Whether you choose to see that or not again is your decision and opinion.

I agree the annual cost of this particular platform isn't attractive and I'd never suggest anybody up to the eyeballs in bad finance use it, but it doesn't stop reviewing options available via open source solutions like posted earlier.

The cost on YNAB does go against the grain but it's a convenience all the same, it's a tool fundamentally (and community) that helps quickly provide a single pane of glass and needs little maintenance to get a view over everything from a financial point of view across accounts, mortgages, planning etc. every single day if you so wish.

Many small businesses use Xero, they could do everything in a tool such as excel? Are you suggesting they're ******* money up the wall (as you eloquently put it?) as ultimately it's just income and outcome right?



It's a pet hate of mine @200sols as you can tell :cry:
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What's with the false comparisons? Xero is an accounting software suite that saves time and money (reduced accountancy fees, correctly tracking expenses and tax).
 
dlockers said:
What's with the false comparisons? Xero is an accounting software suite that saves time and money (reduced accountancy fees, correctly tracking expenses and tax).
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It's not a false comparison, they just target different markets and both could be done with excel if one so desired. One platform is a business solution, the other is a personal finance solution that you guessed, can save people time and money.
 
I get paid at the end of every month, same amount. I pay out £774 at the start for bills, £700 straight into regular savings, the rest goes to chase for spending (which is always the same). At the end of the month anything left gets put in my ISA.

Chase is good cause it shows where you spent your money each month.

It also helps that I don't like spending money and I really like getting paid interest.
 
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I think the point is OP that it's far better to invest time in budgeting and organising your own affairs than to waste some of your money on getting an app to do it.

Self reliance is a valuable commodity.
 
Disco_P said:
I get paid at the end of every month, same amount. I pay out £774 at the start for bills, £700 straight into regular savings, the rest goes to chase for spending (which is always the same). At the end of the month anything left gets put in my ISA.

Chase is good cause it shows where you spent your money each month.

It also helps that I don't like spending money and I really like getting paid interest.
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Yeah but say it again in web2.0 fonts and visuals

Edit: and ill give you 90 bux
 
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dlockers said:
Hang on, on both you and YOUR wife paying 90 quid a year? :cry:
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Supports 5 people or so per household, multiple budgets and that, also covers a few accounts looked after for vulnerable older members of the family too.

I might have a look at Chase @Disco_P, Monzo was initially useful like that but it'd be interesting to see other offerings.
 
I owned this about ten years ago and it was handy. It then changed to a subscription model and at the time I don't think it supported UK stuff properly.

Decent concept though. Give every penny a job or words to that effect.
 
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