Usually I give stuff away on this site because someone sends it to me or asks me to review it. Today I’m reviewing a product because I love it LOVE IT and I’m giving it away because I asked the creator if I could have a copy to give away. So here goes the longest review ever with a little embarrassing personal history thrown in.
Dan and I have never been great at budgeting. I was taught to budget and balance a checkbook when I was really young. My dad’s an accountant for the love of chicken and I vividly remember him sitting at the kitchen table paying bills and balancing the checkbook. He and my mom were always careful with money and they taught me to be as well.
Then college hit and I got a bit lax. I learned to only start thinking about money when it ran out and I was always confused. “Like, how come my check totally bounced?” Now, I’m a smart girl but I guess I just decided that I was too smart to waste time tracking every penny. I always did okay, made my rent and tuition payments on time and graduated college with very little debt. I think I only called my parents for a massive bailout package once or twice.
Then after graduation, Dan and I got married. I was supporting him through school, working full time while he held down a part-time job. Suddenly the expenses were shared and the income was more than I’d had before. We weren’t rich by any stretch of the imagination but for college students we were doing fine. We had a TWO bedroom apartment with no holes in the walls and a non-shag carpet. I didn’t think we needed to be strict with money.
I planned on staying home once we had kids but I was nervous about how it would feel to be financially dependent on another person. Somehow I got Dan to agree to let me plan and budget our money. I thought that being “in charge” would help me feel like I had a stake in our finances even though I wasn’t the one bringing home the bacon once I became a mom.
But I never really got a handle on the situation. I tried budgeting software, Excel spreadsheets, using a cash-only budget, where when I ran out of cash I ran out of spending power. I bounced from plan to plan but never found a good fit.
Dan and I have grown to equate money with fear. We don’t know how much we have and we don’t always know how much is coming. To me, unexpected income is “free money” and although we (especially Dan) feel a sense of duty to put it towards upcoming major expenses, we want to spend some for fun too and then end up feeling guilty about it. We don’t really have any debt and we have a good amount of savings but we’re not progressing and it seems like we dip more and more into our emergency reserves because our paycheck didn’t quite cover what we spent the previous month.
We make a good living but feel guilty when we spend money on wants because we don’t know if we should and we’re always worried that we’re not managing things right. Financial lame-ish-ness is one of the major causes of stress in our marriage. I’m in charge so whenever we want to buy something, Dan will ask, “Do we have it in the budget?” and I’ll look down at my shoes and say, “We have it in the bank, I think.” And he’ll decide we probably can’t afford it. But then sometimes I’ll buy it anyway and then we’ll be happy for a minute with a vague feeling of guilt. It’s not okay.
So a couple of months ago my sister called me ranting and raving about the new budgeting software she’s using. It’s called YNAB, which stands for You Need a Budget. I winced at the B-word but decided to hear her out. By the end of our conversation I was convinced that I’d at least give it a try, knowing that they offer a money-back guarantee.
Well, it’s $50 I won’t be getting back because I cannot say enough positive things about this software. It’s easy to use. It lets me feel like I’m controlling my money, not the other way around. It’s intuitive. It’s fast and simple to set up. It’s complex enough to do everything I need it to do without being so confusing I want to beat my head against the keyboard, a problem I’ve had with budgeting software in the past. It’s created for families, not businesses and that’s very apparent, although my sister uses it to track her business expenses as well. It comes with instructional material that focuses on living within your means, building up a buffer so you’re not living paycheck to paycheck and really being accountable to yourself and your spouse.
The company is small and they really want to get it right. They have helpful forums and great response time. When I posted a question, I received a personal email and a fix for my problem within a few short hours, even though it was on a weekend.
I set up all the categories in my budget and then Dan and I have a meeting to go over everything. There has been no tension in our meetings, just sort of a giddy feeling of relief. Relief that we have a plan. Relief that there is enough money to do the things that are really important. Relief that he can finally trust me with our family finances.
We have a category for fun money for each of us and one for clothes. We can’t put a lot of money into these categories each month but the money accrues so next month if I haven’t spent my $10, I’ll have $20 and eventually I’ll be able to buy a whole sweater. In the past if I’d budgeted $10 for clothes, I’d rush to spend it so I wouldn’t lose it. The same thing goes with birthday money. I knew that if I didn’t spend my $20 from Grandma right away, it would be absorbed and end up paying for pull-ups or something so I’d buy a $20 piece of uselessness just so I could spend the money on me.
Now I just add my birthday money to my fun-money budget and watch it grow.
This accumulation feature allows us to do things like set up small budgets for several different projects without needing actual separate accounts. I have an account for haircuts and I budget a third of a hair cut each month so I can go in and have it done every three months with no worry about whether or not we can afford for me to live without split ends.
But if I overspend one of my categories, I’m not penalized for it specifically the next month. If Magoo suddenly outgrows all his clothes and I go $100 over-budget on the kids’ clothing category, $100 is taken from the OVERALL budget the next month. I love this feature because sometimes things come up and I don’t want to feel like if I overspend in an area, I’m toast in that area for months. I like that I can spread out the squeeze.
My favorite thing about it is the honesty. Sometimes in the past, when I’d go shopping, I’d hurry to get everything put away before Dan got home so I wouldn’t have to explain to him what I’d purchased and where the money came from. When he’d ask me a week later if the shirt I was wearing was new, I’d mumble something and he’d wonder if I had some whole new secret wardrobe he’d paid for with our life savings without knowing it.
Now I come home from shopping and show him everything with excitement because I know that he knows that it’s all budgeted and accounted for.
We’re achieving goals. We’re learning to have positive feelings about money. We’re strengthening our relationship. We’re gaining self-control and security about our future.
You should too.
Seriously. Go check out the site. Read what they’re all about. I know I can’t be the only one who finds herself at war with money.
If you’d like to win a free copy of YNAB Pro, and I’d highly recommend ordering Pro, leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw a winner on Saturday night. We saved more than $50 the first week we used it by cutting unnecessary spending and noticing strange charges on various accounts we hadn’t been monitoring closely enough. So even if you don’t win, it’s worth the investment. Good luck!
I’d love to win this. I have been planning to set up a real, honest-to-goodness grownup budget this year, but I haven’t yet.
This may be just the tool for such a job.
What a great blog!! I found it from your “Mom today” blog and have been reading since, and had to (finally!) comment, as budgeting is my HUGE downfall – something I need to do, and have been an utter failure at. This sounds like something I might actually be able to do. Thanks for the link, and the contest (I’m crossing my fingers!)
Whoa, this would be utterly awesome. This could be me and mine, we’ve had the same thing going for the last 4 years, since we made a household together. This could be our story. 🙂 Thanks for putting the words to it!
WE need a budget. Or better yet, I need a budget since I’m in charge of the finances. I know what we have, but I just don’t know exactly what we need. I’m trying to save, but save what and put it where is eluding me. Thanks for the contest and the heads up on this software.
This sounds too good to be true! I would LOVE to have a budget that sounds as painless as YNAB.
I need a budget too. I am exactly like how you describe you were 🙁
This looks like great software. My husband has taken care of the money for the last couple years, but this looks like a way we could both be involved.
I’m so in. We use Quicken. I hate it.
Oh wow, this sounds amazing!
Like you two, my husband and I have struggled with money since day 1. It isn’t that we don’t have enough, just that we handle money in our heads and on paper so differently that conversation is difficult.
Something that has been really tough is that, in our household, I do most of the spending. So when it comes time to reconcile bills, I feel like any blame for overspending rests on my shoulders.
Anyway, this sounds perfect – I’d love to win a copy!
I dread the lets sit down and talk about the money talk especially because Im in charge. yuck. i need this software.
YES, we need this!!!! The start of a new year is a great time to finally get it together!!!!! Thanks
Good jorb!
I, too, learned to balance a checkbook young, and I handled my finances well in highschool and college, but then I got married and eagerly threw the responsibility in my husband’s lap. To be honest being “in charge” of money terrifies me. But even the thought of handing over the reins causes a sick feeling in a the pit of my stomach which, I think, is a combination of guilt, self-doubt, and relief. I’m pretty smart, and I’m really good at organization – it’s not that I’d be bad at it. I’m a worrier, so it both bothers me and makes me feel guilty that I avoid all the money monitoring. My husband has a budgeting system, but I know the vagueness of the cost of our various home projects and free-spending bothers him and it isn’t easy to create definite plans for all those things. It would be nice to see how much we really do spend when we embark on a home improvement project, how much we spend on dvd’s, and how much we could save. I tend to avoid things that stress me out – doctor’s appointments, budgets, checkbook balancing… but I know better. Maybe this program would help.
I would love to win a copy of this. We’ve been working on our budget but could use some help.
My budget so far has been summed up as, “I spend as little as I can”, does that count? My husband claims no, and after reading your post I agree with him a bit more. Please put me in the YNAB sweepstakes!
I would love YNAB. I feel that my husband expects me to magically come up with money whenever he deems something suddenly necessary. I’m a stay at home mom and feel the pressure to keep it together.
Your story could have been my story (except for the doing all right for college students). I don’t balance my checkbook–not because I can’t but because I equate it with this pit of sick fear in my stomach.
*sigh*
So yes, I do need a budget!
I NEED this!
Thanks
This sounds so great!
WOW! You just described our story. We just pay attention when it runs low. I too have tried several different methods and have yet to find one that fits our needs. Thanks for the review.
That sounds great. We need a budget really bad. I would love to stay home with our son, but at this point we are not there. If we could create and follow a good budget plan….I think it would be managable.
I would absolutely love this software. Mike and I have a terrible time with our budget, because we have set up a home-made system that is WAY to complicated to use. So we just don’t. And therefore, we don’t save, and therefore we will probably never be able to move out of this house. I’m glad you found some software that works for you – I’d love to have a chance to see if it will work for me too!
Wow. This post couldn’t have better timing. Our goal has been to track our expenses this month in order to set up a budget. Unlike you, we do have debt that we’re trying to reign in. This sounds great because I’m not a big fan of other accounting software. I want something that my husband can use and like too. I’m in charge of the money, which means I’m usually the one saying we can’t afford it. Then I feel guilty, and we go ahead and get it, even is we REALLY can’t afford it. Ugh. Things are going to improve though!
By the way, is there a Canadian version, or would this work for Canadians? I sometimes find software country-specific.
I, too, need a budget. I just started reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and found a forum (www.llnoe.com) that has been so helpul to my husband and I in the journey. They all speak so highly of YNAB, but I just really do not have the money to pay for it at this time, so would love to win it.
How great it is for you all that your sister brought it up, and that it is working so well for you! Congratulations, and I hope it continues to work for you.
I have an engineer friend who uses quicken. She makes spreadsheets and has a ROOF budgeted in for when she may need a new one in 10 years. She makes me sick. I just want to get our bills paid off. I’ve tried everything. I’ve used Quicken, several different online money managers that are supposed to help budget, and I’ve even spent hours on my own excel spreadsheets. Every time I swear that it will work but it never lasts and I’m left at the end of the month wondering where the money went.
Please help me! 🙂
Even if I don’t win, I’m looking at the site right now. IF you say its a winner, I may have to try it.
We currently have a budget, but it’s one that only my husband really understands. I would love something that’s more “user-friendly” for the whole family 🙂
I’m totally sold. We’ve tried a lot of different things, too, but most of it was just plain too confusing and too much work. This program looks much better.
OMG! This would be perfect! We recently made the transition from military family to civilian family and GAH! We are having a hard time because um we have bills, that he doesn’t get a special allowance for. We have yet to find a budget plan that works for us and this sounds perfect.
I think we all could use some help with budgeting. Add me to your list
I would love this software. I’ve been trying for years to set up a budget and nothing seems to work for us!
Wow. I want this. I need this.
oh awesome! I could use that!
Good for you for finding good solutions, not giving up, sharing, working things out in great ways,being wise…..and sign me up too, ,please. 🙂
Wow – that sounds great. In the past I’ve used more complicated software that just allowed me to track my expenses and not actually create a budget. The software took a while to use and it wasn’t really what I wanted, but this sounds great! I’d love a copy.
wish the mac version was available…
I just spent 20 minutes browsing the site and I’m totally impressed! I would love to have a better plan because like you guys, we have sort of floundered from plan to plan and none fit just right.
I would love a copy of this program. We too have a war with money!
I like this post. Thanks.
I’d love to win this! The hubs promoted me to CFO this year and I’d love to try something different than the budgeting program we’ve been using forever. I’m not an accountant and the easier the system the better.
we do okay with our current budget, but we could definitely be tighter. the software would help immensely! my hubs has some pretty confusing (to me) spreadsheets that make no sense . . . sounds like this software would make life a lot easier!
thanks for the chance to win!
Hi!
I’m a new reader to your blog, and I love your attitude toward being a mom. So far your posts make me laugh and feel happy about being a mom. Thanks.
I would love to get a better handle on things money wise, too.
I would love to get my money organized this year. It would be great to win this program.
I’m on round 295,640 of budget plans. And I’m only 22! My husband and I just had a discussion last night about how we’re going to make our money last and work and whatnot… which includes weekly check-up meeting (mostly for me since I’m the one that shops!). This sounds like it would be perfect!
Thanks for a great review! My husband took over the money a while ago, but since I spend most of it, I think I ought to take it back again. I am not the microsoft money type, so this looks GREAT!
The sooner we pay off his grad school loans, the sooner we can finally get ahead.
Count me in to the drawing.
Thanks!
This sounds great,especially now with the economy the way it is and my husbands hours getting cut at work. We really need to get a hold on things so we can come out of this bad economy and still have our house and cars
This looks really fabulous. I desperately need something more than the giant slush fund that is our budget right now.
This is a great idea- my husband and I are very frugal, but we still let a lot of money fall through the cracks every week. And since we’re not sure if I’m going to be working after baby #2 arrives, we need to start watching those things!
I NEED! Not want, NEED!! So, um, yeah. Pick me!
I would so love to win this.
I am always on a budget – like a diet, I falter here and there.
karen
Ok that looks like something I can do. I’m so bad with money. This might help.
You could be describing my approach to budgeting exactly…always knowing I need to do it, always bouncing from system to system. If this one is good, I’d love to have it.
I am horrible horrible HORRIBLE
Okay, sorry, didn’t meant to submit that last comment! That’s what I get for typing with an 18-month-old on my lap!
I was going to say: I am horrible with budgets! We use Quicken, and the hubby loves it, but it makes my brain hurt. I just started the “cash only” budget plan because then I know, without having to mess with Quicken (and possibly cause the machine to explode in the process), how much I have to spend, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. But there has got to be an easier way! This software looks perfect for someone like me! Sign me up, sister!
Wow, I would love this.
After the expense of adopting and now a years’ worth of out of pocket fertility expenses, having a concrete budget would really help us pay down our debts!
Take care!
I’d never heard of YNAB before, but after reviewing their website it seems like a really great way to manage money and get a handle of finances.
If I don’t win it, I’ll buy it.
What you say about bouncing from plan to plan really echoes for me – time to check out YNAB!
Jesse from YNAB came and spoke at a parenting conference that I worked with. He was FANTASTIC! I wish everyone understood the value (both literally and figuratively) of having a budget. Everyone seems to smirk at the work “budget” kind of like we do when we hear “diet”. But just like a true diet YNAB helps you reform your lifestyle so you can live – and live within your means! I’m a huge fan!
I’d love to be entered into the contest for the Pro version! I’m ready to step-up my game!
me me me me me!
Even my mad rad Excel skillz aren’t helping us in this department!
Wow, I totally need something like this. I’m buying a small business, and I would love to get my own finances in order so I don’t have to worry about that as well as the business.
Hey ,
I love your awesome blog. We could use some help in the financials department. We want to start saving for a baby and we are having a hard time figuring out that saving thing.
thanks for thinking of us readers!
L
Oh, I sooooo need this product! Budgeting is the thorn in my side, the monkey on my back. I would love for this product to work for us the way it has for you. Reading your story was like therapy for me – we are not alone… I long for the giddy relief you speak of!
I’d love to try it!
Sounds like getting the ducks in a row! Something I could definitely use some help with! Thanks for the review and the chance to win!
We are in our 12th year of marriage and we have never set up the “B” word. Never. We are terrible at saving. We NEED to do something.
Me, please!
Ah … the solution to the non-existent budget issue!
Wow, I can so relate to your budget experiences! I have been struggling with an Excel based budget and hate not knowing if we have the money to spend or not. This sounds great.
I was just talking with my husband about budgeting. Very timely post. I will check them out. Thanks!
You sound a lot like me when it comes to me. A lot like a lot of other people. If this worked for you, I need it too.
Wow! This program sounds incredible! We have a very loose budget plan which is: DON’T SPEND MONEY! It doesn’t always work so well, especially because my husband enjoys to spend a little now and again (okay, okay, I do too). We don’t have any debt except for our mortgage, so it should be easy establish a budget. I think it would be really helpful for both of us to be able to understand what our true budget is, and feel that we have more control over our finances. Thanks for sharing your story and good luck!
We definitely need a budget. I use a software system, but I am just keeping track of what we spend. I am going to look into this.
Oh, please, please pick me! This sounds amazing.
Sounds like a great product, and easy to use.
Count me in on this giveaway. I’m in charge of the budget while my husband is working and school. Sometimes it keeps me up at night trying to figure out what ELSE we could cut from the budget. I’ll take whatever help I can get.
K –
Interesting and timely read. We do ‘okay’ + have great ‘plans’, but the one thing we never seem to get in place is “un-anticipated/emergency $$$” so, when the unanticipated event or emergency hits, we slap it on a cc which we promptly pay off, but still.
I’d sure welcome the opportunity to try the YNAB software. Thx!
I seriously need this! We are trying so much harder to be better budget-following people, but we still haven’t found a system that REALLY works for us!!!!
Great post! I’ll check out that budgeting software.
Your story is like a mirror to mine- only my husband & I have vowed to set up a budget for the last three years and never even came close. I think we have been afraid to confront our spending habits, but we have also never found a program I thought I could use without having to take a class or something. Even if I don’t win, I’ll probably buy this program because it looks great!
This sounds totally up my alley …. would love to win it! Thanks for the great giveaway.
I would love to actually have a budget. My husband and I are just starting out, and are already forming a negative association with money, because it’s all so vague…Pick me, pick me!!!
Thanks for sharing! That software looks great. Really.
A budget would probably help to control the anxiety I have been feeling about money lately – anxiety that increases with every news article I read!
This sounds sweet! You are cool! Thanks for letting us know about it. I would love to get my money spending hands on it.
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing. I’m going to go check it out…hopefully, I’ll win…
Yeah, we could definitely use this. I hope you give it to me, but if not I might just go buy it anyway. Thanks for the review!
wow…looks fun!! please let me win i never win anything!! 😉
I would love this. I am trying to build up a nest egg/rainy day fund.
I’m like that too!! If I don’t spend it – it’s going to go towards buying groceries or diapers. I would LOVE To win this, and I’ll check it out even if I don’t win!!!
Souns like a neat program!
I’m also a BYU accounting grad and I’d love to have a look at this software. Love the feature about carrying over unused amounts in a category over to the next month as well as the spreading during the next month if you have to go over budget in a certain category.
I think I NEED this….money is source of frustration for me – in many of the ways you described…I spend most of the money and therefore feel guilty – I hate asking if the money is there to buy something, maybe with this i could be more involved and yet, not pull my hair out. 🙂
Sounds like something everyone could use! I’d love a chance to win a copy too. Sharing this software with my resident Financial Analyst (and husband) too… 🙂
Thanks!
Looks and sounds like a great program. Thanks for the contest!
Um… I need this! Send it my way!
please please pick me!
great testimonial! Sounds like something I could use!
I’ve actually heard about YNAB; it is currently a top-selling product on Amazon in the finance category. I’d love to try it!
This would be a great way to start the transition into parenthood and my salary dropping to 50%. My hubby and I have done “mental math” about how much we will have once I reduce my work time but it would be nice to have something more concrete than that.
Ooooo, I totally have a Love/Hate relationship with money. Could totally use this!
oh man do we need this. i’ll definitely check out their site. thanks!
please please please
I recently finished grad school and entered the work force. student loans are killing me, and I need a better way than my CRAZY excel spreadsheets to keep it all together
Oh my goodness! This couldnt be at a better time, i am 35 weeks pregnant and am going to be staying at home! I have been trying to figure out how to do a budget and not be to freaked out by it. My husband and I would love this!
I’d love to try this out! Nice find.
Sigh, I NEED this and can’t afford to buy it right now. I get physically nauseous every time I sit down and try and do our budget. Ugh!
Great review.
It is time to boot Quicken, hubby loves it, me…not so much. I would love to “see” money in this way. I would love to have this program.
Oh, this is very exciting. We have tried Excell, Quicken and Mint and haven’t been happy with any of them. Glad to know there are other options!
This sounds a lot like my personal budget. My husband is an excel guru. His program works but it does make me want to smash my head into my keyboard. It would be nice if he and I were on the same playing field, instead of master of excel and peon weilding receipts for purple monkeys or whatever.
I love the idea of this! I’ve tried things on my own using Excel but it never worked out and I’d usually abandon it after a week. My husband and I trying to figure out our finances so that when we get pregnant and have a baby I’ll be able to stay home. I think something like this would help us to see if it’s feasible. Thanks for the link! I’m crossing my fingers for the contest!
Count me in for some budgeting help.
Thank you for doing this! I love your blog and am looking forward to my husband finishing school so I can be a stay at home mom! This will come in handy while my hubby squeaks out one more year of college.
I would be MORE than interested in getting a budgeting system that I could handle.
One that doesn’t make me break into cold sweat in the middle of the night. ^_^
Thanks for getting me so excited to save (it seems like our budgeting stories are errily similar) – only to have to wait for the Mac version to come out……oh well life goes on I guess.
This would help our marriage . This would be like sexy underwear to my husband. He would be very turned on to see me standing there with this tool in my hand! showing I was making an effort to understand our money. I wanna win! I wanna win!
Consider me entered in the drawing please! Sounds great!
Wow – this looks great. I am in charge of money by default and in some phases I do a decent job, and in some phases I don’t. I think this would work really well for us.
I’m so glad you were able to delve into my psyche and write this post right out of my head. I mean the before section, not the after. I’m so gonna buy it.
I think this sounds fantastic. Budgets in our house tend to go the way of chore charts. THey are exciting and fun in te beginning, but then it gets too hard or complicated and we just give up….this sounds like a fantastic tool!
Hmmm…budgeting….I need help here. Definitely need help. This sounds like a great program.
wow, we have such problems with money. i’m a stay at home mom and my husband brings in about $600 every 2 weeks. we are struggling bad. i would love to invest in this budgetting software, but i can’t afford it! LOL. I just started my own blog and just started reading yours, I enjoy it very much.
Wow! I’m…okay at budgeting, but the “oh crap, I forgot THIS” just kills me. Especially when we have unexpected stuff like the car dying or a growth spurt for one of the kids. I’m seriously going to have to fit this into our current budget if I’m not as lucky as I’d like to be. ^_^
I need a budget! Help. Sure would be cool to get this program for FREE! Please….grovel, grovel.
We could *really* use this budgeting software. We would love to win it. Thanks for offering give-aways like this!
This could come in really handy right now. Your story sounds a little TOO familiar. 🙂 Hope I win!
I totally NAB…badly!
Thanks for the recommendation!
Wow–I keep our family budget, and we’ve done pretty well, but for some reason, the last few months I have a scary sense of “drowning” when unexpected things like car repairs come up. . .maybe this will help. Thanks for the tip!
I am right there with you with the budget thing, I suck at it even though we both were taught better by parents who are great at it. We need help. Thanks for sharing, I need to check this out since quicken is not working for us.
I was going to use the “I do NAB!” line! DYM, I’ve been reading now for a good 9 months, but I’m very shy about commenting. But I just had to comment now because this seems wonderful! Thanks for all of your lovely writing!
I’ve heard about this software before and was intrigued… Winning a copy would be excellent!
Hi there–
I’m a long time lurker and have never commented before, let alone entered a contest…..even for the Keen’s! The peace of mind that comes from honest planning and discussions with your husband is something we have been/are working towards on a daily basis. It’s hard and an area I feel totally unprepared for. Maybe winning the budget software would help take some of frustration, and yes, anxiety, out of it.
Thank you for orchestrating the give-a-way!
Jennifer
I could use a little budgeting help….. ;o)
This sounds exactly like what we need! Thanks for sharing about it.
Wow, please enter me. My husband and I have been married for four years now, but we still haven’t figured out a workable budgeting system. This program sounds great.
I would love to check this out!!!
Who doesn’t need budgeting help?
A budget…
That is a very foreign word in our home and it should not be.
So sad
I will have to check this software out
Oh please enter me! My husband and I are SO where you and Dan were. I do the money and he always seems to ask me about it right before bed then I lay there stressed and awake thinking about it. Ugh!
This sounds great. I wold love to win your giveaway so I can pass it on to my sister who apparently has the same issues you have been having. She has two kids under three and frets every month about money. I think this is just great!
wow, we could really use this! sounds awesome!
I was just talking to my husband about a budget…I’d love to get this software to help us out!
I need a budget.
This sounds fantastic! I could totally relate to your feelings and questions about budgets and the guilt of spending when your in the dark about whether you can afford something or not. Please enter me in the drawing! Thanks!
Oh, boy, did this post strike a nerve. I am the family CEO, and am still trying to figure out a system. The only hard thing about this will be to wait until this weekend to see who wins before I try out the free software! Thanks for the chance, and good luck with your budget!
This would be a big hep for my family as well i think.There are always areas of improovement!! Thank you and wow,what a great review!!
oldplace.betty(at)gmail.com
i invite your readers to enter my giveaway as well…
Sounds great! I’d love to try it out.
What a great idea. I hope I win the software! I need to be on a budget program very badly!
I think every year I tell myself this is the year I will get the budget under control. I am so excited from reading your blog and the YNAB website. Thank you it’s just what I need.
Gee, I hate budgeting, too! It sounds like this software may change my mind. Pick me!
Wow, that sounds like a perfect budget for me. I always get into trouble with having to spend too much one month, and then not getting to spend in it for a long time
Oh boy, would I love this. I was financially independent prior to getting married and getting preggo. Now, my hubby does it all! We’ve tried other programs, but are sadly using the old “pen and paper” method. I hope I win!
Your budget (or, more specifically, the lack-thereof prior to this software) sounds exactly like mine! I could so use this software!
OYINAB!
(oh yes I need a budget!!
really really badly…)
I SO need this software! We have fluctuating income… and desperately need to learn to budget better.
I may not “need” this as much right now as like, half of the others who commented do, but I think it would be cool to win. Because winning is nice…. er, I mean, because why not get a good start while I’m young? This thing sounds awesome, and that is not a word usually used to describe finances.
This sounds great! You’re right, spreading out overages is a great feature.
your description of the software makes it sound great. very tempting. i’ll wait & see. thanks for the info.
I love it! I want it! I need it!
It looks greats and we really need it (but then again who doesn’t), here’s hoping!
The way you described birthday money either getting spent quickly or being absorbed into the daily expenses pool SO very accurately describes the way things work in our home, too. And the question, “Is it in the budget? Well, it is in the bank.” Definitely us.
We Need You Need a Budget, Pick us!
Looks fabulous! Please let it be me.
This could be just the ticket!
This is just what I need. I can’t seem to get motivated to do the b word and this might just be the push I need.
klbeaver64@yahoo.com
I am a waitress, and my husband cooks in a restaurant durring the day, and delivers pizza on the weekend. He makes enough money durring the day to cover our BILLS, the ones that come in the mail. but we are always broke. This program sounds do-able. It is hard to have a budget when it SEEMS you don’t have enough to cover necessities!
PICK ME PLEASE!
Since I’m comment 161 I’m not reading everything above me. But count me in the drawing, please! I’d love to have a good relationship with money.
Wow, I really, really need something like this. Really.
Wow, sounds amazing. Exactly what I need!
Add me to the list of hopefuls. That sounds like just what I need. I hate that vaguely uncomfortable feeling that money always gives me. It would be nice to know exactly how much there is, where it’s coming from, and where it’s going.
I’ll have to check this out! I need major help in the budgeting department and it’s so important!! Yet I’ve never managed to be successful in this area.
This sounds wonderful! I didn’t even get through the whole post when I realized I wanted to get this software! Please enter me!
Your (past) concerns about budgeting ring some major bells in my head–thank you for voicing them, and for your great suggestion. It sounds like a great product.
Ooh! Pick me! Pick me! You are telling my story too here. I am excited and optimistic as I read your “after” story. I hope to be there too some day. I would give anything to get that giddy relieved feeling during budget meetings. Well, I’d give $50, but hopefully I won’t have too… 🙂
I can definitely relate about the stresses of not having a budget. I would love to win this, but even if not, thanks for the great info!
Please enter me in the contest as well. I realized that I need to establish a budget because I have no real idea where much of my money goes. This program sounds like it would resolve that problem and help me create some sort of savings.
I would love to win a copy of this program because being a substitute teacher I don’t make a lot of money so it’s hard to consider spending the $50 on the program, but your review is so great that I probably will end up buying it anyway if I don’t win.
Budgeting is hard.
(whine whine)
Sticking to a budget is even harder.
(whine whine, snif)
I guess I could use some help.
I would love to get this, but it just isn’t in our budget…=)
Thank you for this detailed review! I really needed to know from someone who uses the product how it is different from other personal finance software. I would love to own a copy!
Sounds good! Managing money is hard….. I’m all for something that might help make it a little easier. Thank you for the info and an entry into the giveaway!!! Hope I win, cause we could certainly use some help around here!
I’d love to win this! I’m gonna go look at it some more!
I love reading your blog. Thank you for sharing. The first time I read it we had learned about this beautiful song in relief society, and the next week I was reading your blog only to find out that your very special grandfather had written that very song. Thank you for sharing about your depression and helping the rest of us feel a little more real. If there is one thing I have NEVER been able to wrap my brain around it is budgeting. Since we have been blessed with 6 beautiful children I feel a great need to learn this skill if for no other reason than to pass it on and make their future lives a little easier. Thanks for sharing!!!! 🙂
Oh I hope you pick me. I so need a budget. 🙂