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Ask DN: Best app for money management?

almost 9 years ago from Ari Sawyers

  • Matt HallidayMatt Halliday, almost 9 years ago

    I'd be so lost without You Need A Bugdet.

    17 points
    • Brennan Smith, almost 9 years ago

      Likewise, its not an automated process like the other apps (Mint). It actually makes you really think about where your money is going.

      4 points
      • Miguel Solorio, almost 9 years ago

        I found that while using Mint, my spending habits didn't change at all. And while I spend money today, they may not show up in my Mint account until the next day or two. I love that YNAB forces you to pay attention to what you are inserting into your spending accounts and puts you in charge of your finances. For me this has been the most effective tool that's changed how I spend my money.

        4 points
        • Joe BarberJoe Barber, almost 9 years ago

          I couldn't agree more. YNAB is probably the best value app I've ever bought. Well, next to Sketch I guess.

          I can't wait for their new iPad app.

          1 point
      • Bart Claeys, almost 9 years ago

        I would rather spend my time analyzing charts than manually entering transactions. Maybe works if you don't have many transactions. Plus because you very likely miss a lot of transactions (bank fees, international transaction fees, auto-charges), the conclusions this app is drawing cannot be 100% accurate.

        0 points
        • Brennan Smith, almost 9 years ago

          This is where rule 3 comes into play with their method. http://www.youneedabudget.com/method/rule-three

          2 points
        • Joe BarberJoe Barber, almost 9 years ago

          Firstly, how much time do you really spend analyzing those charts??

          Secondly, with YNAB you reconcile with your bank account every month (I do it every two weeks) to ensure it's staying accurate. I have a SHIT TON of transactions, and nothing has ever helped me as much as YNAB. The bottom line is really that managing your money well takes work. By inputing a transaction every time I buy something, I'm keeping my budget at the forefront of my mind instead of just spending until I get a warning from my app that I've overspent (or almost over spent). Is it slightly annoying to reconcile every two weeks? Yes. But that ~1 hour every two weeks is well worth the confidence I've gained in always knowing exactly how much money I have and what it's being used for.

          1 point
    • Alyssa Pelletier, almost 9 years ago

      +1 to this. It's not the prettiest app ever (especially on Android, though I do think that the iOS version is nice!) but you can tell that they've thought a lot about how to best fit YNAB in with your daily life – not to make it most convenient, but to make it incredibly effective. YNAB is the first and only budgeting program that I've stuck with for more than a month, and with them my current streak is about a year! Amazing product with awesome customer support and resources that just can't be beat. Definitely recommended!

      3 points
      • Paulo PereiraPaulo Pereira, almost 9 years ago

        To add to this, I'd argue that YNAB is not so much an app, but rather primarily a method, and the app simply makes it easier to stick to the method — but it doesn't work without it.

        Put in another way, if you doesn't bother to read what they’ve wrote, YNAB won't do much for you. I’m glad I did.

        8 points
        • Alyssa Pelletier, almost 9 years ago

          Exactly. I didn't really get into it until I got around to watching their free webinar series, then everything clicked. Their support docs & videos are awesome!

          1 point
    • Frad Lee, almost 9 years ago

      YNAB is a theory of money management.

      3 points
    • Matt Dobson, almost 9 years ago

      Does YNAB work if you aren't actually a month ahead on expenses like it recommends?

      1 point
    • Ian GoodeIan Goode, almost 9 years ago

      Same. And if anyone is looking at it thinking it's expensive don't worry, it'll pay for itself very quickly.

      2 points
    • Daniel FoscoDaniel Fosco, almost 9 years ago

      YES.

      1 point
    • Scott OgleScott Ogle, almost 9 years ago

      So based on this recommendation I decided to give YNAB a try and I've honestly been way more impressed than I thought I would.

      Someone made the comment in a thread below that "any app that doesn't automatically download transactions is just a glorified excel document," and I'd actually agree with that on this case, but it's an excel document that really encourages good habits.

      PSA: It's free for college students as well, as long as you're in college.

      1 point