Dan Cayer
Content Marketing Writer at YNAB
Dan Cayer is the writer and voice behind YNAB’s newsletters, Loose Change, Round Up, and You Need an Update. He’s also a regular contributor on the blog, where he’s written about how financial trauma from generations ago can still affect partners. For years, Dan toggled between trying to ignore money and freaking out about it. Through YNAB, he’s come to see that how we spend our money is not simply an accounting question. All the effort and time we put into earning or saving, how do we want to spend it?
He’s on a mission to help people feel less ashamed about money; life’s too short. Off-screen, Dan can be found tinkering with his slow cooker, bicycling in the Hudson Valley, and wrestling with his two daughters.
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Featured Articles
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How Family Histories Strained Our Finances
The relationship your parents (and their parents before them) had with money affects yours. Overcome your family's history with finances.

Short-Term Financial Goals: 4 Steps to Get What You Want
Short-term financial goals help you learn to love how you spend and build momentum toward changing your financial situation for the better.
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Why Is Personal Financial Advice So Mean?
Why is it acceptable to get your money advice delivered with an insult or an eye roll? My car mechanic and my doctor don’t talk to me that way. My lawn guy isn’t performatively banging his head into a microphone when I tell him my grass is underwatered.
All articles by
Dan
How to Combine Finances After Marriage: A Practical Guide for Newlyweds and Beyond
PSA: Money worry doesn't have to be part of married life. Learn how to combine finances after marriage, get good with money together, and build a spending plan together using YNAB.
How Not to Have Your Next Gift Backfire
The best gifts make life a little easier. Give three months of YNAB and help someone you care about feel calm, confident, and stress-free with their money.
Remind Me Why I Have a Job...
From rent and groceries to tennis matches and future dreams, every dollar has a job. Dan’s reflection invites you to pause and ask: why do you earn—and how do you really want to spend your money?
The Problem With “Just Earn More”
Tired of waiting for a worry-free financial future? Dan shares how to ditch the “just earn more” mindset. Find peace now by embracing what you have and making intentional choices—no raise required.
When Basic Personal Finance Advice Steers You Wrong
What does mindfulness have to do with money? Dan found the answer lying down in a meditation hall—and it changed how he spends, plans, and lives.
The Hidden Cost of Convenience: Why “Buy Now, Pay Later” Could Be Hurting Your Financial Health
DoorDash and Klarna now let you finance a burrito. But at what cost? Discover what gets lost when there's no friction to impulse buying, and how you can create intentional spending habits.
When Everything Costs More, What Do I Do?
You can’t control tariffs and rising prices. But with YNAB, you’ll get clarity and peace of mind to ride this turbulent moment with confidence.
Burning Man, a Bus, and a Beehive: Love the Way You Spend
Awareness. Intention. And the occasional burst of spontaneity. Discover what spendfulness truly means—through the lens of a Burning Man story.
Don’t Separate Money and “Life”
You work too hard to not care or appreciate how you spend. Dan weighs in on how YNAB breaks down is the artificial barrier between money and the rest of... you.
We’re a Spendfulness App Now. We Always Were.
It doesn’t feel like we made up spendfulness, it feels like we found it. Dan breaks down what it means for you (spoiler: a life well spent).
ADHD Money Management: How to Tear Down The Wall of Awful
Struggling with ADHD and money stress? Dan shares how to break through the barriers keeping you from financial clarity and peace of mind.
How to Quit Should'ing on Yourself About Spending
The time is nigh to let go of unrealistic expectations and embrace your true spending habits. Discover how to find joy in intentional, guilt-free choices.
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