How One Couple Used YNAB to Dine at 100 NYC Restaurants in a Year

What if I told you my husband and I dined at over 100 new restaurants last year—and spent nearly $6,500 on those date nights alone?

Now here’s the real kicker: we wouldn’t take back a single bite.

Matt and I live in New York City, where you could visit a new restaurant for every meal of every day and still not make a dent. With nearly 50,000 restaurants in the city, it would take about 45 years to try them all.

Before we moved to NYC, we were your typical broke college students. We lived in a small college town where our idea of a splurge was Chili’s. Our deluxe treat? A half-priced blackberry Oreo shake at the local burger bar on Monday nights. Our Dining Out category in our spending plan had a target of $45 per month—just enough for weekly McDonald’s or one monthly “splurge.”

Back then, our priorities were saving for a big cross-country move, traveling the world, and getting a dog. We scrimped, we saved, and we fully funded those goals… completely debt-free. Matt was about to start medical school, and we wanted to enjoy a little adventure before the real grind began.

Then, in preparation for our move to NYC, Matt and I had the talk. The money talk. The “burn it all to the ground and rebuild with intention” talk. We needed to re-evaluate our spending habits and reshape our plan for an entirely different cost of living. Spoiler alert: New York City is a lot more expensive than a college town in Utah.

But we didn’t start by talking about numbers. We started with our core values: our time, our shared priorities, and our vision for this new chapter. What did we want to experience over the next four years? How did we want to spend our NYC chapter together? What mattered most to us as a couple?

We decided we wanted to truly experience New York City—the energy, the culture, the food. For us, that meant trying new restaurants, going to Broadway shows, and exploring the city together.

So we rebuilt our spending plan around that. Our Dining Out target went from $45 per month to $400. (Not a typo—we nearly 10x’ed our restaurant allowance!) Our Household Fun Money category also saw a big increase. And you know what? We felt great about it.

Could we cut costs and save more? Could we travel more or grow our savings account faster? Sure. But thanks to YNAB, we feel 100% confident that we’re still hitting our financial goals while enjoying life in the city. We’re investing in our retirement plans, taking day trips out of the city with our dog, staying a month ahead in our plan, and catching a Broadway show on a random Thursday night.

Spendfulness is all about saying “yes, and…” Or even saying an unapologetic no when a purchase or experience doesn’t align with your values! It’s a way of making financial decisions based on what really matters. You can achieve your long-term goals and have fun along the way.

How to make a spending plan that actually works

If you want a spending plan that supports both your needs and your dreams, start here. YNAB's five questions are the backbone of values-based budgeting, a unique spending method that centers your choices around your personal values and evolving priorities.

YNAB’s five questions:

1. What does this money need to do before I’m paid again?
   Get clear on your current spending. Don’t spend important money on less important things.
   
   
2. What larger, less frequent spending do I need to prepare for?
   From car repairs to birthdays to your annual credit card renewal fee—future you will thank you.
   
   
3. What can I set aside for next month’s spending?
   This is the dream: starting the month with all expenses covered by money already in your bank account or checking account.
   
   
4. What goals, large or small, do I want to prioritize?
   Who do you want to become? What are your dreams, hobbies, and passions? How can your money reflect that?
   
   
5. What changes do I need to make, if any?
   There’s no “normal” month. A flexible plan lets you pivot without stress. That’s how financial planning fits real life.

This isn’t traditional, restrictive budgeting. It’s not your typical financial advice either—the kind that can feel oddly judgmental. This is values-based spending, and it puts you in the driver’s seat. It’s how you build a plan you trust and the confidence to trust yourself, too.

Personal finance should be personal

Let’s be real. Some spending doesn’t make sense to anyone else. And that’s exactly how it should be.

One YNABer spent nearly $900 on a Taylor Swift concert ticket. Another has a high-priority category for Pokémon cards. What others might call unhinged, they call joyful. Because when you spend money intentionally, it reflects your real life, not someone else’s idea of “smart.”

Your plan should be based on your financial values, your lifestyle, and your stage of life. If Restaurant Week (or Restaurant Year!) matters to you, your plan can make space for it. If it doesn’t yet, that’s okay. You can change it. That's how flexible spending plans work: they grow with you.

YNAB: A life planning tool for couples

When Matt and I started using YNAB Together, it honestly felt like a relationship upgrade. Suddenly, we weren’t just managing money—we were building something that worked for both of us. It gave us a shared language for all the “you spent what on what?” moments, and helped turn those conversations into actual plans we both felt good about. We even set up our shared spending plan while on our honeymoon. So romantic, right?

At a recent YNAB Fan Fest, I was chatting with another YNABer who mentioned that she and her husband still had separate YNAB accounts. Like, each with their own subscription! I couldn’t help but say, “Wait—you know you can just share YNAB, right?” With YNAB Together, there’s one subscription and room for up to five of your loved ones.

Whether you’re newlyweds, long-time partners, or roommates figuring things out, YNAB Together makes it easier to stay on the same page—not just about money, but about what matters most.

Not sure where to start talking about money with your partner? Take our free Spending Personality Quiz on date night to discover what drives your money choices.

How do you want to spend your money?

When I first moved to NYC, I didn’t expect to feel like such a local. But getting to know this city through its restaurants—table by table, neighborhood by neighborhood—made it feel like home. And honestly, the version of “budgeting” I used to know, the one built on guilt and restriction, would have never made space for that kind of joy.

I'm grateful for this new way of seeing money. For a values-based budgeting approach that helped me say yes to dumplings in Chinatown, yes to date nights on the Upper East Side, yes to financial peace, and yes to building a life that feels fully mine.

Intentional living isn’t about cutting things out. It’s about knowing what you want to say yes to.

Whether it's travel, theater, a dog-shaped popcorn maker, or finally funding your emergency fund, your money should support your joy, your wellness, and your long-term goals. That’s the heart of this approach: aligning your money with your personal values so you can live the life you actually want.

You don’t need to follow every rule of zero-based budgeting or find the “perfect” budgeting app. You just need a system that reflects who you are and how you want to live.

So here’s your invitation:
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How do you want to spend your money? Start funding the life you want wih YNAB. It's free for 34 days!

‍P.S. I can hear you wondering: What was your favorite NYC restaurant? Don’t worry—I’ll tell you and show you. One of our favorites is a Korean restaurant called Cho Dang Gol. The spicy tofu-curd stew was to die for. Look at that spread!