Is Your Spending a Leaky Furnace?

This post is an adaptation of YNAB's fan-favorite newsletter, Loose Change. Sign up for more where this came from.

There’s a huge inefficiency at work with your spending. It has nothing to do with maximizing your credit card points. It doesn’t even have to do with the way you occasionally bring history to life by writing personal checks. No, it’s more fundamental—and outdated—than that.

Think of your spending as a furnace. In goes your paychecks and out comes, well, whatever you want: a two-bedroom apartment in Queens, tickets to the school play, contributions to your 401(k), snacks at the gas station. Your spending decisions end up shaping what kind of life you have.

This isn’t a tirade against gas station snacks (I’d never). But if your spending has the potential to move your life in a certain, more desired direction, wouldn’t you want that?

You’d want to know that when you’re standing at the edge of a spending decision, about to toss in a paycheck or part of one, that you’re going to get back some true satisfaction or delight. Or let’s say you’re spending money on something essential and un-fun—treating an ongoing illness, for example—wouldn’t you at least want to give your money freely knowing that, yes this sucks but at least you can do it? At least you can take care of yourself or someone else without dreading the consequences. Sure it would have been nicer to use that money and buy a bicycle or stay at a fancy hotel, but at least you were able to deal with the emergency without stressing about what would happen to you next.

The way many people experience spending is that it’s a fraught process, full of indecision and second-guessing. It’s 2025 and you can pay for things with your watch but when it comes to how spending feels, it’s like a 19^th century dystopian British novel in which ranks of characters toil all day, shoveling coal into underground furnaces which produce more smoke than heat. How we’ve come to accept that you can feel so little from so much spending.

Imagine though that your spending furnace was state-of-the-art—not leaky or dirty—such that the paychecks you put in were transformed directly into whatever you wanted: adventure, security, or generosity.

This furnace is not Star Trek fantasy; the technology exists today. This is what YNAB was doing back in the mid-2000s with a spreadsheet (and a BlackBerry to check AOL Instant Messenger). That’s still what we’re doing, both with our ever-evolving app and our support team that removes obstacles to spendfulness every day for all sorts of people. We help turn your money into whatever you want it to be.

So, what do you want it to be?

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Good With Money: A Look at Real YNABers

In a story sent ‘round the world, Kirsty shared how she’s been navigating post-divorce and what the New Zealand women’s floorball team is up to these days.

Kirsty is a fundraiser for a soup kitchen in New Zealand and said that YNAB gave her the financial insights she needed to get a mortgage after divorce. She is “now able to survive on a part-time salary co-parenting my teenage twins.”

"YNAB has given me the ability and confidence to buy a house, make some big purchases, and even change jobs post-divorce. It's helped me educate my now teenagers that while we don't have much money we can prioritize what we want to do and save for it. They now ask how much is in a certain category if they want something!

Right now I'm in Latvia on my way to Finland to watch my daughter represent New Zealand at the Under 19 Women's World Floorball Championships. Using YNAB meant I wasn't overwhelmed by all the payments and costs to get her to Finland. Prioritizing each month has made it easy.”

‍What tradeoffs do you make to prioritize the important stuff?
‍“I don't put much into my own clothes, books, going out funds, so I can prioritize trips, concerts, and comedy shows.”

‍What category in YNAB most represents your values?
‍“It's important to help others, so my charity giving is important... especially as a professional fundraiser, I can't ask people to do something I'm not doing.”

‍How has it affected any of your relationships?
‍“My ex-husband uses it now. It means he understands my money situation without me having to give any details... I can tell him that a category is empty for example.”
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‍Top financial dream?
‍“Be 6 months ahead AND have a substantial emergency fund and a growing retirement pot. #dreamingisfree”

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