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Change your life with four rules

Sound cliché and overdramatic? Normally we might agree, but this is the kind of feedback we hear from our customers every day. (Yes, every single day.)

YNAB is different from anything you’ve tried before.

Ready to break up with your spreadsheet? Tired of tracking your money in an app without seeing any results?

The YNAB Method

Our four rules will change your financial future forever.

The YNAB Method is a proactive, flexible, and empowering system that shows your money who's boss (hint: it's you). Those money mysteries? A thing of the past. Your financial goals? Get ready to meet them.

1

Give Every Dollar a Job

What do you want your money to do before you get paid again? Assign each dollar a job and create a plan for your spending.
2

Embrace Your True Expenses

Non-monthly expenses like car repairs and holiday shopping are a fact of life. Break these down into manageable monthly chunks.
3

Roll With the Punches

It's a spending plan, not a spending prison. When life changes, change your plan! No guilt necessary—it’s your money.
4

Age Your Money

As your awareness grows, you’ll start spending less. Eventually, you’ll be paying bills with money you earned 30+ days ago.

how we’re different

YNAB vs. budgeting apps

Sure, you’ve got pie charts showing that you spent an obscene amount of money in restaurants—but you’ve still spent an obscene amount of money in restaurants. This is why you’ve never heard anyone say that Mint changed their life.

YNAB is future-facing. You’ll know where your money is and what it should be doing because you’ll be following the plan you made. Decisions get simpler and easier.

1
Align your spending with your priorities.
2
Stop fearing infrequent or unexpected expenses.
3
Share your subscription with five of your favorites.
A photo of Eric

how we’re different

YNAB vs. “set it and forget it” personal finance apps

There are a whole slew of apps built on the premise of doing everything for you—and at first glance, this may seem appealing. But if the main selling point is that “you won’t ever have to think about it” or “you won’t even realize you’re saving,” nothing about your finances is really going to change.

YNAB helps you face your finances with eyes wide open. Even if you don’t like what you see, you’ll know your next step. And then the one after that. You’ll never look back.

1
Create a flexible financial plan that’s easy to follow.
2
Simplify saving with more intentional spending.
3
Set targets to plan for upcoming expenses.
A photo of Teisha and her partner wearing YNAB hoodies

how we're different

YNAB vs. your spreadsheet

You should know we’re big fans of spreadsheets over here. And we are sure yours is particularly amazing. But if you aren’t using your spreadsheet to make spending decisions because it isn’t always up-to-date or you and your partner aren’t always on the same page because only one of you can access it, YNAB might be worth a look. After all, we started as a spreadsheet…and then spent hundreds of thousands of hours making it more functional so you didn’t have to figure all of that out.

YNAB lets you operate with current information and makes it easier to manage money with a partner. Anyone with a phone has access to the info, all the time—no excuses.

1
Real-time updates make it easy to trust your financial plan.
2
YNAB’s integrated loan planner helps demolish debt.
3
Spreadsheet formulas are tricky—YNAB does it for you.
A photo of Mira and her husband