This allows you to tell your money what it should be doing in advance, rather than finding out after the fact where it went. Unfortunately, the software doesn’t enforce this rule, and if you don’t enforce it yourself, your totals will never balance.

Thumbs up to this budgeting tool! After wasting hundreds of dollars on Mint.com, Quicken, and Mvelopes, I gave up on budgeting software programs.

In looking for a good budgeting system, I have tried Quicken, and MS Monkey, and both of them are completely overwhelming. I have no idea how to use them, and do not have the time to learn them.

It also gives you more control over what transactions are imported. My bank overdraft fees were signaling poor record keeping but I wanted more than a Quicken check register – I wanted to easily track my savings goals without resorting to cash envelopes!

I loved the Webinars. I loved the one on ones. I have had no problems with accuracy in any way; YNAB 3 includes an automatic error checking feature that does a good job of preventing the kinds of issues a few other reviewers have reported. I love it, and I won’t be going back to Quicken. This is truly a case of someone who’s first goal was to design a very usable piece of software, and only then decided to make it available for others to benefit from. This time I cruised around and stumbled on You Need A Budget (YNAB). The reports are less than stellar, the pie chart wants to show slices from every category and sub-category, rendering it almost useless. There are so many issues with the logic built into that software. I like to call it functional BARELY! His concepts are not new or unique, but they make sense and he backs it all up with a very user-friendly program. I have to admit that I was a little gun shy about purchasing this software, but it was the absolute best money I have ever spent. Before, I would have to create a budget spreadsheet, then worry about fitting the figures into Quicken, then try to balance my quicken account without any errors. It became time consuming and frustrating to keep up with.

I have tried various budgeting techniques, such as what Dave Ramsey recommends (envelope system), but failed every time. This worked better for me, since you have something that is a little more specific and that you can look at on a daily basis.

Just take the time to learn it and it will be worth it in the end. My only “complaint” is that the reporting capabilities could be better.

The truth is Quicken and Money are more about having fancy checkbook registers than they are about helping you identify and conform to a budget. This is where they fail.

It is the most user friendly software I’ve ever encountered. The YNAB website has comprehensive advice and How-To’s in the forums, VIDEO How-To tutorials AND a user manual in PDF format.

YNAB, where have you been all my life” indoor electric grill.