

You can customize budgets for each category of your shopping (such as food, clothing, entertainment), set alerts for when you’re approaching your limit, and view in real-time how much you are spending daily. Spendee will help you stay within your set budget.

After that, I'll put extra toward credit card debt. Instead, I'm redirecting that money to make sure I know my essentials are covered for next month (YNAB encourages users to build in a buffer month, so that you're living off money that came in last month). My spending on dining out and extracurriculars is essentially nothing right now, so I've reallocated those funds. I'm pausing payments on federal student loans and tax debt for the next few months, so I set my goal for those categories to zero. Given the financial uncertainty right now, I've adjusted mine. I've only been budgeting for three months, but I've learned that a budget has to be a living document. Knowing that I've already planned ahead to keep my family fed and housed helps me sleep better at night.
#MY MONEY PRO REVIEW SOFTWARE#
I had big plans to use the software to help me pay off credit card debt once and for all in 2020, one of my financial goals for the year.Īfter that, I assign money to less important categories, like piano lessons (via I was very excited at the idea of seeing where every dollar was going, and prioritizing my spending.
#MY MONEY PRO REVIEW TRIAL#
This helps you plan for the future - kind of like an emergency fund.īy the end of my free 34-day trial of YNAB, I was hooked. You're supposed to calculate all your annual expenses, including one-time expenses like holidays, birthdays, and car registration, and budget a little bit for them each month. The other important premise of YNAB is to give every dollar a job. For the first time, I feel like I have a budgeting tool that works well for me as a freelancer. With YNAB I don't worry about that, since I'm only budgeting money I already have. In previous budgeting attempts, I would get thrown off if a client paid late and derailed my plans. Unlike employees who get paid weekly or biweekly, I never know when my next check is coming in. That fixed a huge budgeting problem for me: the unpredictability of my freelance income. You Need A Budget (YNAB) allows you to budget only with the money that has already come in. However, all that changed when I discovered You Need A Budget in January. I'm a type-A personality and love being in control, but for some reason I never fell in love with budgeting. Why I started budgeting with You Need A Budget

Right now, it's helping me take my coronavirus anxiety down a level, by giving me a realistic way to manage my money during the crisis. That's why I'm more grateful than ever to be using a budgeting app. With the coronavirus pandemic affecting many of my corporate clients, I have no idea what the coming months will mean for my finances. As a freelancer, my income is variable at the best of times. If you're not worried about your job security or frantically trying to figure out unemployment, you might be panicking over your investments. Right now, almost everyone is dealing with lots of financial uncertainty. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept our
