What Is YNAB?
YNAB – short for You Need A Budget – is a Utah-based budgeting app designed for everyday budgeters. YNAB takes budgeting to the next level by tracking all your expenses and supporting different types of accounts so you can easily differentiate debts, loans, and investments. It offers complete bank synchronization, so all your transactions are automatically entered in real time.
Since its launch in 2004, YNAB has serviced thousands of users worldwide and is constantly expanding its user base. YNAB has partnerships with dozens of banks, so you can seamlessly import your transactions and synchronize your spending, and track them all from the YNAB dashboard.
In this quick YNAB summary, I will go over all the best features of this platform and who is best suited for it. If you want to read a more in-depth analysis, we recommend our full YNAB review.
Pros & Cons of YNAB
Pros
- Import transactions from your bank automatically
- Synchronize YNAB on all your devices (PC, mobile, and tablet)
- Set goals and track them in real-time
- Loan interest payment calculator
- Spending reports
- Free 34-day trial
- Supports 96 of the largest banks in the world
- Available on Android, iOS, and desktop
- User-friendly interface
Cons
- High subscription fee
YNAB Features
Import Transactions Directly From Your Bank
With YNAB you can easily link your bank account and track all your spending and import all your transaction data; the YNAB app is compatible with more than 96 of the largest banks worldwide. If your main bank is not currently supported, you can write a ticket and get in touch with their customer support, and they’ll add it to the list of future partnerships. They’re constantly looking to expand and add more options.
Alternatively, you can enter all your transactions manually and update them as you go; this can be helpful if you want to be more methodical when tracking your spending, and you will still have access to all the other tools like goals, trackers, calculators, and spending reports.
Track Your Progress And Your Goals In One Place
YNAB recently launched a unique way to visualize your progress and track all your spending: progress bars. Progress bars are fully customizable, and you can activate them anytime. Progress bars are available on desktop, Android, and iOS devices and track things like:
- Funding
- Spending
- Overspending
- Target goals
- Account types
All categories have a different color scheme, so you can get an idea of where you are at a glance, and you can add categories for weekly or monthly expenditures. You can also put to work some of the money you save with a platform like M1 Finance, which makes it very easy to invest in expertly-made stock portfolios – and the best part is that you can add and track your investment from the YNAB dashboard.
Stay On Top Of Your Loan Debt
If you’re looking to pay off a loan, YNAB’s Loan Planner will help you save money and time. You can start creating an unlinked account for your loan and filling in the basic information of the loan, like the interest rate, type of loan (mortgage, auto loan, student loans, and more), current account balance, and monthly payments.
After you fill in the basic information about the loan, YNAB will automatically show you an in-depth view of your loan; this includes the total amount you will end up paying, how much you’ve spent so far, and how much you could save if you were to increase your monthly payments. You can then use a platform like Motley Fool and put all your money to work in one of the most established investment newsletters.
Spending Reports
It can be easier to stick to a budget and reduce your spending when you see your monthly progress. With YNAB’s Budget Reports, you’ll be able to analyze your finances, filter by timeframes, and differentiate between categories like rent, groceries, and transportation. Preset filters include:
- By timeframe (This month, Latest 3 months, This year, Last year, All dates)
- By account (Budget Accounts, Tracking Accounts, and more)
- By spending category (Groceries, rent, and more)
- By trend
The Trends report can be especially useful if you want to reduce impulse spending and biases you didn’t even know you had. With YNAB, You can also track your net worth and see your wealth grow every month; YNAB uses data from your Tracking Accounts and all debts to calculate your net worth.
YNAB Fees
- Subscription: $14.99/month (or $99/year)
If you sign up for the annual plan, you will save up to 45% of the monthly fee and pay only $8.25/month.
Is The YNAB App Available On Mobile?
Yes – the YNAB is available on desktop, Android, and iOS devices. The YNAB app has excellent ratings on mobile devices, averaging 4.6 on Google Play and 4.8 on the App Store.
Sign-Up Process
YNAB is available for users worldwide and supports 96 biggest banks across 11 countries. Signing up for YNAB is very quick and won’t take more than a couple of minutes. Here are the steps:
- Visit YNAB’s website
- Click Start Your Free Trial
- Enter your email and create a password
If you sign up using our link, you’ll have full access to YNAB’s 34-day trial for free – no credit card required.
