“Get rid of all your hobbies, stop eating out, cancel Netflix, sell your (insert your fandom here) collection” - this is the sort of advice that makes people not want to budget People are people, not robots, and life is tough, and we need things to enjoy and look forward to
@@candy2325 I don't think life without any fun or frivolity is worth living. Ever. It is genuinely as simple as that. What I like about YNAB is that they do, on the whole, grasp that. I was brought up with the view that you never spend any money. Ever. On anything. Then you die with a pile in the bank, which has never benefited you or anyone else in any way at all. It made me think that budgeting was just a waste of time and that there was a binary choice between having a budget and having a life. One or the other, never, ever, both. It made me want to never budget. Full stop. When my family complained I didn't understand money, all I ever heard was that *they* didn't understand life. As harsh as that may sound. However, I don't believe that my family's approach to money has ever increased the sum of their happiness by even a single iota. YNAB, because in general, they take a less self-righteous and less ostensibly pointless approach, has got me thinking again, I must admit. I won't cancel Netflix or sell my personal fandom collection just now. In fact, I am currently waiting for an item to arrive and be added. The extra money gained by not collecting would not compensate for the decreased quality of life caused by not collecting. However, I *have* just signed up for the 34-Day Challenge, so I will see how convinced I am by the end of that.
@@debbie1483 Maybe. We’ll see. Some of the “fun money” budgets, like £5 a month, just seem absurdly unrealistic and unworkable to me. Not even worth consideration. But we’ll see.
Good luck on the 34-day challenge! I've used YNAB for years. Redid my budget like 3-4 times. Took a while to get used to. But it's absolutely essential for me now. It just helps me see where my money is, and what each dollar is doing. So I can say "hey I spend $14 on Netflix and $350 on groceries, huh." And do things like "I want to go on vacation next year and I need $5000, let me put money away every month" and actually see the tradeoffs I'm making as I go. "oh, looks like if I want to stay on track with my trip savings, I need to stop eating out for the rest of the month." and then you can choose if eating out is more important that month than the trip 👍
We went through this process a couple months ago. Now we're in the process of selling and buying a house. We had a huge house with a high payment. Kids are grown, house was too big now, among other reasons that make sense for us, so we're going to have a 25% cheaper payment, no pool to maintain, much less lawn to mow, and pay off a credit card with some of the money we'll get from the sale. We will save about $15k a year by moving.
My husband and I decided on taking my SIL up on her offer of house sitting and in return we’ll be able to save over $2300 a month towards hopefully purchasing a new home this year. Originally we were going to say no, but as we looked at how much progress we could make and the help it would be for her it just made sense. Love YNAB for helping us make this decision!
We moved last year: more expensive but closer to public transport, so we got rid of our car and now use transport passes and the occasional rental. It still works out to be far cheaper and we don’t miss it at all!
Interesting thoughts! I always avoid the harder thing I don’t understand like insurance negotiation or asking for a better interest rate on my credit cards. The strongest things keeping me in debt are the ones I’m most afraid to tackle. 🧐
I started renting out my spare bedroom after I realised the small budget items weren't getting me anywhere. I started with a 3 month lease as a trial because I was scared I'd hate it but it's been four years now with different roommates and it's been the best decicion ever!
My favorite change has been car insurance! I have always been looking for cheaper options with no luck, but recently decided to check policy details and realized that I could change some options up since I grew my emergency fund! Thanks YNAB!
I also watch the Caleb Hammer show and it would be phenomenal to see the participants apply their new budgets on YNAB and see them get coached and trained to use these budgets. I would watch or listen to this podcast all day everyday!
He’s great. He’s like a millennial Dave Ramsey in how he calls people out for nonsense on their spendings. He has some great ideas on how to manage stuff. Give him a watch. His shorts are what drew me in.
@@ladysun7965 That would honestly be a great idea. He could even work to set up the people with the 1 month YNAB trial, and then review their progress in one month in a follow up check in episode.
Self insurance is my new challenge. I need 13k to get me fully covered across all personal insurance policies (health insurance, income protection waiting period) and general insurance (home, car, caravan) so I’ve set up that sinking fund; already 75% of the way there. Having owned a house for 30+ years and holding insurance cover for that time I face the fact that I’ve only ever claimed on that policy maybe once (for less than $2k). I have enough financial stability that means that I can select the highest out-of-pocket (OOP) level offered, to lower my premiums across all insurance policies, while I self insure for the OOP. If I was to make a claim I could always look to lower the OOP if I wasn’t prepared to top back up my OOP sinking fund. I’m hoping it continues to be a rare event and if it happens, I’m still covered. Consider that even if all insurance policies needed claiming at once, the OOP covers them all. I’ll save this money on insurance premiums year after year; having set up the sinking fund once and calling all the insurers just once - not to negotiate - just to increase my OOP. It’s a no brainer (once you embrace the mindset change)! Money to the insurer is gone! Money in my OOP sinking fund is likely to remain my own. And paying the insurer instead doesn’t make a ‘claim event’ less likely to occur😳 (that’s the hard truth even if you do face a claim!!)
Using YNAB has been a game-changer for me, especially as someone with Adult ADHD! The impact it's had on my financial well-being is remarkable. One of the first major differences I noticed was the freedom to set aside money each month for guilt-free spending. As someone who would splurge on lavish gifts for others but feel immense guilt over treating myself to a simple $25 summer dress (because I didn't have one) this was revolutionary. It's a liberating feeling when I label something as 'guilt-free spending,' I can smile without any shame because it's already accounted for in my budget. I no longer have to agonize over every purchase or worry about the consequences. Instead, I get to focus on enjoying life to the fullest. But here's the amazing part: guilt-free spending has had unexpected positive effects on my overall financial health. I find myself motivated to put extra money towards paying off credit card debt, saving a little more, or making larger payments on loans. And the best part is, it doesn't take away from my ability to have fun, enjoy unique experiences, or invest in myself. Thank you, YNAB, for empowering me to take control of my finances and find balance in my life. It's truly been a life-changing journey!"
Decided on making the move from a 794 sq ft apartment for about $1050 to a 611 sq Fr apartment for about $925 in July. Same apartment complex. Not much of a price difference, but I know it’ll add up over time.
We are rapidly coming to the conclusion that dropping the kid's breakfast & after school club in favour of an au-pair is going to be a massive money-saver. We're currently paying 2,500+ Swiss francs per month (around 2,500 USD and EUR at the time of writing this) for this wrap-around childcare and we aren't even really happy with the service, it's a case of needs must. We have a studio apartment attached to our house which had served as guest accommodation (we're in Switzerland but I'm British and husband French so family are abroad), but putting an au-pair in there will save us in the region of 1,800 CHF per month, so we're going to do it....
I'm in the camp of "those lattes DO hurt you financially." Some people are like "Oh a $6 latte isn't going to break you." Yeah actually it is. It's also not just one latte. It's most likely one every morning, five days per week, and then multiply that by four for the month. You end up spending $120 per month on just lattes. Yeah if you're making good money then go for it. But if you're making just, for example, $2,000 per month then that $120 is a large chunk of change compared to the $2,000 per month in income.
I think it’s less about that specific expense and more about the habit of going without, if not giving in to every little “I want this now” impulse. It’s hard to quantify how much that costs us exactly, but it’s a lot if it goes unchecked
We use a firestick and get everything for free. Even movies in theaters, live tv and sports, and PPV. Going on 6 years and glad we dropped cable! Just have the internet bill
While that's generally true, there are many tips and tricks you can use to reduce your tax burden a fair amount if you plan ahead. For example, finding ways to earn income that will be taxed at long term capital gains rates instead of as ordinary income, or using bunching to get the best tradeoff between standard deductions and itemizing.
Sure but high taxes occur because of high income. Like, taxes are evil blah blah but, when it comes down to it, the way to pay less taxes is to make less money. (And/or illegal/immoral stuff) so, why not focus on the things you can do something about.
YNAB's YT channel is one of the best examples of modern content marketing - this is just a *great video* about personal finance. Good job team!
Agreed! I do content marketing for a living, and I want to show this channel to allllllll of my clients.
“Get rid of all your hobbies, stop eating out, cancel Netflix, sell your (insert your fandom here) collection”
- this is the sort of advice that makes people not want to budget
People are people, not robots, and life is tough, and we need things to enjoy and look forward to
I get what your saying, but I think the take away is maybe just start with 1 thing, then maybe another after you see the diff. :)
I like to have a balance in a healthy way. I still pay my debt and save while setting aside an allowance for small spending and fun.
@@candy2325 I don't think life without any fun or frivolity is worth living. Ever. It is genuinely as simple as that.
What I like about YNAB is that they do, on the whole, grasp that.
I was brought up with the view that you never spend any money. Ever. On anything. Then you die with a pile in the bank, which has never benefited you or anyone else in any way at all. It made me think that budgeting was just a waste of time and that there was a binary choice between having a budget and having a life. One or the other, never, ever, both. It made me want to never budget. Full stop. When my family complained I didn't understand money, all I ever heard was that *they* didn't understand life. As harsh as that may sound. However, I don't believe that my family's approach to money has ever increased the sum of their happiness by even a single iota.
YNAB, because in general, they take a less self-righteous and less ostensibly pointless approach, has got me thinking again, I must admit.
I won't cancel Netflix or sell my personal fandom collection just now. In fact, I am currently waiting for an item to arrive and be added. The extra money gained by not collecting would not compensate for the decreased quality of life caused by not collecting.
However, I *have* just signed up for the 34-Day Challenge, so I will see how convinced I am by the end of that.
@@debbie1483 Maybe. We’ll see. Some of the “fun money” budgets, like £5 a month, just seem absurdly unrealistic and unworkable to me. Not even worth consideration.
But we’ll see.
Good luck on the 34-day challenge! I've used YNAB for years. Redid my budget like 3-4 times. Took a while to get used to. But it's absolutely essential for me now.
It just helps me see where my money is, and what each dollar is doing. So I can say "hey I spend $14 on Netflix and $350 on groceries, huh." And do things like "I want to go on vacation next year and I need $5000, let me put money away every month" and actually see the tradeoffs I'm making as I go. "oh, looks like if I want to stay on track with my trip savings, I need to stop eating out for the rest of the month." and then you can choose if eating out is more important that month than the trip 👍
Like Ramit Sethi says don't focus on 3 dollar questions, focus on 30k dollar questions.
We went through this process a couple months ago. Now we're in the process of selling and buying a house. We had a huge house with a high payment. Kids are grown, house was too big now, among other reasons that make sense for us, so we're going to have a 25% cheaper payment, no pool to maintain, much less lawn to mow, and pay off a credit card with some of the money we'll get from the sale. We will save about $15k a year by moving.
My husband and I decided on taking my SIL up on her offer of house sitting and in return we’ll be able to save over $2300 a month towards hopefully purchasing a new home this year.
Originally we were going to say no, but as we looked at how much progress we could make and the help it would be for her it just made sense.
Love YNAB for helping us make this decision!
I am re subbing to ynab because of this video 😊
We moved last year: more expensive but closer to public transport, so we got rid of our car and now use transport passes and the occasional rental. It still works out to be far cheaper and we don’t miss it at all!
Interesting thoughts! I always avoid the harder thing I don’t understand like insurance negotiation or asking for a better interest rate on my credit cards. The strongest things keeping me in debt are the ones I’m most afraid to tackle. 🧐
Sometimes you need a little help. Do you have a friend who would be willing to make the calls for you?
I started renting out my spare bedroom after I realised the small budget items weren't getting me anywhere. I started with a 3 month lease as a trial because I was scared I'd hate it but it's been four years now with different roommates and it's been the best decicion ever!
My favorite change has been car insurance! I have always been looking for cheaper options with no luck, but recently decided to check policy details and realized that I could change some options up since I grew my emergency fund!
Thanks YNAB!
I got rid of my car. Save thousands every year.
@@jc-fy1wl I'm tempted all the time! Still need it =(
@@cchaney215 yes it's unfortunate that is the case for many people. Hopefully the future brings better alternative options to more people.
I also watch the Caleb Hammer show and it would be phenomenal to see the participants apply their new budgets on YNAB and see them get coached and trained to use these budgets. I would watch or listen to this podcast all day everyday!
So now I need to check out Caleb Hammer to see what I’ve missed.
He’s great. He’s like a millennial Dave Ramsey in how he calls people out for nonsense on their spendings. He has some great ideas on how to manage stuff. Give him a watch. His shorts are what drew me in.
@@Davegibson94 I would love to see a collaboration with YNAB where they follow the participants after as they apply the budget
@@ladysun7965 That would honestly be a great idea. He could even work to set up the people with the 1 month YNAB trial, and then review their progress in one month in a follow up check in episode.
DROPPING KNOWLEDGE
Self insurance is my new challenge. I need 13k to get me fully covered across all personal insurance policies (health insurance, income protection waiting period) and general insurance (home, car, caravan) so I’ve set up that sinking fund; already 75% of the way there.
Having owned a house for 30+ years and holding insurance cover for that time I face the fact that I’ve only ever claimed on that policy maybe once (for less than $2k). I have enough financial stability that means that I can select the highest out-of-pocket (OOP) level offered, to lower my premiums across all insurance policies, while I self insure for the OOP. If I was to make a claim I could always look to lower the OOP if I wasn’t prepared to top back up my OOP sinking fund. I’m hoping it continues to be a rare event and if it happens, I’m still covered. Consider that even if all insurance policies needed claiming at once, the OOP covers them all.
I’ll save this money on insurance premiums year after year; having set up the sinking fund once and calling all the insurers just once - not to negotiate - just to increase my OOP.
It’s a no brainer (once you embrace the mindset change)! Money to the insurer is gone! Money in my OOP sinking fund is likely to remain my own.
And paying the insurer instead doesn’t make a ‘claim event’ less likely to occur😳 (that’s the hard truth even if you do face a claim!!)
Using YNAB has been a game-changer for me, especially as someone with Adult ADHD! The impact it's had on my financial well-being is remarkable. One of the first major differences I noticed was the freedom to set aside money each month for guilt-free spending. As someone who would splurge on lavish gifts for others but feel immense guilt over treating myself to a simple $25 summer dress (because I didn't have one) this was revolutionary. It's a liberating feeling when I label something as 'guilt-free spending,' I can smile without any shame because it's already accounted for in my budget. I no longer have to agonize over every purchase or worry about the consequences. Instead, I get to focus on enjoying life to the fullest. But here's the amazing part: guilt-free spending has had unexpected positive effects on my overall financial health. I find myself motivated to put extra money towards paying off credit card debt, saving a little more, or making larger payments on loans. And the best part is, it doesn't take away from my ability to have fun, enjoy unique experiences, or invest in myself.
Thank you, YNAB, for empowering me to take control of my finances and find balance in my life. It's truly been a life-changing journey!"
Decided on making the move from a 794 sq ft apartment for about $1050 to a 611 sq Fr apartment for about $925 in July. Same apartment complex. Not much of a price difference, but I know it’ll add up over time.
What’s the point in having a King’s ransom if you live like a pauper? 🤷🏻♀️
I’m autistic and cheap lighting drives me bonkers, so I need to spend on decent lighting 🤷🏻♀️
We are rapidly coming to the conclusion that dropping the kid's breakfast & after school club in favour of an au-pair is going to be a massive money-saver. We're currently paying 2,500+ Swiss francs per month (around 2,500 USD and EUR at the time of writing this) for this wrap-around childcare and we aren't even really happy with the service, it's a case of needs must. We have a studio apartment attached to our house which had served as guest accommodation (we're in Switzerland but I'm British and husband French so family are abroad), but putting an au-pair in there will save us in the region of 1,800 CHF per month, so we're going to do it....
such a good video, but i feel like holding the mic days are past us, no? =D
6:09 I've got 177 categories in my budget so this is gonna be long
I just put on a good album and pour myself a niiiiiice beverage 😉
- Ben M 🎨
I'm in the camp of "those lattes DO hurt you financially." Some people are like "Oh a $6 latte isn't going to break you." Yeah actually it is. It's also not just one latte. It's most likely one every morning, five days per week, and then multiply that by four for the month. You end up spending $120 per month on just lattes. Yeah if you're making good money then go for it. But if you're making just, for example, $2,000 per month then that $120 is a large chunk of change compared to the $2,000 per month in income.
I think it’s less about that specific expense and more about the habit of going without, if not giving in to every little “I want this now” impulse. It’s hard to quantify how much that costs us exactly, but it’s a lot if it goes unchecked
We use a firestick and get everything for free. Even movies in theaters, live tv and sports, and PPV. Going on 6 years and glad we dropped cable! Just have the internet bill
By far the biggest piece is TAXES, and there is pretty much nothing I can do about them.
While that's generally true, there are many tips and tricks you can use to reduce your tax burden a fair amount if you plan ahead. For example, finding ways to earn income that will be taxed at long term capital gains rates instead of as ordinary income, or using bunching to get the best tradeoff between standard deductions and itemizing.
Sure but high taxes occur because of high income. Like, taxes are evil blah blah but, when it comes down to it, the way to pay less taxes is to make less money. (And/or illegal/immoral stuff) so, why not focus on the things you can do something about.
Let the ignorants learn on their own. Else, $tarbuck$ $tocks might be adversely impacted.😅🤣😅😅😅
Get rid of your car.