Scenario:

I’ve been getting asked a lot why I’m so obsessed with YNAB so I wanted to explore how I got to this point with my scenario.

My mission is simple:

Everyone deserves to feel in control of their money so I’m on a mission to help you get there.

YNAB is one of the best ways you can gain that control.

For years, I used Mint.com to track my spending and at the end of the month I’d consolidate it all to a google sheet. We had different bank accounts and credit cards for each purpose and I’d have to monitor each - bills, food and gas, vacation, savings, fun money. The process became cumbersome and when I think about it, it really drove no behavior in our family spending. There had to be a better, more automated solution. So the search began.

The Search:

I’ve tried many different apps - Quicken, Empower, Every Dollar, etc.

All of them lacked one thing that I was searching for - the ability to see a simple income and expenses report at any point in time.

I wanted the ability to see my spending trends easily so I knew where we spent our money and I could manage our P&L so we made a profit consistently.

A buddy mentioned YNAB and I gave it a shot.

I loved the P&L, but after a learning period, what I grew to love even more was assigning a job to my cash.

So for example, instead of looking at my food bank account and seeing I had $1.2k there and $900 on the credit card so I could spend $300 more, I was able to set up the cash plan on the front end.

I’d just allocate $1.2k to food and the money would move to my credit card payment category as I spent and the amount left would calculate automatically.

My cumbersome, multi account, transfer heavy process proved itself obsolete.

We could now simplify to one bank account and use whatever credit card we wanted.

As my categories ran low in YNAB, I could then move money from other categories if it was important enough for us, or I could hold off until my next paycheck.

It was beautiful to actually have a plan for the cash we had!

After doing this for years, the process has compounded and the day to day thoughts around where to spend our money has become thoughtless.

All cash has a job. I can easily view trends. Our money is auto assigned to the categories I’ve set.

This is why I love YNAB so much - it has given us freedom from thinking about the day to day of our money. That freedom is priceless.

And that’s why I started Backpocket CPA, because I want to help everyone feel in control of their money.

When you think about budgeting as chains that prevent you from enjoying life, then yes it’s a burden. But when you think of a budget like bowling bumpers for your finances, you can bounce off them and you’ll eventually achieve the goal of hitting the pins (or retiring or whatever your goal is).

Budgeting creates freedom. It aligns your spending habits to your goals. Remove the feeling of needing to be perfect with your budget.

It’s just a plan that helps guide you.

What did the ocean say to the beach?

Nothing, it just waved.