When my husband and I first started living on a budget, we did the planning in an Excel spreadsheet - and tracked our spending with pen and paper. If you just do the first part, without doing the second part, I can guarantee that you will be spend more than you planned. There are two sides to the budgeting coin - planning in advance how you’re going to spend your money (that’s the “making the budget” part) and then tracking your spending to make sure that you’re sticking to your plan (that’s the “living according to the budget” part). A budget can’t make you spend less, it can just let you know when you’ve spent too much. But unless you’re putting in the work, no system can solve your financial woes. When you’re new to making and living on a budget, it can be very tempting to think that if you could just find the “perfect system,” everything would be fine. The software can do the numbers – but YOU have to do that first part. It’s as much commitment and consistency as it is numbers.

I hesitate to answer these questions, because I want people to understand that there’s no magic when it comes to budgeting. Readers often ask me for my recommendations on budgeting software. Budgeting flipped a switch in my money brain. Post-budgeting, I know that I’m in control. Before budgeting, I felt controlled by money. What could I possibly like about budgeting? I like the feeling of power that budgeting gives me over our money. The truth is that budgeting freaks a lot of people out. (Does the mere word send shivers down your spine?)

Ynab4 dropbox not syncing