I finally ditched YNAB

Wouldn't it be easier to calculate everything yourself, spend a little time on it, and report this amount to the investment? And it's better to check the cost of other subscriptions that you can opt out of.

Hello! I too have decided to not renew my subscription after using the software for the last five years. I worked hard the last month and a half to make a google spreadsheet that does the main things I wanted to keep from YNAB (categories, categories rolling over month to month, sinking funds, reports, transactions, being able to reconcile my accounts, etc). After testing it thoroughly I am happy to pull the plug and cancel YNAB which will save myself $155 CAD a year. I also tended to manually enter everything and use scheduled transactions heavily, so I won't miss the auto-import features.

I appreciate YNAB, but the price is a deterrent and I was sad to see they let Hannah go this year (though she seems to be doing great on Youtube!).

I totally get where you're coming from. It's easy to reach a point where the subscription fee just doesn't align with the value you're getting, especially if your financial habits are already locked in.

It is really personal. If you want to tweak your spending and be more accurate with less accounting, it is a great tool. If you do it all manually and only for tracking purposes rather than seeing what is available to spend, a spreadsheet makes more sense.

I have been using it since 2017 and became a YNAB certified coach to help my finance clients learn how to use it. It can change lives, especially in the beginning. At the same time, it really depends on what the person needs, spending habits, where they are in their journey, how much work they want to put in, etc.

For me, I still use it. I prefer things to be automated, geek out with the data, make decisions quarterly based on spending, and use it for Wish Farm purchases, etc. I also use it for the accounting for three businesses and in my financial coaching and counseling businesses. Maybe after retirement, when my budget is less active, I would consider just a spreadsheet, but I am very happy with it right now.

I do understand how it is not for everyone. That is the beauty of personal finance; we get to figure out what works for each of us and support each other in learning about other options.

If you are leaning toward moving on, exporting your data and setting up a simple zero-based budget in Google Sheets or Excel is a smooth transition. You get to keep most of the methodology without the ongoing monthly or annual cost.

I think most paid services eventually end up costing about the same as they grow in popularity. I did see a free open-source option that I haven't tried that could be worth testing out and it looks like you said you are already trying Budget Friendly Budget.

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We liked Every Dollar when we were closely tracking our expenses in an app. The free version was also a manual interface that felt more like tracking cash and it was useful for tracking categories of expenses and income.

thinkpad, I am also a manual YNAB user. I got lucky and snuck into YNAB before they turned evil and went with the subscription model. I got the YNAB 4 software download for a one time payment of $60 back in August 2017. I'm frequently worried that my computer or phone software updates will eventually reject the 2017 software, so I've done some digging on how I would pivot. I've found that others on the internet have adapted the YNAB format to google sheets. This is one reddit forum that's done it, for example. Best of luck in your transition!

Thanks for the rec! I have been using YNAB for well over 10 years! I have contemplated alternatives but some just aren’t that much cheaper so felt it likely wasn’t worth the hassle. I’m going to give this a try and see how I like it. I’d happily pay $36 a year to the developer if I like it.

I'm curious if you have considered whether or not you even need that kind of tool anymore. For me, those things were really useful getting started, but after several years, I find I don't need the really robust budgeting system. I just have a good old fashioned spreadsheet. I take 30-60 minutes a month to download all my transactions and update my expense tracking sheet. Easy, free, no 3rd party security concerns and customized just how I want it.