That extra $1,000 must be designated to account for all of your needs and wants. So if you make $3,000 a month and have $2,000 a month in fixed expenses (rent, insurance premiums, etc.), then you’ll have $1,000 left to divy up among your variable expenses. Paying off debt, saving, and investing are examples of the priorities you can build into your zero-based budget each month. But that doesn’t mean you’re spending it all - in fact, it should be just the opposite. With a zero-based budget you won’t have extra money lying around at the end of the month. Greutman explains the system this way: “Zero-based budgeting is when you give every dollar, every cent, a purpose throughout the month.” For that reason, it’s also referred to as zero-sum budgeting.

With zero-based budgeting, your income minus what you spend and save each month equals zero. YNAB employs an effective 4 rule budgeting approach with an elegant interface to create one of the most helpful budgeting applications out there.So what is zero-based budgeting, and is it right for you? What’s Zero-Based Budgeting? Some users report that this problem worsens over time as your accounts grow although the developers are working hard to solve it. The main drawback of YNAB is that it doesn't integrate with online banking and the Adobe AIR interface, while looking great, can sometimes be slow and unresponsive. You can also carry-over overspending (or underspending of course) from month to month. YNAB allows you to spread spending across different categories so if you need more money for essentials one month rather than entertainment you can do so and it will even things out for you. Each section gives you advise and tips on how to organize your accounts effectively.

YNAB uses what it calls the 4 rules of cash flow - Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck, Give Every Dollar A Job, Save For A Rainy Day and Roll With The Punches. However, You Need A Budget is named as such because its all about budgeting - something it does very well indeed and if you're having financial problems, you're advised to listen to what it says. You can of course, just ignore all this and open an account. When you enter the main screen, YNAB acts as a kind of financial adviser, suggesting ways in which you should be managing your money. When opened for the first time, YNAB asks if you'd like to associate your downloaded bank statements with it or allow another application - such as Moneydance - to take care of that.

Ynab budgeting when broke