Lets chat!
Why do you like it?
What's the best features of the app?
Also, why do you trust linking your bank account to the app?
I used it. Currently do not because I haven't paid for it, but I may again in the future. Works great and changes the way you look at your budget. Highly recommended for people living paycheck to paycheck. I went from living paycheck to paycheck to paying all my bills a month early by my second month.
@ScoreSizzle wrote:Lets chat!
Why do you like it?
What's the best features of the app?
Also, why do you trust linking your bank account to the app?
I use YNAB - I have for about a year.
Best features? I like the ease of use. I enter my transactions on my phone, but I do everything else on the computer. I like having a flexible budget, because if I'm not watching my transactions I "forget" the running balance on the money I've spent and spend too much on dumb stuff. I've increased my net worth by far more in the past year I've had it by trimming dumb spending than I have in the prior 10 years of trying other budgeting apps and methods (I recognize that everyone has their particular way of budgeting - I find YNAB easy and intuitive).
I also find the reports super useful for determining spend and decision making (for example: I have a 13yo car - I watch the average spend on repairs to make sure I'm OK with spending money on repairs/upkeep vs buying a new one). I use the toolkit for most of my reporting. I also like using it to plan out large expenditures without going into debt. I'm in the middle of a basement renovation that I think I'm only $100 over budget on, which I'm able to absorb from other categories (so no new debt).
"why do you trust linking" - you don't have to link, and for the first few months, I did not (though I also reconciled my accounts much more often), but I don't think there's any more security risk (there's a whole bunch of information on their site re: security) than I have with anything else.
Honestly, I probably get more entertainment value from the only time during the month I do my budgeting (I'm paid monthly) than I do for other things I pay more money for 
Moving money around in those little buckets is fun for me.
Thank you for the responses.
I read his book, but don't like linking my accounts to anything.
But since I don't have to connect it, I will definitely try it out then.
Connecting your accounts helps, but it doesn't always categorize the spending properly so you still have to log in to fix. I wasn't keen on syncing my accounts either, but I was happier once I did. This was after a lot of research to make sure they were legit. Lol
@ScoreSizzle wrote:Thank you for the responses.
I read his book, but don't like linking my accounts to anything.
But since I don't have to connect it, I will definitely try it out then.
I don't know what free trial you might be trying, but if you do a quick google - there's a four month free trial available through reddit.
I did a one month trial and contacted them and they extended it to three months for me.
Good luck! I hope it works for you! And if it doesn't, I hope you find something that does!
Many users report steep learning curves with it, and I highly recommend the fan group on Facebook, the community forums on YNAB itself, and youtube videos 
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:Connecting your accounts helps, but it doesn't always categorize the spending properly so you still have to log in to fix. I wasn't keen on syncing my accounts either, but I was happier once I did. This was after a lot of research to make sure they were legit. Lol
I'm in their now. I'm gonna have to play around with it once I'm home from work.
Thank you, sir!
I used it, and if you need a true budgetting app I don't think there's anything on the market better TBH.
That said I can get a lot of the same functionality in terms of expense tracking out of free apps and that's basically what I've transitioned to personally. The budgeting nature of that isn't as granular, but I seem to get better historical tracking than I do with YNAB too and that's a benefit.
Also there's zero input from me after getting it setup, YNAB still required setting up a budget month after month and heaven forfend you didn't budget every single dollar... after missing a month or two it got ugly and I finally decided it was too much upkeep during times that I didn't really need a budget (cash flow greatly to the positive) as my expenses are pretty consistent anyway and a single month isn't going to make or break me financially so the historical tale is enough for me to address where I F'd up.
I might not save as much money as I would with YNAB and being more strict (and even I had a "slush fund" category in YNAB which was just IDGAF money so I wasn't *that* strict) but if I were living closer to paycheck to paycheck I think YNAB would be invaluable.
Also I guess I just got over worrying about some organizations having my core financial logins: there's a lot of protection in terms of validating access from new places now for virtually every financial institution, and as long as I can control my phone and my email, I'm just not that afraid of someone getting my login information as the password can always be changed with a quickness given how many notifications I get even when I have to use something like Safari just to use the Chase Travel Rewards portal now vs my usual Chrome browser.
@Revelate wrote:I used it, and if you need a true budgetting app I don't think there's anything on the market better TBH.
That said I can get a lot of the same functionality in terms of expense tracking out of free apps and that's basically what I've transitioned to personally. The budgeting nature of that isn't as granular, but I seem to get better historical tracking than I do with YNAB too and that's a benefit.
Also there's zero input from me after getting it setup, YNAB still required setting up a budget month after month and heaven forfend you didn't budget every single dollar... after missing a month or two it got ugly and I finally decided it was too much upkeep during times that I didn't really need a budget (cash flow greatly to the positive) as my expenses are pretty consistent anyway and a single month isn't going to make or break me financially so the historical tale is enough for me to address where I F'd up.
I might not save as much money as I would with YNAB and being more strict (and even I had a "slush fund" category in YNAB which was just IDGAF money so I wasn't *that* strict) but if I were living closer to paycheck to paycheck I think YNAB would be invaluable.
Also I guess I just got over worrying about some organizations having my core financial logins: there's a lot of protection in terms of validating access from new places now for virtually every financial institution, and as long as I can control my phone and my email, I'm just not that afraid of someone getting my login information as the password can always be changed with a quickness given how many notifications I get even when I have to use something like Safari just to use the Chase Travel Rewards portal now vs my usual Chrome browser.
Thank you for your response.
I myself use free apps as well, but thought about using this version of budgeting for a few months to try it out and see if it really makes a big difference. I took what they taught in the book and aged my money instantly but still want to see how it all works in the app and if it will change anything else with what I'm doing.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:I used it. Currently do not because I haven't paid for it, but I may again in the future. Works great and changes the way you look at your budget. Highly recommended for people living paycheck to paycheck. I went from living paycheck to paycheck to paying all my bills a month early by my second month.
I just finished my free trial. I had the 30 day and got them to extend it to 60 days, but I wasn't really using it after the first 30 days. I agree with Brian that it is great for people living paycheck to paycheck. I wish I had had YNAB when I was living paycheck to paycheck. I was running YNAB and Mint side by side and I decided Mint worked better for me.
IMO....YNAB is not a budgeting app, but really a cash flow app. You see where your money is going, but you are not looking to the future. It dosne't even allow you to budget your whole months income, just what you have right now. I wanted to be able to forcast my income and expenses and Mint does that better for me than YNAB.
