Join Early Retirement Today
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Anyone envelope budget / bucket budget? Seeking a way to replace YNAB
Old 09-05-2016, 05:17 PM   #1
Recycles dryer sheets
Sunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 236
Anyone envelope budget / bucket budget? Seeking a way to replace YNAB

Part of what helped us get to where we are is curtailing our spending years ago and going on an envelope budgeting type system. Not the actual envelops with cash in them for different categories, but using electronic software.

That software, YNAB, went subscription based this year (with less features) and I am searching for an alternative. But more than not really wanting to pay a monthly fee, I also am not sure what to do with money that pools.

For instance, we don't need to move funds from investments to our checking to only assign into a category that won't be used for years (new car) or months and months (home repairs).

We both feel better being proactive, as in assigning X amount of money in 20 or so categories, then tracking that amount. This gives peace of mind knowing we have Y amount of money in a category before spending it. The services such as Mint or our credit card that categorize spending is looking backwards, not forwards. Not the same peace of mind / knowing exactly where you are.

Did anyone use YNAB? Do you still?
If you use something else to keep track of spending categories, what is it?
Sunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 Early Retirement and Financial Independence Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

Are you planning to be financially independent as early as possible so you can live life on your own terms? Discuss successful investing strategies, asset allocation models, tax strategies and other related topics in our online forum community. Our members range from young folks just starting their journey to financial independence, military retirees and even multimillionaires. No matter where you fit in you'll find that Early-Retirement.org is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with our members, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create a retirement blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 09-05-2016, 05:23 PM   #2
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
easysurfer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,132
When I left using Quicken (got more detailed than I really wanted), as I was looking I downloaded and wanted to try envelope budgeting with free software. But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how software/system worked. Figured that was a blind spot on my part as many of the reviewers said they loved the software and made perfect sense.

I ended up using a program (Windows only) called Budget Advisor (not free, about $25, one time purchase, but free trial) which works fine for my needs. Been using Budget Advisor for years.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
easysurfer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 05:27 PM   #3
Recycles dryer sheets
Sunny's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 236
Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer View Post

I ended up using a program (Windows only) called Budget Advisor (not free, about $25, one time purchase, but free trial) which works fine for my needs. Been using Budget Advisor for years.
I'd hoped whatever solution I have would allow smartphone access, but I will look at Budget Advisor too.

I don't mind paying for a product, just YNAB's going to a subscription based model that was more $$ than paying for updates every 2 years, while at the same time removing functionality and adding in stuff that was superfluous, ... let's just say I am vetoing them.
Sunny is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 05:51 PM   #4
Recycles dryer sheets
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 146
I stuck with old, pre-subscription ("Classic") YNAB and am keeping it until it is pried out of my cold, dead fingers.

You can probably fire up your old YNAB and just start a new budget.

Then again, I've never worried about downloads or a version to run on my cell phone.
Potstickers is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 06:36 PM   #5
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Fair Lawn
Posts: 2,940
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunny View Post

We both feel better being proactive, as in assigning X amount of money in 20 or so categories, then tracking that amount. This gives peace of mind knowing we have Y amount of money in a category before spending it........
If you use something else to keep track of spending categories, what is it?
I've commented on other threads that I am a zealous budgeter. Repeating monthly bills such as utilities basically stay in our money market account. But we also have a "Less Frequent Bills" budget sitting in Ally earning some interest. I track the components on a spreadsheet So, at any given time we know how much we currently have for car expenses (repair and replacement), vacation, large home repair/maintenance bills, etc.
mystang52 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 07:46 PM   #6
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Colorado
Posts: 8,971
I created a really simple budget system years ago and it is going to help me retire at a relatively young age of 58. I run it off a Google Docs spreadsheet. I have only 8 categories or envelopes. The first one filled is always savings. I lump a number of things into what I pay via credit card and the rest are utilities, HOA, etc. I also have a mad money category. Once I meet my savings goal and pay all my bills, anything left over goes into mad money. We take vacations from the mad money fund, fund cars, buy one off stuff and truly "mad" things. The end result is I always meet my savings goal (about 70% of take home pay), pay all my bills and still have money left to just spend for whatever we want, all with only managing 8 categories. We never overspend and almost always have funds each month to contribute to the mad account.
COcheesehead is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 07:54 PM   #7
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 7,968
My Mother did it in the 1940's, 50's, 60's etc. Used real envelopes. Part of where I learned cheap er frugal growing up.

heh heh heh - I guess some things never go out of style.
unclemick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 07:59 PM   #8
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Ready's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Southern California
Posts: 3,995
I've never found budgets to be useful. I've always been frugal and never spent money on things that were out of my financial abilities. If I did put a budget together, I suspect it would remind me that I'm not spending enough in certain areas, which might encourage me to spend more than I really have any desire to.

For folks who struggle with overspending, I'm sure they can be useful. If I did have to put one together, I'm sure an Excel spreadsheet would work fine. I do use quicken, but I've never taken the time to set up the budgeting feature in it.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
Ready is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 08:56 PM   #9
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,679
This one started about a year ago - EveryDollar - Dave Ramsey Budget Tool - daveramsey.com

I used this for a while when it first came out and it has a lot of nice features. It's free to use. If you want it to connect with your bank there is a small fee.

I liked this one but stopped using it because we only have 10 bills a month and except for one bill, our city utilities, the bills are the same every month.

We do use a cash system for 2 categories, Groceries and Other, which for us is just miscellaneous local cash spending that doesn't fit in the Groceries category. I have a large index card box with dividers and I put a months worth of cash for Groceries and Other in the box and just keep the cash and a list of what it's been spent on throughout the month.

DH felt detached from household finances when we used credit or debit cards and said he'd pay attention to money if it was actual cash. So I made the change so that he would (or would pretend to) get involved. Then I decided I also like using cash.
__________________
Married, both 69. DH retired June, 2010. I have a pleasant little part time job.
Sue J is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 09:08 PM   #10
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
easysurfer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,132
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunny View Post
I'd hoped whatever solution I have would allow smartphone access, but I will look at Budget Advisor too.

I don't mind paying for a product, just YNAB's going to a subscription based model that was more $$ than paying for updates every 2 years, while at the same time removing functionality and adding in stuff that was superfluous, ... let's just say I am vetoing them.
Budget Advisor is just a buy once, use program indefinitely software. Simple budgeting, no pulling info from online accounts or anything. For me, all I really need though no need to reinvent the wheel, IMO.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
easysurfer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2016, 11:18 PM   #11
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Katsmeow's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 5,307
I have used YNAB for years. I don't actually mind the subscription model but tried the new version and didn't like the lesser functionality. So I've kept my Classic version and it still works fine. At some point I guess it won't but for now it does so I'm sticking with it. I looked at alternatives and didn't like anything. They are adding more features to the new subscription based program (and I really liked its mobile app) so I may try it again in awhile and see if it has gotten to a spot where it is OK for me.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
Katsmeow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2016, 12:07 PM   #12
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Gotadimple's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,605
You may also want to look at MoneyDance. A Quicken "lookalike" in all functionality except reports, which are somewhat limited. You can buy once and never update without fear that you will lose functionality. They also have compatibility with smart phones.

They upgrade yearly, but offer free upgrades to those who bought the upgrade the year before. So, if you are sure you need an upgrade in year three, I believe it's offered at 50% off. They have an active community on their site, where you can ask questions and get answers from users or the technical staff.

Current price is $49.99. See moneydance.com
__________________
Only got A dimple, would have preferred 2!
Gotadimple is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2016, 01:46 PM   #13
Moderator
braumeister's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,199
Moneydance has served me very well for about five years now.
I especially like using its smartphone app to enter transactions on the spot and have them instantly synced with my laptop at home.

Its budgeting functionality is simple but effective.
It also lets me use the one basic interface for all my financial accounts (banks, credit cards, brokerages, loans, etc.)

I recommend it, and you can try it for free.
braumeister is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2016, 01:54 PM   #14
Moderator
Walt34's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,302
We use a combination of Quicken (2010 version) and Excel spread sheet for the monthly budget items. Basically it just shows our monthly income and then the anticipated bills for the month, then recalculates discretionary money we have left.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
Walt34 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2016, 02:04 PM   #15
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
RetireAge50's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,660
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt34 View Post
We use a combination of Quicken (2010 version) and Excel spread sheet for the monthly budget items. Basically it just shows our monthly income and then the anticipated bills for the month, then recalculates discretionary money we have left.

We use this exact method minus the Quicken.
RetireAge50 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2016, 08:42 AM   #16
Full time employment: Posting here.
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Castro Valley
Posts: 788
I use the envelope system with two Excel spreadsheets, one for tracking the expense and the other to track the balances for each envelope. All I do is enter the data into the Expense spreadsheet and the linked Balance spreadsheet is automatically updated. The actual money is pooled together into checking and savings accounts.
jkern is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2016, 08:56 AM   #17
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
SumDay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,862
I recently hooked a tenant up with Mint, because she's having so much trouble understanding why she can't make her payment. I had to explain to her how envelope budgeting worked, and this helped:

https://storify.com/austinginder/env...nside-mint-com

I really like the mobile app: https://www.mint.com/
SumDay is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2016, 09:28 AM   #18
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Cobra9777's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Texas
Posts: 3,024
We don't really budget in the classic sense, meaning we don't let a budget dictate our spending. We do track expenses by category and use this to make long-term projections. We use Fidelity Full-View to track and categorize transactions, and then transfer monthly category totals to Excel. Occasionally, if one particular category is trending up or down relative to history, DW and I will have a discussion and decide to either adjust our spending a little or start projecting the new level of spend.

We keep enough in our Fidelity cash management account to cover 3 months expenses, and another 4-5 months at Ally earning 1%. We make no attempt to set money aside for specific purposes. We just spend what we want and replenish those 2 accounts when necessary. Once or twice per year, I update the projections in Excel and make sure the overall retirement plan is sustainable.
__________________
Retired at 52 in July 2013. On to better things...
AA: 85/15 WR: 2.7% SI: 2 pensions, SS later
Cobra9777 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2016, 01:04 PM   #19
Full time employment: Posting here.
Christine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 669
Another one sticking with YNAB Classic. If it stops working I might try to roll my own in a spreadsheet. That is what YNAB used to be before they made the app.

I think maybe you can download the spreadsheets from YNAB if you like.
Christine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2016, 01:07 PM   #20
Dryer sheet wannabe
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 16
Add me to the list of people sticking with YNAB Classic. All functionality including mobile still works fine (for now). Have not found anything that works nearly as well.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
Travel4Fun is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Anyone work in Finance and pursuing Early Retirement? Seeking career advice.. ragnarkar Young Dreamers 10 07-31-2012 02:45 PM
Does anyone have the political capital to replace the corny photo on firecalc? drb111 FIRE and Money 1 04-16-2010 01:25 PM
Think I'll Kick the Bucket (Bucket 2, that is) Rich_by_the_Bay FIRE and Money 11 10-22-2006 11:18 PM
Next Time You Replace A Computer - Laptop, Desktop, Tablet or ? Danny Other topics 37 05-03-2006 05:19 PM

» Quick Links

 
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:10 AM.
 
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.