I am 23 years old, and a registered nurse who makes a fairly decent income for one person (about 50k per year). Time and time again, I have mapped out my budget in a notebook including all my debt payments, my mortgage, savings, and living expenses such as transportation and groceries. After paying all my debts, and expenses I figured I should have $300 left over monthly to do whatever I want with. But that has never been the case. I typically had $50 in my checking account the day before pay day, and I was pulling from my savings about every three months to cover my ass, leaving the minimum $100 in my savings. I had constant anxiety about my finances. I was always paying the minimum on my loans, I was always worried about what would happen if an emergency occurred, I was always reminded that I will never be able to save enough to move from my boring town.
A couple paychecks ago, I had both holiday pay, and overtime, which put me ahead around $600. Since I earned a nice head start, I decided it was time to get serious about making a budget and sticking to it. My old method of writing down all my crap in a notebook and carrying it with me everywhere obviously never worked for me. So I came to this subreddit and stumbled upon the website You Need a Budget.
I have only used the app for one month, and I am currently sitting on $862 of un-budgeted money in my checking account (that's after paying double my minimums on my loans). If I keep this up, that amount will grow next month, and keep on rolling. My goal is to pay off my loans quicker, save to move in a couple years from now, and have some extra money for Christmas.
Of course, I have had to make some changes to stay within my budget I have created. I did not realize just how much money I was spending on dining out until this past month. It was an embarrassing amount. To stay within budget, I have had to meal plan and cook three nights a week; which I am fine with. Other than that though, I truthfully haven't made any other significant changes. I think a lot harder before buying things, and I use a planner everyday, but that's about it.
YNAB might not be for everyone, but it has changed things exponentially for me. When I first made my budget and saw the "amount to be budgeted" number, I obsessed over it wondering how I could possibly have that much un-budgeted money. If you sound like me, I highly recommend giving YNAB a try. If you are a YNAB user, I would love to read your success story and read any tips you may have.
Submitted August 07, 2017 at 07:38PM by m4rceline http://ift.tt/2vHKFeW
