Here at Leave Debt Behind we want you to have the tools necessary to do just that, leave your debt behind and move on to a life of financial security. In order to do that you must not only learn the steps necessary to pay off and eliminate debt, but also how you will manage your money to avoid finding yourself back in financial straits in the future. Today we will review www.youneedabudget.com to see how this online management tool can make moving forward after debt elimination a journey that is successful and easy to navigate.

What Is YNAB?

Created by Jesse Mecham a regular guy (husband and father) to help both his family and others manage their finances better, YNAB is a personal budgeting program that can be used by anyone to improve their money management skills. What started out as a simple excel spreadsheet used for budgeting monthly expenses has become one of the most lauded money management tools in recent years.

How Does It Work?

Once you download the software you can begin tracking your expenses and managing your budget. If you do not already have a budget in place you will start from scratch or if you have an excel based budget system you can import the information and work from that point forward. There are four main tabs located in the lower left side of your screen. They include a register which acts as an online checkbook register of sorts. Here you can manually record all transactions or import transactions from your bank or credit cards. The next tab is labeled Budget and this is where you will enter your budget and track how you are doing each month. There are several categories where you enter the amount of money you have budgeted for each section as well as the remaining balance (based on information you have added or imported from your bank). The two remaining tabs are titled “scheduler” and “reports”. The scheduler lets you schedule reoccurring transactions like paychecks or mortgage payments. Once you have entered the information the program will automatically update your information on designated dates which saves you the time needed to continually add or update transactions that are reoccurring. Finally the reports section allows you a quick overview of your spending by category, total spending month-to-month as well as your current balance.

If you are looking for a way to improve your budgeting system you can try the YNAB Pro during a free 15 day trial period. After the trial period expires you have the option to purchase the program for $49.95 and your information will carry over without delay. I have downloaded the trial version and am anxious to see how well it works with my pay structure. I’ll be sure to provide an update later as I become more familiar with this system.