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You Need A Budget (YNAB) on Steam 75% off - US $14.99

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13 hours left for 75% off.

About the Software
The World's Best Budgeting Program.

Praised across the Internet as hands-down the "best budgeting software", You Need A Budget (YNAB) cuts to the chase with your finances. The software focuses you on the foundation of your finances: the Budget. Experience has shown that when your budget is intact, and functioning correctly, everything else takes care of itself (the bills are paid on time, retirement contributions are made, and unnecessary debt is eliminated).

The Most Effective Budgeting Method
The software is built around Four Rules of Cash Flow. These Four Rules will help you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle, get out of debt, and save more money. Where other software packages tend to be the products of years of feature creep, YNAB offers you exactly what you need: a simple, straightforward system to manage your money.
Rule 1: Give every dollar a job.
Rule 2: Save for a rainy day.
Rule 3: Roll with the punches.
Rule 4: Learn to live on last month's income.
Remember to take advantage of YNAB's fantastic support resources: video tutorials, and free live budgeting classes for any and all interested! These are available at our website or via the Help menu in the software.

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closed Comments

  • +8

    I use this, but not to budget, but to write down and keep track of my expenses. Would reccommend buying on Steam, then download the trial from the website and activate the key in that, rather than running from Steam all the time.

    • I didn't realise I didn't have to run it from steam all of the time thanks for the tip! Where can I find the activation code in steam for it to enter into the trial?

      • +2

        You can run the executable from the steam directory as well, steam does not need to be running.

      • +3

        I believe its Help > About YNAB > Copy Key To Clipboard

        • +2

          Just bought and can confirm that you get a key with your Steam purchase and that key can be used with a non-steam download.

          Thanks very much to those who posted the above information, I held off buying this last time it was on sale because I didn't want to have my license tethered to Steam.

          Steam has become by primary gaming platform but it just doesn't seem mature enough for me to want to be using it for software quite yet. Also… I don't know how the guys at work would feel if they saw me on Steam all day because I had it launched for a particular piece of software I was using. :P

        • Just put the key into the trail thanks guys. I purchased this a few days ago when it was 50% off so a little annoyed its now 75 off

    • I just brought it on Steam, and now it pops up in my Library tab under "Software".

      Where do i find the key so i can activate it in the official trail version download?

      Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

    • You don't need to run it through Steam all the time. Just install it with Steam, and copy and paste the YNAB 4 shortcut from the below path to your desired location.

      \Steam\SteamApps\common\YNAB 4\YNAB 4.exe

      No need to download trials, grab keys, etc, and your software will always be up to date.
      Done.

  • +7

    I've tried this software and it wasn't to my taste. Suggest try before you buy to see if its worth your time and money.

    • +3

      I agree with this - not to my liking either :)

    • +3

      I agree too. The demo is free and worth trying.
      It couldn't import my bank account CSV.
      I'm so surprised at how simple it is for the price. Even at $14.99 it seems overpriced. I had a look at the tutorial too and I am still not convinced that it is better than a spreadsheet.

      • +2

        Biggest plus for me with YNAB is it is easier to manage, especially on the go with mobile YNAB companion app. Helps with cash spending.

        You could open a Google Doc spreadsheet when away from PC too I guess but that isn't as elegant.

  • great deal! thanks OP!!

  • Great software, great bargain!

  • +9

    Damn…. I didn't budget for this software in my budget :(

  • +28

    I downloaded this and ran it on my laptop but nothing happened.

    I can't access OzBargain from that computer anymore though, I wonder what's… oh.

  • +6

    would have been useful before the steam sales started…

  • This is $60 on the Mac App Store, thought I had got a decent bargain when I got it off Steam a few days ago for 50% off…

  • +1

    The good news also is that the steam key works with the trial that's available from the developers website. It's been mentioned above, but it also means that you can install it on any number of machines without the need for steam.

    It's really good in that I have 5? machines including my wifes, who does the household budget, but I also have my own budget, and with it being synced in dropbox, it's not limited to 1 machine/person.. we can both share the budgets :)

  • +1

    I use Microsoft Money for all my income/expense tracking and cashflow budgeting. MS aren't developing it any more and released the last version free for download (search for MS Money Sunset).

    • Same here. Do you think there's any reason for us to use this software? I know the links in Money are now redundant but I don't know whether the connectivity is important. At least there's a trial version to use first.

      • For me, I don't see any compelling reason to choose this over MS Money. Online connectivity doesn't mean much to me - its easy enough to download and import bank transactions manually, and I don't have a huge share portfolio that needs a lot of price updates. YNAB has the cloud and mobile usage going for it but that's not something I require - I keep my money file backed up & encrypted online anyway. Plus, the one thing that Money does which I've never seen in another personal finance software, is the bank balance forecast report which I always use.
        Not saying YNAB is bad, just not for me, especially when a free alternative is available.

  • Any Quicken users care to make a comparison for someone doing a simple budget?

    • it's like comparing apples and oranges..

      YNAB doesn't really just record what you spend.. it asks you all your income, and then asks you to estimate your future bills.. that way, should you have any left over money, you can then redirect or save it for other things.. it teaches you a better way to manage your money..

      • Quicken does that also, so every pay is forecasting for the future. Based on what you say I guess they do similar things. I was actually looking for something a touch simpler than Quicken as I'm only managing one income, bills and a single personal loan. Nothing fancy.

        One thing that's always bugged me though is Quicken is not multi platform,. so I can't use my phone or tablet to input data. I might give this a go. Oh and Quicken doesn't sync across multiple computers.

  • Has anybody tried anz money manager. It is just too good and it does all the importing of files/ transaction for you.

  • +25

    This is the worst game I've ever played.

    • +18

      its very depressing cos i keep losing :(

    • Just wait for another 3 or 4 title updates, before it gets any better.

  • Great software to handle and budget my OzBargain shopping habits properly!

  • +2

    Is there any DLC coming out for this soon?

    • +1

      Expandalone to be released called You Need A Life. :-(

  • +2

    Well there you go, you learn something new every day…. Steam sells stuff that isn't gaming related!!!!

    • +1

      Just a few things, but I wish they's sell everything digital on steam.

      Music and movies for 75% off, with no DRM besides steam itself? Yes please.

      • Steam often includes publishers' DRM.

  • Been using this since it was $15 in the last sale - awesome software.

  • Why would someone use this over, say, countless alternatives for a fraction of the price on their phones?

    AFAIK most of the pro version of the expenses apps allow exporting to spreadsheet and such so you can do stuff with it on a computer.

    • +1

      I'm not sure what these countless alternatives are that you speak of, but I can vouch for the excellence of YNAB. I've been using it for about 6 months now and can't say I've used better budgeting software. It is tremendously easy to enter transactions/transfers on your computer or on your phone (which are synced using Dropbox) and equally simple to create and maintain a budget. I really don't think there are better apps than this available on phones - but I'm happy to be corrected.

    • +1

      Why would someone use this over, say, countless alternatives for a > fraction of the price on their phones?

      I've been using YNAB since July 2011. I think the beauty of YNAB is found in the last 2 rules - roll with the punches (ie, overspends transfer into the next month forcing you to spend less) and the goal is to stop living from paycheck to paycheck. Also, entering transactions on the go from the app is really handy.

      At $15, it's a bargain compared to the retail price. Give the trial a quick go first to see if you like it.

  • For those after a free, handy and convenient budgeting tool for the iPhone check out Wally.

    It lets you record expenses on the fly allowing you to categorise your expenses. What's most useful about this app is its OCR ability to read directly off receipts using the phone's camera; it also stores a copy of the receipt in a separate album on your phone.

    Each time you add an expense, you can:
    - add a short description
    - choose the expense category (long predefined lists with the ability to customise)
    - geo-tag the vendor location - it uses your GPS to find all nearby vendors (uses POIs from FourSquare's servers)
    - specify the time of purchase
    - specify whether the expense is recursive (for e.g. I've put in my monthly and yearly bills)

    You could also input your salary and how much you wish to save each month. It then displays how your progressing in the month and whether you're likely to meet your budget. The app also lets you review your spending over time.

    IMO, it's the best free budgeting tool I've come across on the iPhone. The GUI is fantastic and the app is frequently updated based on users' suggestions.

  • +3

    I was not interested in buying this.

    But I watched their support/setup videos out of curiosity and was really impressed, maybe having a budget wasn't such a bad idea after all, because I could use some help saving money and living on last month's pay instead of last week's pay :-P

    So I bought it. I watched more videos (seriously that narrator is nice to listen to). I set up a budget on my Mac and can see it on my iPhone (nice app and free too). It wasn't too hard and I didn't import a bank statement or anything, it's not necessary.

    I created accounts for my bank, credit card, cash, savings I've put aside, and the black pit of death that is my car loan. Then I stuck in my wage, averaged out each recurring bill I could find (rent, gas, electricity, insurance, internet, petrol, phone). And estimated for now how much I'd be spending on food and luxuries. Finally I paid some bills and entered the transactions so I knew it would all work.

    My setup isn't perfect but allegedly it doesn't have to be. I'm excited to see how it will change over the next few weeks and months. I plan on watching more of the videos too.

    So there's a mini-review. I don't know if I can stick to it and if it will help me save money in the long run but it looks good so far. Otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. Ummm, I should probably budget out some money for OzBargains :-D

  • +2

    This tool seems decent for budgeting purpose but I'm not inclined to manually input all the things.

    Since I've centralised most of my expenses into credit card, automatic credit card statement import is somewhat really important for me.

    So I use https://getpocketbook.com/overview instead. it's not decent as paid version tools but least support all the major Australian banks.

  • ANZ Money manager is better IMO if you're an ANZ customer and free. No need to make manual entries.

  • +1

    The problem with most "budgeting" apps is that they don't encourage saving for future purchases and the roll over of over spending.

    Most apps are just an input form and database to see how much you've spent. YNAB lets you budget for the future so when (for example) your car insurance payment comes up it is no big deal because you've put money away for it.

    Since you also take into account shopping/spending on yourself money you don't feel bad buying things as this is also taken into account.

    Lastly, if you have any debt (credit card, home loans) it will show a path to paying that off.

    • Quicken when you enter a bill you put in how often it occurs so it budgets for it. I would have thought most proper software options would have this functionality. It wouldn't surprise me stand alone apps may be a bit light on, but anything with software as its foundation would have budgeting not just expenditure.

  • Thanks Op.

    I have tried this software before the post and made the purchase when I heard about the Steam sale.

    I liked this software and it's principles about making every dollar work for you, and preparing for upcoming expenses.

    It teaches you to budget, not track expenses which is different once you get to the details of it. I used to track expenses in Excel, and have nice pretty graphs. With YNAB I can easily see if I have over spent in one category say in online game purchases and modify my eating out budget to a lower amount so I don't over spend.

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