Moms have a lot of rules: Don’t run with scissors, eat dinner before dessert, no screaming at your brother, be home before curfew. There is a seemingly endless list of mom-enforced rules that pop up over the course of our childhood — and, generally speaking, a lot of them aren’t particularly fun, even if they’re important.  But once you’re an adult and the appeal of fighting with your siblings has (mostly) worn off, you start to realize that all of those rules were part of larger life lessons. So what did mom (or whoever you celebrate on Mother’s Day) really teach you?  Sarah (who yo ..read more

Ask someone about personal finance and they’ll usually talk about financial planning for long-term goals like retirement accounts and investment plans. We’ve got some advice about that stuff, too. But you know what really gets people fired up? Short-term financial goals. Set an achievable goal you can hit in a few short months and you’ll suddenly be filled with purpose. Remember the excitement you felt as a kid saving your allowance for a video game or a mall trip? You’ll feel the same way reaching short term goals, all mostly grown-up.  Short-term financial goals are a great way to recog ..read more

Technology is amazing. We live in a world where almost anything your heart desires is a swipe, a tap, or a click away. Communication is instant, information is easily accessible, and transactions are seamless. From a life-size cutout of Danny DeVito to a last-minute dog walker for Groucho Barks when you’re working overtime, you can get just about anything quickly and with very little effort.  And for many, that convenience comes at a cost—like waking up to find Danny DeVito propped up in your living room, and realizing that purchase wasn’t actually an emergency after all.  Debit card ..read more

What is a Sinking Fund? A sinking fund is a fixed amount of money you save each month to prepare for a non-monthly expense like car repairs, home maintenance, or a twice-a-year insurance payment.  (Side note: Sinking Fund would also be a great name for a boat. I might add that as a wish farm goal.)  Anyway, I know the car will eventually need repairs. We all know that. Although it always feels like a surprise when it happens, we know these future expenses will show up someday. How much will these repairs cost? I have no idea (hopefully very little).  I know that our life insuran ..read more

Looking for tips about how to save money on Amazon? The answer may surprise you (but probably not.) Over the summer, I stumbled into my fiancé’s Amazon Prime account to watch a movie on Prime Video one night, not knowing this one click would change my shopping habits forever. Ironically, I was hopping on Amazon to dive into the material world of Crazy Rich Asians (and a slice of chocolate cake). As I landed on the home page amidst all the shiny, temping things, an alert came up to lure him back:  “John, you haven’t made an Amazon purchase for 3 months.”  As a devout Prime membership ..read more

Trying to figure out how to pay off debt fast? Good for you. Once you commit—like, really commit—to tackling your debt, you might find that you get a little bit obsessed (in the best way!) with paying off your debt as aggressively as possible…and that’s the best way to get out of debt—and improve your financial situation—for good.  Yes! Aggressive debt pay-down! This is where things start to get interesting! So, sit back and prepare to question absolutely everything.  How to Pay off Debt Fast  Think drastic and dramatic—but also temporary. Freeing up cash is the name of the game ..read more

MeKenna and Kat are both on the Support team for YNAB. In addition to working for YNAB, they’re both side hustlers: freelance lighting designer (MeKenna) and freelance actor/performer (Kat). Put their suggestions for managing side hustle expenses and income in YNAB into action in your own budget to eliminate some of that tax-time stress! Regardless of what kind of work your side hustle entails, finding the right processes, tools, or systems to help can make life a whole lot easier. While we both manage our side hustles a bit differently in our budgets, we agree that we couldn’t imagine managin ..read more

Article preview: Most people want to relax on vacation but spending stress tends to dampen the mood Using the the Four Rules to plan your vacation budget results in less money stress  Your dollars have more value when they’re aligned with what matters: be clear on your priorities and line up your money to match Even if you’re the type who optimizes every travel rewards point and stays in the most budget-friendly AirBnBs, are you really maximizing the full potential of your vacation budget? Let’s revisit a stressful, “normal” way to make travel plans and spend money on vacation, and then ..read more

If you’re building out a budget for the first time and you’re being your best responsible self, it’s important to understand the advantage of turning those big non-monthly expenses/variable expenses/True Expenses/what-ever-you-call-them into more manageable monthly chunks. We’ve made a build-your-best budget list of non-monthly expenses to help you transform those turbulent ups and downs into smooth sailing (and saving) instead. How to Budget for Non-Monthly Expenses There’s nothing worse in the budgeting world than a rogue expense popping up and derailing your carefully calculated plan—and so ..read more

If you’re trying to figure out how to budget with irregular income, we’ve got the solution for you. We can’t change the fact that you don’t know exactly when or how much you will get paid, but we can teach you to be in total control of your money, and stop stressing about it! This eight-part series will teach you exactly how to budget successfully and meet your financial goals despite your irregular income. You’ve got a good thing going. Maybe you sell real estate, (or subscriptions or packaging or pharmaceuticals), or you own your own business or take pictures or design websites or write copy ..read more