The fourth quarter is already more than 2 weeks behind us but due to an increasing workload and my Spanish classes, I wasn't able to get to my quarterly report. Luckily I found some time so let us jump right into it!
YNAB Vs nYNAB Vs Excel: Helpful Budgeting Tools Compared
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Last Updated on December 26, 2020 by Mr. FightToFIRE
Disclaimer: This post contains a referral code to YNAB.
The aptly named budgeting tool YNAB, short for You Need A Budget, stopped supporting their legacy tool YNAB4 as of 31 October 2019. I’ve been an avid user of the tool for over 7 years, but, because of the end of their extended support, I’ve been meaning to see if a change is needed. As a result of the end of support, I decided to see if I should move away from it completely or stay. It took up till now since I wasn’t sure what to do. Move to the new YNAB (aka nYNAB), and pay a subscription fee -the horror!- or move to a good old Excel spreadsheet?
As a retail customer, this lack of support shouldn’t really hinder the use of YNAB4 till Windows, for some reason, changes in such a way that it breaks YNAB4 (highly unlikely!). No, the real issue for me was the lack of new features. It might seem strange given a budgeting tool shouldn’t be that complicated but bear with me.
YNAB4 vs new YNAB (nYNAB) features
new YNAB is what we call the YouNeedABudget tool that was released after YNAB4 in 2019. It’s the same personal budgeting tool but now as a subscription that is accessible from everywhere and it’s based on the envelope method.
When nYNAB came out, they actually made a transition guide in which they explain the differences between the old YNAB4 and the new tool. While some of these features are less interesting, there are some things that I was interested in.
Main changes
The following features or changes are what I would consider as nice to have but not what did it for me.
Other notable changes
Support
To Excel or not to Excel
After checking the new features I still had a mixed feeling about it. Sure, there were improvements, but were they worth the subscription model? Let us be honest, they do this get a more stable income stream instead of having to continuously find new users. So, next was to look at my main alternatives. I checked the likes of:
- TillerHQ
- Mint
- EveryDollar
However, none were really what I was looking for:
- A clean, no-nonsense interface
- Small to no learning curve
- No ads
- Not purely US-focused
Given all of the above -and a bit of bias- I didn’t go with any of the other tools. With none of them catching my attention, I decided to try good old Excel as an alternative.
(Excel) spreadsheet galore
I downloaded and used numerous pre-made (basic) sheets. There are a ton out there so I figured one should work for me, right? Well…
They “worked”, but the main thing that hindered me was that it was cumbersome. Having to write and tweak your own sheet might seem fun for others, but, at least at the moment, it is something I’m struggling with. It gives me a feeling of dread instead of enjoyment. While this feeling isn’t helping me looking at the Excel as a viable option, it’s clear there are benefits.
Freedom!
The benefits are known of course. You can change the spreadsheet however you want, add or remove specific formulas, etc. You are not bound by the schedule of a third party. If you feel the need to change something you can. You can take this in the broader sense as well. YNAB might not have the features you want or the features don’t work as you expect. Just go to YNAB’s support forum to look at recent examples of this. In Excel you can easily add your assets such as investments and property but also your liabilities. Additionally, you don’t spend Over 70 EUR per year on a tool to help you save money.
Basically, with excel you have complete freedom. This can be a problem of course. It’s one of the main reasons I’m still leaning towards YNAB. There are quite some limitations of Excel.
Collaboration
When talking about limitations it can be good to compare to YNAB. It takes most of the work of your hands allowing you to purely focus on budgeting. It saves time and energy. It’s a system that doesn’t need maintenance and it’s constantly improving. It provides a better, more efficient interface than Excel.
Think about the following: your partner might want to pitch in from time to time, or sooner or later the person managing the budget will change. If that happens it’s much easier to help them be engaged from the beginning thanks to a dedicated budgeting tool. You might actually keep a true budget instead of a ledger.
Reviewing Your (shared) transactions and resolving any discrepancies, aka budget reconciliation, is also very simple. YNAB walks you through the process of reconciling your account. When you roll your own spreadsheet, it’s surprisingly complex to allow for cleared and uncleared transactions.
My decision
All things considered, I don’t need budgeting that much, and while the nYNAB features are cool, they don’t tip the scale a whole lot in favor of nYNAB, but it is tipped towards it. For me, it’s all about having a place to keep a clean record of my income and expenses as well as my assets and liabilities. The interface of YNAB provides that clean tracking. Even as I’m fighting towards FIRE I can use this app to track my different portfolios.
For these reasons, I got a subscription of YNAB. Before subscribing I checked out their cancellation policy to see what was possible if I decided to focus on my own excel spreadsheet after all. I’m happy that they have a “Don’t Pay for Stuff You Won’t Use policy” (“Cancellation,” 2019). This will allow me to switch once I have set my mind to put some time and effort into a spreadsheet.
nYNAB Pros and Cons
Worth it?
Finally, would I recommend others to go for nYNAB? Is YNAB worth your 80 dollars a year? Even after evaluating everything I can say I would recommend nYNAB over Excel.
- Do you already have your things in order budget-wise? A simple Excel could be all you need and there are a plethora of excellent templates available.
- Are you struggling and living paycheck to paycheck? Definitely give nYNAB a try; there is a 34-day free trial.
So, I’m sticking with the new YNAB, for now. But what about you? Do you use a specific budgeting app? Or are you an Excel wizard that knows everything there is to know about budgeting with an Excel or google spreadsheet?
Share your experience in the comments below!
Sources:
- Transition guide. (2016, March 30). You Need A Budget. Retrieved May 9, 2020, from https://www.youneedabudget.com/guide/transition-guide/#thats-new-features
- Cancellation. (2019, January 9). You Need A Budget. Retrieved May 10, 2020, from https://www.youneedabudget.com/cancellation/
I'm a developer for a major financial institution in Belgium that is present in over 40 countries. I have over 8 years of working experience in the development of customer applications focussing on all aspects of banking. This helped me gain a deep understanding of the inner workings of a commercial bank. All of this experience in both banking and life culminates in this blog about personal finance and my fight towards FIRE.
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14. YNAB Vs nYNAB Vs Excel: Helpful Budgeting Tools Compared
I had the same issue (selecting an app) and I was using a very ancient Win-based tool for like 10 years (open-source) but over time move to an IPAD-based Debit&Credit (not saying is best, just an example).
It was not possible to move across platforms which means previous 10 years of graphs/expenses, etc are lost for me. Since then I still have same phobia with online tools – these small startups come and go, and when they go, all your data or at least export will be probably gone… I still haven’t found an ultimate tool – I am looking for a totally offline tool which will not have cloud storage (backup is ok) or subscription (I am okay to pay once of course) and which will also allow export in some readable format.. In my case Debit&Credit is offline version which allows me at least to keep my DB with me in case developer ceases to exist (been there, done that)…
Thanks for your comment Amir. Yeah, I’m not that comfortable with the way things are going with YNAB so even though I got the subscription I’m also trying to work on an Excel. It might just be that I need to get used to working with Excel instead of an app. I have a similar worry as you that they will stop at one point and that I will have to move. Luckily they are so nice as to provide a CSV export of your YNAB entries.
The core of my budgetting tool is actually Google sheet, combined with a freemium budgetting tool on my mobile phone.
I track in the spreadsheet the big lines and fix expenses (like utilities, electricity, pro rata saving for yearly costs,…) and my household and entertainment budget is done in the app. I grant myself each month my allowance+meal vouchers. And I track every expense I make. I have no credit card or debit card automation in place. In the end, it became a habit to log each time when I pay for something. It is a 60 sec action
I looked a bit at Google sheets as well, but I feel Excel might be more for me. I also have Office 365 through my employer so I’d like to take advantage of that as well. Do you mind sharing the name of the tool you are using? Always open to try something else. To be clear, the CC is not automated, nothing in YNAB is automated as it doesn’t support european banks. Maybe it’ll change with PSD2, but not for the moment.
Either way, thanks for sharing Amber Tree 🙂 !
i am trying to switch from ynab to aspire budgeting which is a Google sheet built to feel like ynab.
Like E mentioned above, I’m also a very happy Aspire Budget user! I enjoy spreadsheets for my money management.
Hey Mark,
Thank you for your feedback 🙂 I can definitely see the amazing work people put in their spreadsheets when I search online for them. I guess I’m just afraid to start it because I don’t want to make mistakes.