Budgeting vs Expense Tracking

I make a budget and it doesn't seem to help me that much. So wait... am I actually budgeting? Learn if you've been budgeting this whole time or expense tracking, and learning how to shift an expense tracking mindset to a mindset of budgeting. Hannah shares a few of Jesse Mecham of You Need a Budget's tips for becoming the budgeter you've always wanted to be!

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro
0:30 Defining the Difference
2:19 Like Driving a Car...
3:22 3 Signs You're Expense Tracking
5:36 4 Steps to Transition to Budgeting
8:33 How to Know You're Officially Budgeting
9:04 3 Budgeting Tips to Remember
10:03 Try YNAB!
11:00 Outro

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[esmoldt]

I signed up for YNAB and built my first budget three months ago. I have been faithfully watching every YNAB video I could find on YouTube. I have also been frustrated as to why it wasn't making more sense to me than it was. That is until tonight! Watching this video, something just clicked in my mind and suddenly I knew what to do. Thank you, Hannah, for your concise, and funny, videos!

[jrdill]

Thanks for exposing all us Wine Hamburgers as expense trackers! We'll learn eventually.

I’m definitely expense tracking between groceries and dining. I’m constantly moving money back and forth even though I’m getting better with this and being honest with myself.

[kriannnne]

I'm about almost a month in and I swear YNAB is such a game changer! I've never learned how to budget and no one has ever taught me so actually finding this is truly amazing. Big thanks! And I love watching your videos, Hannah. You make things super easy to follow and you're hilarious and it makes it entertaining to watch!

[michaelcrossley]

I'm on day two and I am already sold. I appreciate the trial and not asking for my info up front. Makes me feel more like a business partner than a customer. Thanks!

[hmspain]

I have to stop using my emergency fund as a slush fund! LOL

[sherrimciver]

'Give every dollar a job' is the most essential change YNAB made in my life.

[kedeeky]

I’m half through my first month of YNAB. It has further highlighted how much I need more income. I’ve actually been budgeting just as you said! I keep a widget of my variable costs and it’s been so helpful. The only time I move money is for groceries and gas. These days, those 2 are doozies.

[minnap]

One of your best videos, Hannah! You described the old me perfectly. First yr of YNAB, I just tracked expenses. Couldn’t figure out what was so great about the app. Then had a lightbulb moment and started really budgeting. Life changed completely.

[jessiekarach]

This month's "shoe organizer" was our beach/grocery wagon. Made that budgeting goal back in march and I'm ridiculously excited to have this wagon now lol

[amandarandolph]

I definitely mostly budget, but I expense track a little bit. I budget everything out, but I don't necessarily check it before I make all my purchases. I mostly know what I have though so I guess it's not too bad. And then I borrow from other categories of I have to.

[mitchberg]

I probably used YNAB for probably 10-12 years as an expense tracker. And while it wasn't budgeting, it served a useful purpose. It did help me change my spending, which was a good thing.

Its been in this last few months where the *budget* side of YNAB started making sense to me.

And I'm wishing I'd figured it out a LOT earlier!

[garydunken]

Good analogy comparing to driving a car

[morganerickson]

Bought YNAB in 2007
Used it as an expense tracker until about 2018-2019.
Now we actually budget and it is nice to pay an entire month's bills on the 1st because we actually have the money.

[tiannav]

Omg. Biggest A-ha! Moment…. I’ve been struggling since the pandemic started and now I understand I’ve been expense tracking 😩 cheers to everyone trying to turn their budget around as well 💕

[toddw]

With the phone app, checking budget before buying something is fast and easy…and iOS even has widgets so you can keep an eagle eye on groceries, dining out, fuel, or whatever categories you need to keep an eagle eye on…without even opening the app!

[marqueetrees]

This is a great video! Haha definitely reminds me of when I first started using YNAB; I was definitely expense tracking, not budgeting. Tip #1 is actually how I broke the cycle. That's still one of my favorite features of YNAB - being able to look at a certain time period and see the average spent. When I saw I was consistently overspending in X category, I could look at the average I *actually* spent and budget the proper amount at the beginning of the month. Really enjoy your videos, always super helpful and entertaining. Thanks for sharing!!

[daisylua]

These videos are super helpful, thanks! The music in the background is driving me kinda cray cray though :')

[kerstinshadow]

So well explained!

I did expense tracking for 3 months. As first step.

Then I defined a realistic budget based on my spendings. And reduced the weekly trip to the mall / shopping center to a monthly trip.

[mruppity]

I've been using YNAB since 2005, it took me quite a few years to get to budgeting, but I can now see I've moved back to expense tracking