Here Goes!

Last week while I was scrolling through some ridiculously addictive social networking software, I came across one of my friends who had just recently become a 'fan' of something called YNAB - or You Need A Budget. I was intrigued, most likely due to the fact that we really do need a budget. The old standby excel spreadsheet wasn't working, probably due to the fact that we'd draw one up at the beginning of the month never to look at it again.

So, due to my uncanny ability to find new and creative ways to procrastinate from school, I started to look into this YNAB program. Turns out, its a remarkably simple, and an almost irritatingly straightforward and intuitive way to manage money.

Rule 1: Live on last month's income
Rule 2: Give every dollar a job
Rule 3: Save for a rainy day
Rule 4: Roll with the punches

Pretty uncanny that I have those memorized after about a week and a half of using the software. There's no need for me to go into all the details of how this software works to your advantage - go check it out for yourself!

I typically wouldn't peddle products via my blog, or just in general. But I truly do think that this software, and this ideology surrounding cash flow has merit. Just by keeping close track of what we're spending this month has led to a significant decrease in our spending already. We're currently working on saving up a whole months income (which is called a buffer) so we can stop living paycheck to paycheck - I'll keep you posted on the progress...