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| You Need A Budget Pro - Personal Finance Software Program | 
 enlarge | From: You Need A Budget
Category: Software
Buy New: $49.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 413
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows Xp
Media: CD-ROM
Model: 1.2.6
UPC: 793573437488
ASIN: B000QO76HU
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Just what the doctor ordered October 21, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
You ever get the sense of helpless fatalism as you feel your household finances spiralling out of control? And when you try valiantly to communicate it with your blissfully unconcerned spouse, he/she makes some ridiculously unobtainable budget goal (from now on we'll live on half your salary and save the rest!) and then doesn't change any of her spending habits to achieve this?
Well, this software will be just what the doctor ordered.
I originally bought Microsoft Money (because that was the only thing the local shop carried). I spent the first 2 days starting and restarting and re-restarting my budget because I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Even the simplest things took forever, and even then was only achieved by Herculean effort. I eventually gave up and discovered YNAB Pro on this site and was instantly struck by the near unanimous ovation given by its users. So I gave it a go.
This package is delightfully user friendly. Even without a 'Dummy series guide' (like you need if you want to use Money, because its included manual is so inadequate) or even reading the included manual, I was able to quickly set up a budget - it was all so intuitive and common sensical. Really a breath of fresh air.
Filling in entries is a breeze (as it should be), setting up budgets is a breeze, setting up master and sub categories for expenditures is a breeze, and it has a very helpful feature to handle 1) reimbursements, for example, where you might pay x dollars for a doctor's fee but later get y dollars back on medical insurance, and 2) split bills, where you might have spent x dollars, but not all for the same category. Helpful little things like this shows the programmer really thought this through, while at the same time keeping the whole package as simple as possible.
The only reason I am not giving it 5/5 is the limited range of reports you can currently create.
But I understand this product is continuously being updated (and future updates are free), so this might not be a problem for long.
 Maybe I'm not the one you want to ask... October 12, 2007
1 out of 28 found this review helpful
Honestly, I haven't tried the other ones that are available, so I don't know how this one compares. It seems fairly user friendly. I'm just bitter because the day after I spent a few hours identifying each bank transaction I had so that the software could organize my expenditures, I found out my bank does all this for free with online banking enrollment. However, I haven't tried that yet either. Good luck.
 good solid program. October 8, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
At first I was a little discouraged with the program in trying to get my previous 6 months expenses into the program... but once i figured out, there turned out to be many great features that are kinda hidden and take some uncovering... plus this program has a great forum for one on one help by the creators, just another added bonus.
Great product - does what it says! September 17, 2007
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
I give YNAB five stars because it is a great product for those seeking to control their spending. If you've never budgeted your finances before according to the "envelope" system (what I call it), I recommend this item as products like MS Money and Quicken are poorly lacking. YNAB follows four rules of cash flow that I believe that everyone should follow. Rule #1 is especially unique and can save a lot of stressing over finances. YNAB does what it says. I commend Jesse for creating the system and the programmer for designing Jesse's system into a program like Pro.
One thing that needs to be mentioned, however,(and which gives me mixed feelings) is that YNAB is a product that budgets your money, but does not keep track of what you have in your accounts. Again, to be fair to YNAB, it doesn't claim to do this so it would be unfair to expect it from the program. For those looking for a program that will budget your money, let you follow your accounts and easily reconcile them then YNAB may not be your thing. I currently decided to go back to my former envelope budgeting software program (for a while, anyway) because I'm one of those people who like to follow my accounts as well as budget my money using the same program. However, the downside to the program I'm using is that it also doesn't follow Jesse's (the creator of the program) Rule #1 of the cash flow system, which makes very practical sense to me. You certainly can't go wrong using YNAB if you're looking to simply budget your money. I intend to follow up with it as it progresses and hopefully there will be added features for those who want to follow their finances a little more closely. I am one of those people who like to use one program to follow my finances instead of two or three, but that's just me. I especially wish that there was a way to easily reconcile, at least.
Again, I give YNAB five stars for doing what it promises. Here's to YNAB's future! MS Money and Quicken could take a few lessons from YNAB.
UPDATE: I just read that account tracking will be implemented into the software. This will be a really great plus! Hooray! :)
 Overrated August 22, 2007
3 out of 117 found this review helpful
Frankly, I don't get all of the glowing reviews. I got the software, installed it, and started keeping track of everything. I got to the point where I opened up the app to enter the days receipts and when I pulled up the reports I said to myself, "Yeah, I knew that", and haven't opened the application since then.
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