# YNAB [You Need a Budget (YNAB)](https://www.youneedabudget.com) is a personal budgeting application based on the envelope method. It is built around four simple but sensible rules: ## Give Every Dollar a Job Assign a category to every dollar you earn; you can budget it for groceries, your dance course or your saving fund, but it *must* go somewhere. Conversely, you cannot budget money you have not earned yet. This is great because it means that every expense can be made without guilt: you know there was money in the corresponding envelope, and it will not impact other expenses. ## Embrace Your True Expenses Save for large — and sometimes unexpected — expenses, such as car reparation or an abroad trip, regularly. For instance, specifically allot some of your earnings for those expenses every month. As a result, when or if the expenses are due, you no longer have to break the piggy bank to cover them, since you prepared a stash of money in advance. ## Roll With The Punches You should strive to respect the budget you fixed, but this is not always possible. When life does not go as planned, as is often the case, you should be able to adjust your budget accordingly. If you spent too much on groceries, you can easily cover that by taking money that was budgeted for eating out. This allows you to swiftly react to unexpected circumstances and gives you flexibility. As Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder said, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." ## Age Your Money As you grow more mindful of how you spend your money, learn to spend less than you earn. Aim to spend money that is at least 30 days old. This gives you breathing room and peace of mind. No matter what happens, you know that the expenses of this month are entirely covered. --- I have been a YNAB user since 2018 now, and I believe it is well worth the price. It makes budgeting easy and straightforward. You could probably replicate it with a plain Excel sheet, but I find the pleasant user interface and the synchronisation feature too good to pass on. If you are interested in testing YNAB, they offer a free trial. Consider using my [referral link](https://ynab.com/referral/?ref=b6fAaYlC2zI6yGo1&utm_source=customer_referral): if you subscribe at the end of your trial, you and I both get a free month of YNAB.