If you don't yet have a high-yield savings accountВ consider opening one, such as Marcus by Goldman Sachs High Yield Online Savings, and earning 16 timesВ more interest than traditional accounts. But you could also use the money on non-essential things like dining out or traveling. Ideally, you'd use this extra money to increase your savings, especially if you don't have an emergency fund. On the other hand, if you have more income leftover after listing your expenses, you can increase certain areas of your budget. The only downside is that this product is no longer supported, but I have yet to find a bug in the program. It's a good idea to reduce these costs and regularly make adjustments to the amount of money you spend so you can avoid debt. If you can get your hands on this version, it will save you money over the current YNAB5 and beyond, because this version allows for Dropbox syncing, which is free. This may include reevaluating how much you spend on groceries, household goods, streaming subscriptions and other flexible costs. You should review your variable expenses to find ways to cut costs in the amount of $300. If you notice that your expenses are higher than your income, you'll need to make some adjustments.ДЇor instance, let's say your expenses cost $300 more than your monthly net pay.

The last step in creating a budget is to compare your net income to your monthly expenses. If you find that the average you spend on groceries each month is $433, you may want to round up and set the spending limit to $450. I found the program itself is well designed, reliable, and easy to use. The beauty of YNAB is that it is flexible and dynamic, and allows you to adjust your spending plan as you need to. Which is the problem: once you set it, you forget it and you drift away from your spending plan. To calculate the average amount you spend on groceries, for example, add up all of your grocery spending during the past three months and divide by three. Most budget programs are set it and forget it. But fixed utilities, such as electric and gas, and variable costs, such as dining and household goods, often fluctuate month-to-month, so you'll need to do some math to find the average.ДЇor these categories and any where you spending changes from month-to-month, determine the average monthly cost by looking at three months worth of spending. But before you get creeped out, think of the possibilities: the closer you are to your budget, the closer you are to your financial goals. Your budget goes where you goon all your devices, all the time.

With YNAB, if you have your phone (and we know you do), then you have your budget. For example, debt repayment on a mortgage or auto loan will cost the same each month. We hate to break it to you, but youвЂ™re out of excuses. You can look up your spending on bank and credit card statements.ДЇixed expenses are easier to list on your budget than variable expenses since the cost is generally the same month-to-month. After you separate fixed and variable expenses, list how much you spend on each expense per month.

You need a budget 4