Money Stories

When I was 18 years old, I took out $80K to go to an art school that cost more every year than what my parents made annually.  I Wanted to Be an Animator as Long as I Can Remember I knew I wanted to be an animator as soon as I realized cartoons were hand …

Jacob and Connor thought home ownership would never happen. They made good money, but it never seemed to accumulate into a pile big enough for a down payment. Then with a simple three-step plan to save $30,000 in one year, that all changed. The word “down payment” has always given me a tinge of fear …

I came across Dana’s story  on the YNAB Fans Facebook group and couldn’t get it out of my head. It’s got a warmth that holds you like a hug. You’ll meet Dana Kay—and you might just love her as much as we do real quick.  Dana’s Story I went to the store the other day …

When you’re in the middle of wrangling your finances into shape, sometimes an inspirational money story (or nine) is just the boost you didn’t know you needed. Here are real stories of people that made it to the other side to bring you a nudge of hope, inspiration, motivation, and stick-to-it-ness in your own money …

Angela Stevens is a Beach Body coach and fitness enthusiast. She lives with her husband and four kids. Learn how she broke the paycheck to paycheck cycle after discovering YNAB back in 2013. We were a family of six living paycheck to paycheck, and it seemed emergencies were always coming up. Whether it was a …

Andrew Abela is the dean of the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. He has an MBA, a PhD, and years of experience of managing a work budget. But when it came to managing his budget at home, it was complicated and stressful. How Hard Could a Home Budget Really Be? …

Susan is 73 years old, living in the DC metro area, and using YNAB to float through the tricky maze of managing her money in retirement. Here’s her story.  My Unexpected “Retirement” In 2010, I became “retired”—a little earlier than I had planned. After a successful career, my company did some restructuring and I was …

With stay-at-home orders and normal business flipping on its head during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost jobs, went on furlough, started doing remote work, or had to readjust their lives to accommodate a pay cut.  When Arron Ramsey’s hours as a programmer were abruptly cut from full-time to just eight hours a week, it took …

Many YNAB users get started when they’re faced with a foreboding future ahead. It might be just feeling completely overwhelmed with their finances, or facing an emergency where they need to make some financial changes. That’s precisely what happened to today’s YNAB success story, Liz Huburtise. Liz had tried budgeting before, but an illness pushed …

Honestly, it’s hilarious that I work for a company with the word “budget” in its name. The word alone used to give me a stomachache that was a nice mix of stress and guilt. I would feel the walls closing in at the thought of having to check a spreadsheet to see what I was …

When you find a life partner, the chances of finding someone with the exact same financial habits and opinions is slim. In fact, you’re probably more likely to get eaten by a shark, or get hit by lightning. Upon thinking a little further and with absolutely zero scientific backing, it might be near impossible that …

Having a baby is one of the most expensive life changes that many of us will go through in our lives. Between the actual medical expenses you rack up in childbirth and the cost of raising a child, it’s enough to encourage anyone to start a budget. For Jessica Fisher, that was quite literally the …