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Friday, October 2, 2009

Fabuless Birthday Bash DAY 2: YNAB! {CLOSED}

Here we are in DAY TWO of our Birthday Bash... this is so much fun!! Today I am pleased to bring back the sponsor of the VERY FIRST giveaway we had here at Fab Frug.



If you read my first post about YNAB, you'll see that I had just found the program in February. It is one of the things that I was so glad I had been using when my husband was laid off in April. By that time, we had been budgeting, and had been paying our bills on the prior months income, just one aspect of YNAB methodology that I learned during the FREE YNAB-U course. We've been able to continue this during the last 6 months of unemployment. It has truly been a blessing to us.

SO, here is what you need to know!

Instead of reactive budgeting (pay all the bills, see what's left and spend it with out much of a plan), this is total PROACTIVE budgeting.

Look at the register... looks familiar, right? It basically works just like Quicken, but here is the beautiful part...
THE BUDGET SCREEN! I Love it! You can use the default categories, or change them to fit your needs (easily). Then you input how much you have available to spend in each category, until your top number (amount available for the month) says zero! As you enter in transactions to your register, it automatically updates your budget screen to let you know if you've gone over or under.

With YNAB Pro you can:
  • import transactions from your bank (the same way you did it with Quicken!)
  • schedule recurring transactions
  • easily split transactions
  • track all of your account balances in one easy to read interface
  • monitor your spending trends
  • compare spending from one category to another
  • never worry about being forced to "upgrade" as the old version retires (think: Quicken)... every time there is an upgrade, you get it for free! FOREVER!!!
This is the electronic way of "envelope budgeting"... it is easy to use, and easy to look at and you'll always know right where you stand!

Now for the fun part.


The good folks over at You Need A Budget, have agreed to giveaway one FREE download of YNAB Pro!!! This is a $49.95 program! AND YOU COULD HAVE IT FOR FREE!

This time we're only offering FOUR ways to enter (read this if you need to know how to leave a comment).

1 - Tell us how much you budget for groceries each month and how many peeps are in your family (this should be very insightful for everyone!)

2 - Become a NEW subscriber via or or become a Fabulessly Frugal Follower.

3 - Sign up for YNAB U.

4 - Blog about our giveaway and leave a comment with a link (or email if you don't have a blog and cc: fabulesslyfrugal {at} gmail {dot} com)


THE RULES:

* You MUST leave a separate comment for EACH entry (duplicates/invalid entries will be deleted).
* The contest ends at 12:01 am MST Sunday morning (only lasts 48 hours!).
* Winner will be chosen via random.org and announced Sunday evening. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize!


PS - can't wait to see if you've won?? Want to just get your own download right now? My fab friends at YNAB are offering a 15% discount through the month of October - just enter:

FRUGAL

at check out and save an additional $7.50 on the download! SWEET!!




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45 comments:

Jenny said...

September budget for my family of 6 was $300!!!! It was tight and October budget is $350.

Marisha said...

My husband and I budget around $200, we like to eat! (:

Misty Makes said...

I really need a budget. I've been couponing since 3/2009, but still havent sat down and figured out where the "after bills money" is going.

Eric Rogers said...

We have 3 people and budget about $250.

Amber said...

we have 4 people in our family and have a budget of $300 for everything. It could easily be lower, but I really like to cook, and I just can't sacrifice some of my fancy ingredients. c'est la vie!

Brandy said...

I hate to admit this.. but I don't budget. It gets us in trouble often, but I could TOTALLY use this program. We are a family of 5 (my husband has QUITE the appetite) and I think we spend around $400 on groceries.. which I'd like to get LOWER!

Tyree said...

I don't have an "offical budget" (I know but that's why I want to win right"?!) But I have aways had the unoffical budget of try not to spend most of the time. It works for me most of the time and with our family of five we spend between $30-$80 a week on groceries, some months I splurge while others I may not shop at all.

Unknown said...

I spend almost a $1000 on groceries for a family of eight. The sad part is I've been couponing since March. I must be doing something wrong! ;)

Crazy Mom of 6 said...

I so need this we are on such a tight budget it isnt even funny.we budget 400 dollars for a family of 6 I know we need more but that is all we have!

Melissa said...

I dont budget very well-- havent found a good system I like yet. (Bad I know!) We spend about 200 for groceries for us two and our 10 month old.

joylyn said...

I don't have an official budget, but working on figuring this out. We probably spend about $250/month for a family of 4.

Brandy said...

Signed up for YNAB U! (and the newsletters!) :o) Can you tell I really NEED this?!

Brandy said...

Ok - now i've blogged about the giveaway. Thanks for the opportunity! :o)

Unknown said...

our budget is $350/month for a Family of 5

Heidi and Ben Daniel said...

Family of 5, budget is $320.

Unknown said...

My husband & I budget for about $200, but sometimes we go over! Sometimes, I honestly don't know where our money goes since it's just the two of us! I can only imagine once we have a family!!

Unknown said...

I signed up for the YNAB U, looks interesting, will have to read thru it later. I saved it to my favorites though! ;)

A*Waite said...

I am a follower.

A*Waite said...

Our budget is 250, that is including money to get our basic food storage off the ground too.

Cammie and Emily said...

We budget about $400 for our family of 5! I feel like its a good amount but our budget lacks in other areas and would love the help!

Warner said...

Budget?? ha, what budget. I guess it's around 250 for a fam of 4 but think I probably spend more. I really should pay more attention to what I spend. This program will be great for me.

Warner said...

I am a Fabulessly Frugal follower. I love it.

Carol said...

I'm sad to say I don't know how much we spend on groceries. It is just the two of us, but I also buy kid food for our granddaughter's frequent visits. :)

Rachel A said...

There are 5 of us and I budget $400 for food we eat everyday and also my stockpile.

Sheri said...

There are 6 of us, my budget is $450 per month. I am new to couponing and my goal is to get it down to $250 each month.

Malinda said...

We budget 250 for groceries and 100 for eating out (for 3). I haven't started couponing yet... and so I want to get this number down!

Malinda said...

Google Friend Connect follower

Malinda said...

I signed up for YNAB U

Malinda said...

I blogged about the giveaway: http://mbirdgiveaways.blogspot.com/2009/10/you-need-budget-giveaway.html

Jewel-e said...

We budget $200 for our family of four. Whether we stick to it or not depends on who does the grocery shopping! One of us, who shall not be named (Ahem....hubby) seems to struggle with staying within the allotted amount. At least he likes to cook, right?

Jewel-e said...

I am definitely subscribed!

Jewel-e said...

I'm signed up for UNAP U! Thanks for posting! This is just what we need right now!

Becky said...

I budget $400 a month for my family of 4 however I NEVER sp[end that much. I just budget extra so it can become fun money after that, or I add it to next months food budget so I can use the extra towards debt. I used YNAB at my work and I would LOVE to have it at home!

Cindy Ridge said...

Wow, I've been spending about $450 for 2 of us, and I feel I'm a great coupon user. Of course I buy lots of extra stuff for my friends and family too! I guess I need to tighten the belt a little.

Kim said...

I subscribe via email too!

Kim said...

I have been couponing about a month and have honestly not kept track! I think I have cut my grocery bill in half. The program would be so helpful!

nicole said...

I don't budget either, which is such a bad thing. But worse, I can't even seem to devote the time to couponing when I know there is so much money to be saved. Either way, I average about $250 for our family of four each month at the grocery store.

Justina said...

I spend about $300 for my family of 4 and would like to learn to lower our food costs!!

Justina

Heather said...

We don't have an official budget, but we spend between $350-$450/ month for a family of 5. I'm new to couponing and would love to lower our budget! I have a child with lots of food allergies, so it seems harder now to stay within a low budget.

Stephanie.Fitness said...

I really need one of these babies! I've been trying to budget my financials, but it's so hard when you don't have a good program to help you out. I have my own system, but then I fall behing on it and then I have to play catch up. My grocery budget really depends on how much I coupon. Some months I do really good and others I procrastinate. I really just need to buckle down and COUPON ALL THE TIME!! :D

Stephanie.Fitness said...

I'm a follower! But I'm a follower on my Frugal blog which is www.myfrugallifestyle.blogspot.com

Cheryl_hiccups said...

I'm graduating out of building my stockpile mode, so now I'm trying to figure out how little I can spend to just maintain the stockpile.

It is a challenge to figure out how much I spend on groceries, because I lump groceries, toiletries, clothes and gifts together in my one envelope system.

This month I'm taking out $400 for all those catagories for my family of six. (And that includes a 4 year old birthday party.) When the cash is gone. I'm done. :D

Brenda Campbell Hansen said...

I budget $40 a week for our family of 7, so about $160 a month, and that includes stockpiling. If I don't spend it all, I put it towards the next weeks grocery budget. I LOVE to coupon and save HUNDREDS every month, and have built up quite a food storage.

Brenda Campbell Hansen said...

I am a follower

Christy said...

I honestly have no clue how much we spend each month on food...that's why this program would be so useful. We definitely need a budget!