Don't Separate Money and "Life"

This post is adapted from YNAB's twice-monthly newsletter, Loose Change.
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There’s an old game where children roll a big wooden hoop and whack it with a stick to keep it moving. I know this because one summer I took a break from playing NBA Jam to attend historical re-enactment camp at an old farm down the street. There, we churned butter for hours and took part in other unrewarding pastimes like tying straw onto old clothespins to make doll hair.

(Mostly, we just stared at the tiny outhouse with awe and terror.)

Sometimes when people talk about keeping up with their ‘finances,’ I think of us whacking the hoop down the street, trying to keep it from toppling over. Of course, I know what they’re getting at: you check in on your money, make sure the amounts are headed in the right direction, deal with the requisite tax paperwork.

But is this all—to be a successful administrator of your money? Who are you working for?

Is it the you of five years ago? 

We don’t talk about managing a marriage because 1) that sounds gross and 2) we recognize that it’s a living, changing relationship. Putting a marriage on autopilot would not be a successful strategy, and it wouldn’t be much fun either. At a basic level, we know that we need to pay attention to the things we care about so that we can bring our intelligence, creativity, and intuition. The attention itself brings forth these qualities.  

Part of what YNAB eradicates is this artificial separation between money and your “life.” You went to work too many days (or someone did) to not care or appreciate how you spend.

Money is like an architecture for experiences that we have in life: where we live, how we live, the degree to which we can take care of ourselves or others, the things we get to try or see.

This doesn’t mean that more money is always better (see Succession). The more you know yourself, nonjudgmentally, the more your spending can solve current problems and fill needs. It’s like when someone gets you a really thoughtful gift and this inner part of you leaps in joy and recognition. Spending should feed that part in you and in others. (Disclaimer: I also buy stuff like printer paper!)

At YNAB, the way we teach people to know themselves and spend well is to give every dollar a job. The practice takes care of the good stuff that “managing” your money does—prevent overspending, pay your bills on time, but it also goes so much further.

You decide, in small and very manageable ways, how you want to spend, which means you decide how you want to live. It’s a lot more satisfying than continuing to hit some old hoop down the road.

Give your money the attention it deserves with YNAB, a spendfulness app that lets you prioritize both your wants and your needs. Try it free for 34 days and never look back!

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YNAB IRL: Living and saving at the same time

Renada sent us this postcard from Minnesota where she's figuring out a balance "between being prepared for the future and also knowing there is life to be lived right now."

‍Before YNAB, all spending was bad spending. I didn't really know how much money I had, I just knew it couldn't be enough and so spending any of it felt scary. After YNAB, I know how much I have and I know that I can spend some of it on important parts of my life.
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As a single mother by choice, I have one income and two kids to support, but YNAB gave me the tools to live and save at the same time. It was especially helpful during the times when income and spending shifted, which happened a lot during the pandemic. Now that things are more stable, it's helping me plan for our annual ‘escape the MN winter’ vacation while also planning for college and retirement.
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What tradeoffs do you make to prioritize the important stuff?
I live in a small house with a small mortgage but I'm able to do a lot of things out of the house—classes, the gym, trips, restaurants—when I need to escape. We do a lot of road trips so that we can travel more often and typically only fly once a year.
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‍What category in YNAB most represents your values?
I'd say my emergency fund, not just the category but the fact that it is minimally funded. There's enough there that it would be helpful but not so much that it would get me through literally any emergency. It represents the balance I've learned to draw between being prepared for the future and also knowing there is life to be lived right now.
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Anything else to share?
I'm hoping to retire early and YNAB has been a big part of that being a possibility. By letting me see how much money I needed to live on, it also helped me see how much I could be setting aside for retirement.

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