Thank You Notes: YNAB Edition

Here at YNAB, we’re thankful for our budgets, and the control, stability, and freedom they provide, every day of the year.

But in honor of Thanksgiving, I asked the YNAB team to get a little more specific about some of the things they were thankful for.

Me: YNAB Team, your budgets, sure, of course. But what are some of the other things you are thankful for? Things that help you save money, and stick with your budget, and reach your goals.

YNAB Team: Hmmm,…

Me: Watch Jimmy Fallon’s Thank You Notes. You’ll be inspired, I promise.

YNAB Team: Oh, yes. Got it.

Once I got them going—whew!—lots to be thankful for in this budgeting life of ours. If you are budgeting, I bet these little bits of gratitude will ring true:

Thank you, iPhone 7 and new MacBook Pro, for being a complete disappointment and not at all tempting to purchase.

Thank you, seven-year-old, Oliver, and four-year-old, Sydney, for eating so little that when we go to a restaurant we don’t have to order you your own food. I’m not sure how you thrive from day to day, really, but it saves us a lot of money.

Thank you, McDonald’s, for your $1 any size drinks, or should I say your $1 large Diet Cokes. Which are much, much cheaper than a Venti Starbucks in the event of a caffeine-related emergency.

Thank you, J. Crew, for getting super weird. No impulse dressy sweats for me.

Thank you, credit cards in YNAB, for being just complicated enough, that I am too lazy to use my credit card at all.

Thank you, Heather Kane, my childhood friend with kids a decade older than mine. Ryan’s old Pokemon stash will make Oliver’s Christmas so merry (and free).

Thank you, GAP Kids, for closing your store near my house.

Thank you, Trader Joe’s, for your curry sauce, pizza dough, shredded brussel sprouts, microwaveable bags of rice, and orange chicken for making dinner at our house possible.

Thank you, You Tube, for teaching my children about “unpackaging” videos, and helping them entertain each other for hours by talking step-by-step through the details of each of their toys.

Thank you, Hamilton: An American Musical, just for existing.

Thank you, for friends who budget, and completely understand when you have to move plans around, to meet up after the first of the month, when your categories are replenished.

Thank you, Emergency Fund, for the peace of mind. May you sit around and do nothing forever.

Thank you, Amazon Prime, for forcing me to think hard about my priorities nearly every day, and for always faithfully delivering them in two-days.

Thank you, Costco, for having a return policy that supports momentary lapses in budgeting judgment.

Thank you, Nintendo…for not having enough chips to make more Castlevainia cartridges when I was 7…and then, not having enough of whatever the NES Classic is made of to make more when I am now 37…never change, Nintendo.

Thank you, Courtney, for the HBO GO password, that has made breaking up with cable a lot easier. For the last three years.

Thank you, Taco Tuesday. Te amo.

Thank you, Russell Wilson #GoHawks.

Thank you, NFL for making Thursday Night Football so unappealing that I didn’t have to think twice about purchasing the NFL Network…but also, throwing those games on Twitter, just in case I need to check in on any fantasy players.

Thank you, Costco jeans. I buy clothes like a dad now, but they are cheap and I can grab

Thank you, Monthly Funding Goals, for reminding me I do need to buy groceries, and I can’t spend all my money on board games.

Thank you, Netflix. I don’t want to even think about doing the math of what all of those TV shows and straight-to-DVD-movies (Aladdin 2…really?) would have cost me at Blockbuster.

Thank you, split transactions, for letting me use eight categories for one transaction at Wal-Mart.

Thank you Direct Import, for entering transactions I was too lazy enter myself.

Thank you, Wedding Category Group, for revealing just how insane this all is.

Thank you, diaper category, for making me feel like I have control over how much my kids poop (even when I don’t).