The Sweet Sound of YNAB Working

Fabricio Quagliariello lives in Buenos Aires. By day, he’s a freelance software engineer and, in his spare time, he plays with his band, Corazoncito Darky.

Although he earns enough to get by, money used to be a pain-point. He said, “I had a decent salary, but I was just too messy with spending. I felt like I was out-of-control with money. I couldn’t save, the credit cards bills were fatter every month, and I couldn’t clearly visualize where the money was going.”

He’d tried tracking his expenses to regain control, but Fabricio soon realized that he was missing out on a key ingredient to financial success: planning.

That’s when he tried his hand at budgeting (although he was so averse to the idea that he couldn’t bring himself to call it that!). Fabricio said, “I tried to do some ‘spending planning’ on paper—I called it that because I couldn’t imagine ‘budgeting.’ ”

But, pen and paper didn’t work for Fabricio, and neither did a spreadsheet. Not one to give up, he turned to Google, and that’s when he discovered YNAB. YNAB fit just right. Fabricio said, “The usability of the app is great, and the method is really pragmatic.”

So, he dug in. Fabricio said, “I wanted to buy a vintage baritone sax for my music.”

And, that’s what he did. Not only did Fabricio pay cash for the sax, he paid off all of his credit card debt and saved more than $2,600 for an emergency fund. He said, “After using YNAB, I went from being in debt to buying something I wanted to have for years—a vintage baritone sax for my jazz, plus all the paraphernalia. The instrument cost USD $4,200. That may not sound like much in the U.S. but, in Argentina, it’s a good amount of money.”

Sax in hand, Fabricio’s changed his tune about money. He said, “I finally have control of my spending, and I can plan ahead.”

Now, he’s excited to save up enough cash to take a three-month sabbatical from work, travel to the U.S. for vacation, and—of course—add to his collection of musical instruments.

Fabricio said, “Using YNAB was a life-changing decision.”

If you’ve got big dreams to fund, budgeting might be just the ticket. Try our free, 34-day trial and start saving, today!