You Can Do Big Things!

Ever feel like your money is always teetering on the edge, just one unexpected expense away from disaster?
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When I started using YNAB back in 2006, I was in credit card debt and had no idea how long it was going to take me to pay it off. Adding more weight to my shoulders, I had no savings and was constantly blindsided by things like car repairs and vet bills. I felt like my financial situation was on pins and needles, and it was just a matter of time until one of them poked me again.

I remember reading about YNAB’s Four Rules—they made perfect sense and gave me a clear path forward. My initial goals were to save a $1,000 emergency fund and pay off my credit card debt. But of course, my subconscious chimed in about the bigger strides: there was no way I could ever get a month ahead. That seemed impossible. 

Despite these doubts, I kept working those four simple habits, rinse and repeat.

Eventually, I got two months ahead, built an even bigger emergency fund, and paid off all my debt—not just my credit card, but my car and my mortgage.

Looking back, I had no idea what I was capable of accomplishing. I achieved big things with my money, but if you had told me that at the beginning, I would have thought you were crazy.

You might be wondering if you can achieve similar financial victories. I know I’m not alone in feeling this way at the start of my journey. Several factors can stop people from achieving big financial goals:

1. Societal expectations about spending.
2. The way we talk to ourselves about money.
3. Our tendency to think in binary terms—living in color but making decisions in black and white.

Let's walk through a few examples and explore how you can take control and accomplish your financial goals, step by step.

Paying cash for a new(er) car

‍What society says: 

• “Everyone has a car payment.” 
• “You’ll always have a car payment.” 
• “Only rich people pay cash for cars.”

What we say to ourselves: “I can’t pay cash for a car, that’s nuts. I’m still trying to pay off the car I’m driving now!”

The black and white conclusion: “Since I can’t pay cash, I’ll have to carry a payment, and that’s ok because everyone has a payment.”

But what happens if we paint our solutions in color?

Living in color: 

Say your car payment is $400. Admittedly, it’d be tough to save another $400 a month while making those payments. But let’s say you have 3 years left on the loan. In the meantime, you could save $200 a month. Over 3 years, that would give you $7,200—a solid down payment on your next car. Maybe next time, you could opt for a three-year loan instead of a five-year one.

Or….

You could add $200 to the payment. Maybe that means you’d pay it off in 18 months instead of three years. Then you could start saving $600 a month! You’d be saving at a quick pace and, in three years, have over $20,000!

Or…

Buy a good used car instead of a new one… Or maybe you can get by with one car for a while.

The point is, there are lots of options once you stop listening to societal messages and start thinking outside the box.

Paying off a mortgage early

This is the other one you hear about often.

What society says: “Everyone carries a mortgage, and usually for 30 years.”

What we say to ourselves: “I can’t pay it off early; it’s too big!”

The black-and-white conclusion: “It’s 30 years or nothing!”

Living in color:

Maybe you had to take a 30-year mortgage to afford the payments at the time. That’s fine—smart, even. But what if it’s been a while and you can pay a bit more now? Can you add $50 to the principal with each payment? What impact does that have? Does it reduce the term to 28 years, or maybe even to 26? That’s still paying it off early.

Again, there are always more options than it first may seem. You're not boxed into one reality!

If you think big things are impossible, go back to the drawing board. Check your math.

When we talk about big expenses—paying off a mortgage early, saving for a big trip, or paying cash for a car—we can’t ignore basic math. The less you earn, the harder these goals seem. If you don’t have a lot of financial margin, I get it; it’s tougher for sure.

However, in my experience with YNAB workshops, I’ve found that people who think they don’t earn enough to do big things often haven’t done all the math. Many times, they only consider their income. To get the full picture, you need to get a clear view of your spending too.

So, start by tracking both your spending and your income. Once you have the complete picture, you can make more accurate decisions. When I first started using YNAB, I was amazed at what I could accomplish with my income. Tracking my spending opened my eyes to the hidden margin I had.

Some prefer putting pencil to paper! Clarify your goals and priorities, organize your expenses, and explore your feelings about finances with YNAB's free Change Your Money Mindset workbook and email series.

If you’ve done the math and still find little margin, then right-size your goals.

Early on, what felt like big goals to me seem much smaller now. I didn’t manage to pay cash for a car all at once—it took several cars to reach that point.

If you can’t pay cash for a new car, could you save for a used one? If a $1,000 emergency fund feels out of reach today, aim for $500. The goal is to open your mind to the possibility that you can do a little more.

Spending as a practice

When I first started with YNAB, big goals overwhelmed me. Now I know why: I had no practice making these kinds of decisions. I got better by making small decisions over and over again.

• “Should I put the last $17 here or there?”
• “I’m short $35 for this, where can I move that from?”
• “There’s an extra $21.47 in this category, I think I’ll move it to groceries.”

Those little decisions (and at times, bigger trade-offs) helped build my spending decision muscle. First it’s $17, then $35, then it’s $100, and that feels easy. Before you know it, it’s $500, and then that gets easy too.

Just be the Karate Kid: wax on, wax off. Make one decision, then another, all while prioritizing the money you have to align with the life you want.

At its core, intentional spending is a practice. Master the small decisions, and you'll be well-prepared for the big ones.

When you think of spending as a practice, it becomes thoughtful and more joyful—it’s more than just the moment you buy something. It’s preparing for a goal, weighing it against other priorities, assessing needs, and, finally, enjoying that you made it happen.

‍Discover the ‘why’ behind your financial tendencies with the YNAB Spending Personality Quiz. Gain a clear picture of your spending habits and see how you can grow!

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YNAB IRL: Finding the key to freedom

Baba S., a clinical psychologist residing in California, confronted his debt head-on and used YNAB to transform money fights into productive collaborations.

My wife and I sat down one night around 2018 and had a heart-to-heart talk about debt. I confessed to her that I had over a quarter million dollars in student loans, and she tallied up more than $40,000 in consumer debt. It was the most difficult conversation we had ever had. I can still feel the intense shame I felt then for burdening my family with my Dark Debt Secret. Afterward, though, things got better.

YouTube introduced us to YNAB.
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Three months and a hundred arguments later, we had found our roles as budgeting partners. We buckled down through job changes, raising a child, and a global pandemic. We lost hope and figured out how to get it back. We went to work and got more work. And went to work again. Eight years later, we logged on, tapped the key for our final debt payment, and then cranked our favorite song by The Who: "I'm Free."
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YNAB is the BEST tool for changing your life! [It's] a life skill, not just a money skill. The better I budget, the more I give to others, the more I can help my family, and the more I can grow my life.
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Thank you YNAB for the support and for giving us the key to freedom—our budget literally saved our marriage, our home, and our family.

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