Category Archives: iPhone

YNAB's Mobile Apps – More than Tracking your Spending

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At YNAB, we know you’re on the go. We are too. That’s why we’re so excited about our mobile apps for iPhone and – our latest addition – for Android.

When I talk to people in webinars or through coaching, I hear a lot of excitement about being able to enter transactions on the go. I must admit that it is pretty cool – I love being able to enter my gas station fill up really quickly instead of taking the receipt to be another scrap of paper in my pocket. I loved being out on our summer vacation this August, hitting three stops (lunch, an antique shop, and ice cream…) and knowing it was all entered in my budget before we even got back to the inn, let alone home from the weekend.

We share your excitement for entering spending on the go, and we’re always working on making that process even more seamless for you.

But the mobile apps are about more than entry on the run – they’re about taking YNAB’s Four Rules with you wherever you go.

Perhaps the most important point we discuss in the Intro webinar is the idea that, with a budget and YNAB, the most powerful lever for change in your finances is making your spending decisions based on your category balances. With a YNAB mobile app, you can do this wherever you go. At the shoe store and wondering if that fabulous new pair are in the budget? Grab your iPhone and check your Category Balance. Out and about and wondering if you’ve budgeted enough to stop at the fancy restaurant or only enough for quick bite of fast food? Get your Droid out and pull up your budget.

When you can check your category balance on the run, you’re taking Rule One – Give Every Dollar a Job – with you. You won’t be spending dollars that have some other job, because you’ve got all the information with you. Spending this way is how you put Rule One into action in your daily life, unlocking its real power.

You’ll also know how well you’ve prepared for that rainy day using Rule Two. You’ll know exactly how much you have to work with before needing to invoke Rule Three and roll with your overspending. And by looking at those category balances before you spend, you’ll get closer and closer to building (or keeping) that Buffer and getting out (or staying out) of the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle – Rule Four bliss.

So go ahead and revel on the joy of entering your spending on the go…but don’t forget to check those category balances first!

- Todd
YNAB Coach

YNAB for iPhone will soon be "geo-smart" with Payees

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I’m pretty excited about this. You can probably guess what we’re going for here :)

Screenshot of YNAB for iPhone settings page

This will speed up transaction-entry time dramatically.

And if you’re a fAndroid, you’ll want to make sure you’re notified when we release (no, I won’t give an estimate).

We’ll continue to improve YNAB for iPhone. Nothing’s helped me stay more on top of my budget this year.

YNAB for iPhone listed #1 for What's Hot in the App Store!

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YNAB for iPhone has the #1 spot for “Hot” in the App Store. I knew those sexy icons would pay off some day.

And this is even before we push out 1.1 (which is in beta at the moment, including transfers, flags, password protection, and a persistent sync password option).

Woot! Thanks everyone for your support!

And to the left of “Bruce Lee: Dragon Warrior”. This obviously means that Apple considers YNAB hotter than Bruce Lee:

YNAB for iPhone in Apple's Hands, Awaiting Approval!

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I’ve been using YNAB for iPhone for several months now. The experience has been fantastic. The software is extremely well-done (big hats off to Sebastian — basti in the forums).

On this day of First App Store Submission Ever, I only have one big regret: not getting a mobile budget solution out there quicker.

I’ve been closer to my budget in these past few months than I was in the prior six years (I was really close to the budget when YNAB wasn’t called YNAB, just “the budget”, and was just mine and Julie’s. Manual transaction entry, a single register for all accounts, one massive budget page…).

This “closeness” has manifested itself in many ways:

1) I’ve turned down purchases.
2) I’ve been more thoughtful while shopping.
3) I’ve sold YNAB to two cashiers (“What’s that?” — “Oh, I enter every transaction into YNAB. It’s some software I created to help people become really awesome at managing their money…”).

I actually fire up YNAB less than I used to. (Which wasn’t all that often really. We’re a YNAB-minimalist household, to be honest.) I’m staying on top of my spending and entering “receipts” without it.

It’s been fantastic. Our average spending has declined. We’ve managed to stay within our grocery budget three out of the last four months. (Those of you who know the kind of gremlins I deal with in the grocery store — the kind that throw things in my cart with me unaware — will appreciate that Everestian feat.)

Anyway, I’m sold, hook line and sinker.

So now I’ll take the next two hundred words to sell you :)

No, not really.

I wanted to announce the price. We sent an email to those people that have told us they’re interested in hearing about the iPhone launch the moment it happens. The #1 question I received back was about pricing.

It’ll be $9.99

Some earlier emailers got the wrong price from me. I told them $9.95, which would have been my choice, but Taylor called me just a few moments ago and let me know it’s actually $9.99. Apple demands that every price end in “.99″ — fascinating, no? I thought so.

Earlier today I received a tweet from a beloved Twitter(er) letting me know that anything over $5 they simply won’t buy.

I cringed.

Well before we dove into the iPhone/Touch/iPad foray, people were begging us to build something for their device (I’ll say iPhone going forward, but it can be for any of the Apple devices). We weighed the pros (happy users!) with the cons (major development resources!) and decided to go for it.

Here’s the business skinny of things. The app is priced at a point where it justifies our efforts. But there are two sides to the justification: the business (we think it should be priced at X because we’re pouring Y into it!) and the users (we think it should be priced at X because [insert any number of reasons]!).

Once the app is approved, it’ll be judgement day for us! We’ll either be justified in our efforts, or we won’t. Either way, YNAB users all over will be able to vote :)

Is it “worth” $9.99? Oh my gosh yes.

But we have a rule here… tattooed right on my left deltoid: “Only Happy Customers.”

To that end, our 30-day moneyback guarantee still applies. Use it for 29.6 days and if you don’t find it well worth the price paid (a pizza, a paperback, a really really fancy cup of coffee, a movie, an appetizer…) then just give us a holler. We’ll refund the purchase price in full and eat the 30% cut that the Big Apple takes right off the top.

I need to send this to PR so I can get all the wording just right, and then I’ll hit publish. Just kidding :) I’m just trying to be brutally honest with everyone. I know a lot of you have been waiting a LONG time to get your hands on the iPhone app. I hope you find it well worth your hard-earned money.

And hopefully, since the approval process can take a while, I’ll have given you enough time to budget for it. I don’t want to see that transaction logged anywhere except in the following categories:

Happiness : Productivity
YNAB : Support
Must : Have
Über : Budgeting
Budget : Awareness
Nerd : Fest

Looking forward to making the announcement that the approval process is complete. Now go sell some cashiers!