YNAB You Need A Budget

[jetshred]

Update: Demo (view in Safari or Mobile Safari on your iPhone or Touch). Download the latest version from Github.

Update Notes(3/12/10):
- Basic mobile version (for Blackberry and others)
- Homescreen icon for iPhone (you have to "Add to Homescreen" in Mobile Safari to see it)
- Red highlight only shows up when you have a negative balance for a category
- Automatically loads the basic version unless you are using an iPhone/iPod Touch/or Safari (perfect for a household with a Blackberry and an iPhone)

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Requirements:
- access to a web server that supports PHP

Instructions:
- Download latest version from here
- Unzip and place the files on your webserver.
- I included a sample budget file so at this point you should be able to access index.php in your browser
- Replace the sample budget file with yours. In YNAB click File -> Export. Then CSV. Upload the Budget file to the server overwriting the existing file.

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I saw this last week and it made me want to attempt something similar for myself so my wife and I could view the site on our iPhones. It's a simple PHP app. I do a CSV export in YNAB when I am finished working in it and upload the budget file to my web server. The web app reads directly from the CSV file. There is no database needed.

It needs a bit more work to be useful to others but all you will need is access to a PHP server to run it. If anyone is interested I can post the source code later this week.

screenshot1

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[Mudie]

Very nice jetshred, count me in!

[malisab]

Me too! THAT I think DH would look at. Maybe.

[adamholte]

That's pretty cool, if I had an iPhone or iPod Touch I'd be doing that. It'd be cool if you could get your data right from the ynab file dropbox. Then, you wouldn't have to export and upload.

[jetshred]

I put a demo online at http://jetshred.com/demo/. It won't look right unless you view it in Mobile Safari or Safari.

I put the project on GitHub. Feel free to contribute.
http://github.com/jetshred/YNAB-3-Mobile-Budget-Viewer

You can download the source code at GitHub. I have also attached the current version to this post. I plan on writing some basic documentation but in the meantime please ask me any questions you may have. Currently it shows the current month's budget, and right now it does not show categories with zero budgets. On the version that I am actually using I password protected it using .htaccess. I just use an FTP client to push the budget CSV file to the server, overwriting the old one each time.

[Mudie]

I put a demo online at http://jetshred.com/demo/. It won't look right unless you view it in Mobile Safari or Safari.

In case anyone is interested it works fairly good on my Blackberry. I'm going to play around with it a bit to see if I can make it work better for that browser.

[jetshred]

I'll make a version of it that will work on any mobile browser tomorrow.

[jjsouth]

Thanks for posting this! My husband got it up and running and I'll keep it current (I know a little, but not much).

This will be super helpful and shouldn't take long to update before heading out for my weekly shopping trips.

I had my husband change one thing with the red backgrounds. For instance, I budgeted $10 for school expenses like I do every month. I spent $20 this month, but my overall category balance is $150ish. But because I spent more than I budgeted, I was getting the red all over. Not a big deal, but since my overall category is not negative, I'd rather just see the whole circle be red. It just took him a few minutes to get that changed. Thanks for putting this out there.

Joyce

[jetshred]

Glad you can use it.

That hadn't crossed mind. I totally agree with the red thing. It should be based on the balance and not what's budgeted this month. I made this last night cause I couldn't sleep.bbim sure that's not the only problem.

Let me know if you find anything else.

[Mudie]

I'll make a version of it that will work on any mobile browser tomorrow.

Great! I'm looking forward to it.

Until then I got to playing around and now have the following sweetness on my Blackberry Curve.

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Clicking on it will bring me directly to a slightly modified version of your code which looks like this but I'd like to see what you come up with.

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If anyone would like the instructions on how I was able to get the YNAB icon and all set up on my Blackberry just let me know and I'll post the steps.

[U.P. North]

Does anyone know if this will work on a HTC Eris (Verizon Wireless using Google). And I don't have a website or anywhere I could store my data file. What can be done there?

[Mudie]

Does anyone know if this will work on a HTC Eris (Verizon Wireless using Google). And I don't have a website or anywhere I could store my data file. What can be done there?

Try viewing the demo on your phone to see how it looks. http://jetshred.com/demo/

The code can be modified in case it isn't completely clear.

As for having a website to place the data on?
That's the deal breaker, without it this trick won't do anyone much good I'm afraid.

[jetshred]

I think I've got something that will work better on Blackberry (as well as other mobile browsers). Unfortunately, I don't have access to a Blackberry to test it. I have it setup now so when you visit jetshred.com/demo it loads the new basic mobile page. If you access it from an iPhone, iPod Touch, or Safari on your desktop then it will automatically load the iPhone version instead.

basic version

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I had my husband change one thing with the red backgrounds. For instance, I budgeted $10 for school expenses like I do every month. I spent $20 this month, but my overall category balance is $150ish. But because I spent more than I budgeted, I was getting the red all over. Not a big deal, but since my overall category is not negative, I'd rather just see the whole circle be red. It just took him a few minutes to get that changed. Thanks for putting this out there.

Joyce

Also, the red backgrounds should work as expected now. In other words, it only shows red when you have a negative balance in a category and not when your outflow is greater than what is budgeted for the month.

And last but not least I added a YNAB icon so if you "Add to Homescreen" on your iPhone you will get the YNAB logo.

YNAB icon

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[Mudie]

I think I've got something that will work better on Blackberry (as well as other mobile browsers). Unfortunately, I don't have access to a Blackberry to test it.

Fortunately I do, and it looks great!

The double line separator helps to distinguish between the categories nicely and the bold 'left' amount is key to making that ever important number stand out.

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The only downside to this is the lack of server space for many people to place their budget, or lack of secure space anyway. I was pondering whether or not this whole approach could be done in such a way as to be able to email yourself the CSV, save it to a specific folder on your mobile device and have the page rendered on the phone? Too much of a reach or possible?

[jetshred]

I'll post a guide about security at some point, but I'll do some research and figure it out. The best solution would probably be to create a webapp that allows people to create accounts and upload their files without needing FTP.

If there is enough interest I'll consider doing it. This way no one would need a web server, everyone's data would be password protected. I should be able to make it so no one including me is able to access someone else's data (and I would not accept personal info anyway such as name, street address, etc.).

So it would go like this:
- Export file from YNAB
- Login to website on computer, upload file
- Login to website from phone

The problem with local CSV files is it makes it less portable and it would have to be an app on most devices. I may be able to make an Android app, but I know nothing about Blackberry development, and I'm just starting to learn iPhone development.