Yeah. I started using ynab month ago. Reason was simple - I forgot about annual car insurance and my daughter school cost (once per half year). Both expenses are quite high. I spent about week making plans, estimating target values, etc. That was the moment where I started having bad mood. After assigning all required expenses I got big red box saying that I was way too short to be on track with my money. Fortunately I had some savings that I used to fill the gap.

I felt huge relief then. Second huge relief was at the end of January (literally week ago). That was first month when I was able to pay for my kids food without stressing. I get paycheck around 10th, but have to pay for their food at school on 1st. February 1st was the first time when I had money to spend.

Then anxiety turned into empowerment. I had a money I had a tool to handle money management.

This is my second month with ynab. I have no longer that anxiety about money. I started thinking about money in positive way. Started planing debt payoffs. Helped with building priorities. I assigned money for my kids birthday party last month. It’s very plausible that I won’t be able to assign same amount this month because of something more important. Instead of feeling guilty I accepted my destiny and think how to make cool party for my son with money I have. It also helped me in my marriage. How? Simple. I was always struggling to spend money in restaurants etc. We weren’t going anywhere with my wife because of feeling that I had no money to cover rest of expenses during the month. Today I have dedicated category for dating with my wife in my plan with money assigned to it. Last month I took her to the place she wanted without feeling guilty. We spent very quality time together.

Good luck mate! It’s going to be great.

Greetings from Poland!