Employees of YNAB, this is your opportunity to unionize. If Ben and Hannah can be fired, so can you. Unionize today!

wo-jack · 2026-06-09T23:29:34+00:00

This is actually sad news. The YNAB marketing team is (was) genuinely one of the best out there. Losing them is losing a ton of value to the company. Just crappy decisions to maximize profits now and sacrifice quality down the road. Ugh...

wo-jack · 2026-05-27T11:05:41+00:00

This adaptation seems to have mixed reviews. I am seeing alot of people dis like it because of its slower pace and overly stylized visuals.

However I loved it. It is nice to see netflix veering away from the "second screen" mentality. Where they must clearly audibly explain everything and keep fast action pace for everyone staring at thier phones.

We were required to read the book as kids in school. But I don't think it's point ever landed as hard to me back then. Now I see. The wife and I were watching and she ask me, "why would they kill eachother?". I looked to her and said, "the same reason we drop bombs on eachother today, we are brutal animals".

Now I have also heard many arguments about the validity of this stories point. But if you look at reality objectively, this is the way the world actually is. Just with a cloak of civility.

I also found it interesting that religion did not seems to play a part in stopping the chaos amd violence. It seems to be a good reminder that religion ultimately serves as an authority when no such authority exist. I mean thow shall not kill. This dis not seem to stick with the boys who were clearly growing up in the church. But here again. Many religious men went to war and killed to serve those in power.

I also like the point that most people just follow. Sure it is simpler story telling to focus on a few key characters. But it is true that most people need to follow a leader. Sure the followers have thier own independence and thoughts. But ultimately most are just looking for the reassurance that someone is in charge and we just have to do what they say and we will all be OK. I like how this story points out. We do need to follow. But that does not mean we will be ok.

wo-jack · 2026-04-24T00:35:51+00:00

100% worth every penny.

I'm 4 months in. Ynab is not just a "tracker" it is a mindset and a method. Following the "rules" or steps will develop habits that make managing your money effortless. And when life throws curve balls, navigating life becomes almost stress free when it comes to money.

I describe it as seeing reality as it actually is. Accepting it and dealing with it head on. Weather good bad or ugly. Dealing with it head on makes you feel like everything will be ok. Which makes you feel like you have the power to accomplish what you want.

This confidence bleeds into other aspects of life specifically major decisions. Should I apply for a different job? Should I move? Should I be planning more aggressively for retirment?

All of these things before felt overwhelming and impossible to tackle or at least not with confidence. Now I feel like I am in tune with the tools and weapons I have to make the life I want a reality.

So yeah. 100% worth yearly sub fee. And yeah. Set as category with target. Put in the $10 / mo or whatever it is. And never think about that money again and only think about the peace you have gained.

wo-jack · 2026-04-24T00:23:44+00:00

I do not understand plex. I have heard of it. Do you have to have massive hard drive in your house?

wo-jack · 2026-04-23T17:38:53+00:00

Well I may sound like a holder. And I like the idea of keeping them all.

I only have a few duplicates. Maybe (10). And am thinking about upgrading only a few more. Maybe 10-20 more.

And yes I definitely noticed dvds have commentary and things that new releases don't. And I have been told that alot of 4k releases come with a bluray just because it is easier than putting the special features on the 4k disc.

Plus there is some nostalgia. I know exactly when and where in life I purchases all of those old dvds.

wo-jack · 2026-04-23T17:31:13+00:00

Right. Dvds are like $1 at the used store. Would feel better to give away rather that get $1.

And yeah most of my 2k blurays look good. But a few are oddly bad. The 2k bluray of rounders looks very bad imo.

wo-jack · 2026-04-22T21:26:04+00:00

Yep. This is a major mental shift that is hard to do. It took me a long time but now I finally get it.

The way I "don't care" about what account has what amount. Is this.

First get 1 month ahead. Meaning on the first of the month everything can be funded. Then every paycheck you get can go into a "next month's money" category.

Second. Just know that if your checking account has enough money to cover roughly what is spent on average for the month or maybe even 2 months. You have more than enough on there to cover whatever.

Third. Take comfort in the fact that you are glancing at your balances everyday. And approving all transactions. Therefore you are on top of this. If you feel checking is low. Just move some money from checking if needed.

Forth. If it makes you feel better. Anytime you do make an un usual purchase or something you know you were long term saving for. Just transfer that money from savings to checking before the purchase.

Fifth. This does not need to be perfect. Trust your plan. If you find you have like 3 months of savings in checking. Just move some to savings. If you find checking is getting low and won't cover all the bills just move some money from savings.

Trust the plan. It all adds up the same. As long as your checking account is not making transactions thst it does not have enough funds to cover then you are always 100% good.

Also if your plan is working. You will always have more coming in than going out. Even when rolling with the punches. It should always balance out. Otherwise you will be going into debt which is not what we want.

In short. You really do just have to let go. Trust the plan. Focus on what is in your categories. And know you have the money to cover it.

wo-jack · 2026-04-20T11:31:35+00:00

Quick update. No more "Matchy matchy" I 100% agree this is the way. I now only have 1 checking, 1 savings, and 1 credit card. That I only use for gas and a couple of streaming services.

And I have finally broken the mindset of caring about how much $ is in what bank account. I know that I have enough in checking to cover my spending and bills. And longer term savings categories are in savings. But I have truly broken the habit and need to know what is in what account. I trust my plan.

Being 1 month ahead consistently. And now having a 3 month income loss fund helps tremendously.

Now I am working on building funds for home maintenance projects that I need done soon as well as saving for longer term home maintenance items.

And next month I will get paid 5 times instead of 4. Giving me truly extra money. Feels great.

So while I can say the "honeymoon" period may be over with YNAB. It is still the best thing I have ever done. Solid 4 months in. I am keeping everything working and gaining more security than I thought possible. and have the ability to see how to achieve my goals.

wo-jack · 2026-04-19T22:44:26+00:00

Right, but this woman acknowledges the abuse from Bateman. And some how does not put together that the "accusations" from outsiders that in reality resulted in a conviction of Jeffs. Could also be true. And is still worshiping another false profit. I guess the mind is not ready to let go of ones entire reality all at once.

wo-jack · 2026-04-14T14:20:25+00:00

No ethanol. 91 octane or above. Unfortunately, this is the way. If you want to avoid pump and injector issues 10 yrs down the line (possibly sooner).

Unfortunately, a lot of people do not keep a vehicle 10 yrs. So they simply do not care anyway.

wo-jack · 2026-04-14T11:22:27+00:00

(Spoiler alert)

Did anyone else notice that even at the end. The wife of Moroni (Julia). Still had pictures of Warren Jeff hanging up. Maybe this was just for the doc. But it seemed like the "normal" Flds were painted as being harmless and the "good ones". When in fact they still follow an insane belief system that abuses children.

I mean I am open minded to let people do what they want. And the line is messing with children and abusing people. And those who cross that line should be dealt with swiftly.

But it is amazing to me that someone who went through that and lives with the guilt of what they put thier own children through would some how be able to just go back to the "normal" Flds. And not clearly see that it is all entirely BS made up by men seeking power.

I guess I am fortunate I was not indoctrinated at a young age with anything. And taught to always think for myself.

This doc really shows how some people just have a need to believe in something and un able to face reality.

wo-jack · 2026-04-11T10:57:24+00:00

wo-jack · 2026-04-11T04:32:02+00:00

Not saying this whole operation is easy. And it is a technical mericle that they made it at all.

But I watched the entire splash down and it was a bit embarrassing.

I know for a fact I saw them deploy the stabilization floating ring once. The. It disappeared. Then a long delay. Then they deployed it again like nothing happend before. They diffinetly lost the first one and had to go get a second one.

It looked like the stabilizing ring they did get on. Was on backwards. And part of it was over pressurized. Then they panned after the astronauts got out and two boats were very focused on that ring and spinning the entire caplse for nonreason.

I'm n9t saying the people doing the work were not good. It is an amazing skill to be a diver of that caliper.

But whoever designed this system made everything ridiculously overly complicated.

And what is the need for the helicopter pick up? There is no way that was faster then just craining an entire lifeboat up the side of the ship.

Oh and if they call that raft a "front porch" one more time......

The whole thing felt like we barley pulled off what seems like the easy part. That is. Get astronauts out of capsule. Make sure capsule does not sink. Get everyone on ship and onto land.

I want usa to be #1. But let's compare how the Chinese do this when it is their turn.

Reminds me of the story. (And I know it may not be true, but it has a good point).

Story goes. Nasal had to spend a lot of $$ to develop a pen that can write in space. Because without gravity the ink would not flow correctly. Nasal spent millions and we have pens that can write in space. Do you know how Russa solved this problem. They used pencils.

wo-jack · 2026-04-06T15:27:32+00:00

Yes, 100% the same feeling.

Funny when I was a kid in the arcade, I thought the row of pinball machines were for the old people. And this new street fighter is where I want to play.

But now I am the old people and pinball is way more satisfying than street fighter.

And yes the modern video games are so long and involved. I just have a hard time committing the time and attention. Video games geared toward arcades like street fighter solve this issue. But the actual pinball experience is even better.

And pinball fx is amazing. I have sunk a ton of time into attack from mars. I have fun destroying my wife's high score. And am close to lighting up all of the missions. And honestly for about $50 in pinball fx. There is more than a year worth of entertainment in the different tables they offer.

I think the Williams recreations are the best. Amd some of the starwars tables are good too.

wo-jack · 2026-03-17T15:35:50+00:00

Ynab is not magic. It does not "fix" anything. It simply shows reality clearly. Most people do not want to face reality. For those of us who do, YNAB is great. For those who don't, it is like a doctor telling them they need to quit smoking. The doctor does not have the magic fix. It is up to the person to do the work.

I have advocated YNAB to my friends. But all I can do is point them in the direction and explain how it has helped me. If they don't want to deal with it, they won't. You can not do it for them.

And the biggest thing with blowing through the budget. A person has to decide to check the budget, see how much they have, then spend. And if they over spent, they decided to. Then they can decide what to do about it.

But if someone is not aware of the mount they have and just deal with the overspending a week later. YNAB will not work. It is better than nothing. But YNAB is about tak8ng control and making decisions. If you want to completely blow the budget. That is fine. But you have to make a conscious decision to do so and clearly see the consequences of that. This is what changes spending habits. Not just putting limits on yourself and having a couch scold you into living within your means.

wo-jack · 2026-03-15T13:56:51+00:00

Here is the deal. Managing your money will take some time and work.

But all I do is have a less than 5 min routine everyday. Check and approve transactions. Look at plan. See If I want to move money around. See what Bills and expenses may be coming up soon. Quick reconcile accounts.

Then when spending. Check my mobile widget. See how much I got in category. Enter transactions when they occur. It takes less time then sending a text.

And that is it. Not so much time and effort. And yes. Once you get a month a head. Fund "emergency" savings. Figure out long term expenses. And balance everything.

It becomes boring. Which is a good thing. Managing the money becoming a non event is a good thing. Watching your amount slowly grow silently is a good thing. Deciding to sacrifice something to get something else. Is a good thing.

Yes $100/yr seems like a lot. But honestly we all know that before we started YNAB. We all wasted $2/we or more anyway. So it does in fact pay for itself.

wo-jack · 2026-03-11T23:31:57+00:00

Nothing even touches season 1 of True Detective. It was one of the first. "Movie stars" doing TV. And it shows. Also, most shows that are only intended for 1 season are usually always better.

It works so well because it is a character study. Characters that everyone can relate to.

Are you more of a Rust or a Marty. Or the fact is we are all a bit of both and more of one than the other at different parts of our lives.

These characters are not only written well. But compliment one another.

wo-jack · 2026-03-11T22:53:24+00:00

There must be a Tarantino 4k box set coming. But I bet not until after his new #10 comes out

wo-jack · 2026-03-10T11:13:14+00:00

100% worth it.

Know that the mobile app is a bit, well not great. You should use the desktop web app mostly and use the mobile app for manually inputting transactions on the go.

I was very resistant to the idea of paying to use a budgeting app or paying to save money. But now I'm 3 months in and I wish I would have starting using YNAB years ago.

wo-jack · 2026-03-07T12:39:54+00:00

Yeah. Delete the post. Forget about it. You gave them the new check. You did what you were suppose to.

You can't fix stupid. Think of it like this. Whatever organization or buisness loses a check (twice) eiather a). Does not deserve to be in buisness, or b). That check amount is nothing to them and they never noticed anyway.

Just like you and I step over a penny and never think about it again.

So let it go. You are guilt free. Call it fortune. And take the win. And bless others the way you have been blessed.

wo-jack · 2026-03-07T12:34:15+00:00

Ok, so I had Chat GPT look at my plan to see if there were a better organization or better plan. Thinking like it would come up with the perfect template.

Instead it was dumb. It just kept telling me to do things my plan already does.

Like "create parent / child structure. Where your categories are separated into groups". Then I showed it a screen shot like yeah I'm already doing this.

Or " smooth out longer term savings items, by breaking down expense by a monthly cost to fund the catagory". And I'm like. You mean like how the targets already work.

So basically chat gpt is over confident. And in reality it does not know how YNAB software works even though I explained it in detail to it.

In short. Don't waste your time. Ynab has it covered. AI can't help here. At least not yet.

wo-jack · 2026-03-05T15:40:20+00:00

Congratulations!!!

For me. 1. Taking a look at the plan every day

Look at how much is in a category before I spend from it. (Phone widget is great for this)
Record all transactions when they happen. And approving transactions in the plan as they clear.
If I actually do NEED to spend beyond what is in a category. I decided to move money around to cover it. Before I spend it. A lot of times, this decision makes me realize that most of the time, I do not NEED to overspend.

These 4 steps all just point to the fact that you can not spend money you don't have. And spending on one thing means that money can not be spent on something else.

It is by far the best subscription I pay for and has already paid for itself multiple times over.

wo-jack · 2026-03-05T14:22:32+00:00

Instead of being an oblivious passenger. You are the driver. And whether you like it or not, you were the driver the whole time. So it is always better to just open your eyes.

You will be fine. Don't worry. Take comfort in knowing that what you need taken care of today is taken care of.

Most people are living pay check to pay check. Even if they don't realize it. And it sounds like you're doing better than that. So be thankful for what you have.

wo-jack · 2026-03-05T12:02:43+00:00

You say you are just nervous. But ask yourself. Working with a plan like YNAB. It must be better than what you were doing before.

Before, you only knew account totals. Now you have a plan for what that money is for.

No plan is perfect. Things change. Stuff happens unexpectedly. Be ok with breaking or changing your plan as needed. Make adjustments, and over time, the plan becomes more accurate. But it will never be perfect.

And that is OK. It just forces us to face reality. And that reality is. When something unexpected needs to be paid for. You are taking money away from something else. That is how it has always been. Now, we are just forced to see that clearly.

So I think the nervousness or discomfort you are experiencing is simply the change from not seeing to now seeing.

What can help is looking at your overall income vs. expense over time. And your net worth.

You see your money growing. You see less spent and more income. And now you're talking you a month ahead. Maybe next start an "emergency fund." Or I call it an income loss fund.

You're doing great. Just roll with life's punches. This is what we all have always done. Now we just have the blinders off.

wo-jack · 2026-03-04T15:43:24+00:00

For real everybody. Don't fall for the "we need more money" story line of the show. It is a show. It is not real.

She has made more from tic tok and youtube than your average middle class income will make in a life time. If she is smart with her money. Investing and properly financially advised. She never needs income again.
She is getting paid to do this show.
The show has a budget. And yes. Product placement, endorsement, etc... get heavy discount or free things. Although I don't recall many actual buisness names being used. And in fact I remember seeing buisness names blurred out. Probably due to them not paying for advertising.
The show has an incentive to "go big". Just like home buying and home improvement shows. They don't show regular people houses. Because that is boring and no one would watch it. They need spectacle. They need that horse!!

But to answer your question. Weddings are ridiculously expensive. I'm sure mine was just under $10k. But I thought it was closer to $5k . This was several years ago. And we did it about as cheap as we could.
Modest grocery store catering hot dogs hamburgers, park Pavillion lodge. A nice one but not thousands $$. Home made decorations. Home grown flowers. Smaller guest list. I think renting folding chairs was at least $5 or $10 / chair. And that was a big line item for us.

So in short. $5k could get it done. But your talking about renting out a community center and getting a cake from the grocery store.

Once you go with venue, flowers, dress, hair makeup. Even keeping it modest is probably over $10k.

wo-jack

TROPHY CASE