These of you who preserve a dictionary inside arm’s attain might have observed a troubling improvement throughout YNAB: we made up a phrase. (Come at us, Webster!)
We have now just one protection: it doesn’t really feel like we made up spendfulness, it looks like we discovered it.
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The story of spendfulness
Twenty years in the past, once we have been a lil’ child spreadsheet with 4 guidelines, we have been positive about one factor: you want a funds. It was the identify of our firm and the title of Jesse’s ebook.
Through the years, we constructed up a wildly distinctive and supportive neighborhood of self-proclaimed YNABers (virtually 200,000 on Reddit alone). You would possibly count on to listen to them speaking about all of the methods they saved cash: carrying thick sweaters inside their under-heated properties within the winter, lugging 50-pound luggage of oats house to feed the household. However restriction shouldn’t be the vibe.
There’s Carsen and Ulysses who actually had a fairy story wedding ceremony. They dressed as princes straight out of Cinderella, received married at a fort, and invited their friends to put on fairy story garb. They funded the entire wedding ceremony themselves with none debt. They even talked about YNAB of their vows.
We heard tales that made us faux we weren’t crying at work: youngsters adopted; dream properties bought; marriages mended. Folks wrote to us lengthy, emotional emails about lastly breaking generational cycles of debt and cash stress.
This was about a lot greater than saving cash.
Jenny, in Northern California, wrote to us:
After my current divorce, I took my children into the mountains and we stayed in a yurt for 3 days. We performed video games, made s’mores and cooked all our meals there. We even received to stargaze within the wee hours of the morning on the final day – the night time sky was spectacular! We made some nice reminiscences.
Jenny might have saved cash by staying house for the weekend.
Christina shared:
I take advantage of my cash to construct the lifetime of my goals. This spring, I took my daughter to Disneyland for the primary time. I saved every month so I might splurge a bit on issues like souvenirs and room service. On the finish of our first day, as she was falling asleep, she advised me, ‘Mother, at this time was an incredible day.’ Cash nicely spent!
Cash could be nicely spent. And when it’s, one thing profound and highly effective ripples all through your complete life. Chances are you’ll solely examine in together with your plan in YNAB for a couple of minutes a day, but you’re feeling extra assured and content material on a regular basis. Might this be residual funds syndrome?
No. Simply no.
What’s spendfulness?
The epic successes of YNABers weren’t simply because they’d a funds—similar to being a real yogi isn’t about merely proudly owning a yoga mat. It was the YNAB Technique that taught folks to develop into radically conscious and intentional with their spending. Within the technique of utilizing YNAB, they found a basic fact: the way you spend your cash is, to a point, the way you spend your life.
That’s what spendfulness is all about.
Spendfulness is figuring out your self (your priorities and your circumstances), and spending accordingly. YNABers know themselves as a result of they’re within the behavior of giving each greenback a job. They make selections on the common of easy methods to spend their hard-earned {dollars}. And since YNABers are so darned intentional with their spending, they find yourself dwelling actually distinctive and satisfying lives.
Like Eric!
One thing outdated, one thing new
As Erin, our lead educator says, “We’re not altering something. We’re simply clarifying every part.” We all know, from 20 years of expertise, that giving each greenback a job is how one can spend your cash guilt-free, with no second-guessing.

Sure, we’re utilizing a brand new phrase, however we’re nonetheless the identical YNAB. We’re going to maintain educating folks easy methods to bear in mind and intentional with their spending, utterly judgment-free. We aren’t within the enterprise of shaming folks. We imagine you’re the greatest particular person—in all of the world!—to determine easy methods to spend your hard-earned {dollars}. We’ll simply offer you a framework and good-looking app that will help you stay spendfully.
Closing arguments
Cash touches virtually every part: the place we stay, how we stay, our frame of mind and stress ranges, when and whether or not we are able to retire, and even the meals we put in our bellies. How we use our cash is likely one of the basic methods we work together with the world.
We actually care about incomes cash. From an early age, it’s impressed upon us to work onerous in class to sometime get an excellent job and earn an excellent earnings. However our mission at YNAB is that will help you care about your cash previous the purpose of incomes. We wish you to care the way it will get spent as nicely—whether or not it’s on clementines and paper towels on the grocery retailer at this time or at a restaurant in Florida, 30 years from now, with buddies you haven’t even met but.
Phrase wardens, we tried to vary the definition of funds. TL;DR: It didn’t work.
The modifications that we’ve skilled from spendfulness are so profound, so long-lasting, and so exterior the norm, that we needed to discover language to specific it. We hope you’ll give it an opportunity, and see how good it feels.
Spendfulness has modified hundreds of thousands of lives already—we simply didn’t have a phrase for it till now. Expertise it for your self with a free 34-day trial of YNAB.