I'd probably buy more store brand stuff if it was so classy that it was the President's Choice ;)
It's like I get to buy my groceries from John Oliver!
Thanks for your answers, BushPilot and Gravey.
This is the part where I get to embarrassingly admit that my average from Oct-Dec is $303 per month. Yikes. I really need to cut it down, especially as I'm trying to *lose* weight, so buying less food I'll (in theory) solve two problems at once.
I shop at the two major supermarkets here, and the local fruit market and go for what's on special. I get overly tempted by specials, which is exactly by design, I know. I pay a lot of attention to unit pricing (stores here are now required to put the price per kg/L/each as appropriate on the price label) and I usually choose the cheapest name brand because I don't like the two big supermarkets having vertical ownership of the food/goods chain (their oligarchy is something of an issue here, Coles recently got fined millions of dollars for improperly bullying their suppliers). I shop with a hand basket because I carry all my own groceries home, so no point picking up more than I can carry. I'm kinda glad I quit orange juice, because that stuff is heavy.
I'd probably buy more store brand stuff if it was so classy that it was the President's Choice 
Thanks for your answers, BushPilot and Gravey.
This is the part where I get to embarrassingly admit that my average from Oct-Dec is $303 per month. Yikes. I really need to cut it down, especially as I'm trying to *lose* weight, so buying less food I'll (in theory) solve two problems at once.]
I dunno, sounds like based on the data from you and Gravey I'm the one who needs to cut down :oops:.
I would be careful assuming that spending less will lead to healthier eating (and weight loss) unless you actually need to dramatically reduce the amount you're eating (rather than changing what you're eating). My personal experience is that each step we've taken towards healthier eating has come with a concomitant increase in how much we spend on food. This makes sense from an economic viewpoint at least, if not a social justice one.
I shop with a hand basket because I carry all my own groceries home, so no point picking up more than I can carry. I'm kinda glad I quit orange juice, because that stuff is heavy.
But think of all the calories you burn carrying it home 
We also spend about 200 to 250 euro per person per month on groceries. That's also for food and everything available for purchase at the supermarket (cleaning / personal hygiene products mostly). Aside from that we have about a 100 euro monthly budget for eating out (for 2). That includes actual restaurants as well as take out / fast food.
The average for the last year is 250 eur monthly per household (two adults and two kids). This excludes lunch money (about 120 eur) and includes some 30 eur for wine 
We try shopping smart and we cook a lot at home, so we buy very little processed food. Also, my country is pretty cheap and I bake my own bread. For those comparing in the US - we have a VAT of 20%, so you have to subtract that. In percentage, which maybe easier to compare, our grocery budget is roughly 10 percent of our current income (wife being unemployed after maternity leave).
I will use the YNAB again. Not sure how, but Christmas really did us in. Didn't watch money carefully enough.
Back to spending we do have, instead of not. Hope to be back on track in the summer.
Noticed that food has gotten crazy expensive in ON, CA. Even when living in the green belt. Good thing there is
tiny farmer's market when most fresh produce is being bought.
I dunno, sounds like based on the data from you and Gravey I'm the one who needs to cut down
Well, it really depends on how much you were trying to spend. I was setting a budget of $200 per month and not really checking up on how much I was actually spending until now. If you're getting $100 more delicious or healthy food, that's pretty great really.
I would be careful assuming that spending less will lead to healthier eating (and weight loss) unless you actually need to dramatically reduce the amount you're eating (rather than changing what you're eating). My personal experience is that each step we've taken towards healthier eating has come with a concomitant increase in how much we spend on food.
Yeah, I'm quite conscious of this, especially being a vegetarian and trying to get enough of everything without going over on calories (RIP Milo :() or expense. I think the area I can improve on is dumb pre-prepared snack foods, and impulse "I must have this" buys.
FWIW GST is 10% here, it applies to some processed foods but not most others, including fresh vegetables and other raw ingredients.
Also, I discovered that even if you launch YNAB through Steam, the screenshot button doesn't work. So it will have a plain background on its page foreverrrrr.
BushPilot wrote:I dunno, sounds like based on the data from you and Gravey I'm the one who needs to cut down
Well, it really depends on how much you were trying to spend. I was setting a budget of $200 per month and not really checking up on how much I was actually spending until now. If you're getting $100 more delicious or healthy food, that's pretty great really.
BushPilot wrote:I would be careful assuming that spending less will lead to healthier eating (and weight loss) unless you actually need to dramatically reduce the amount you're eating (rather than changing what you're eating). My personal experience is that each step we've taken towards healthier eating has come with a concomitant increase in how much we spend on food.
Yeah, I'm quite conscious of this, especially being a vegetarian and trying to get enough of everything without going over on calories (RIP Milo :() or expense. I think the area I can improve on is dumb pre-prepared snack foods, and impulse "I must have this" buys.
FWIW GST is 10% here, it applies to some processed foods but not most others, including fresh vegetables and other raw ingredients.
Also, I discovered that even if you launch YNAB through Steam, the screenshot button doesn't work. So it will have a plain background on its page foreverrrrr.
While fresh food is more expensive than processed food, we always ended with a net positive due to buying much less soda (tap water is cheap yo) and much less snacks (them be expensive).
Just checked and for 2014 we spent $240 a month on groceries per person. Sounds like pretty average.
According to Numbeo.com the CPI is 22% less in both Canada and the US compared to Australia. So I guess if I can get closer to that $200 per month budget I'm doing pretty well. I also spend ~$45 monthly on 'household goods' (soap and all that other stuff that mostly comes in with the groceries) and a ridiculous $170 per month on food away from home, which I'm looking to cut way back on. Which pains my soul because there's so much that's so delicious here in Melbourne, but most of it isn't cheap. Sigh
a ridiculous $170 per month on food away from home, which I'm looking to cut way back on.
Yeah, I'm glad you didn't ask what our restaurant spending is, and what our restaurant budget is, and they're so widely separated month after month...
Mermaidpirate wrote:a ridiculous $170 per month on food away from home, which I'm looking to cut way back on.
Yeah, I'm glad you didn't ask what our restaurant spending is, and what our restaurant budget is, and they're so widely separated month after month...
That was probably what we spent weekly when we lived in NYC
I'm in need of some software like this but the $60 price tag is causing me to balk. I guess it's got to be tough to sell a budget app, because the people you want to sell to are going to be price conscious...
I'm thinking of just cobbling together spreadsheets, but is YNAB that much better?
Yes, it is that much better; it's a really fantastic planner/tracker/financial-life-saver.
Remember they have a 34 day trial period which you should take for a spin to see if you like it. And there are tons of really very useful tutorials and "classes" on their site to help you use it to its fullest. You can view all of them even before buying anything (or starting your trial).
There is a semi-permanent 10% discount that comes from referral codes. They have an Official YNAB Coupon Code page where they link you to a random (I think) referrer code.
It was on sale in previous Steam sales for 75% off, but not this past summer one. I really don't know if that was a one-time omission or they have elected not to continue that offer.
Quicken costs about that much (and more, depending on which version), so the price is about right. My impression is that unlike Intuit, YNAB truly cares about its product and its customers.
I bought it before I knew it could go on sale and don't regret it. It would take a long time to set up a spreadsheet system to do all the same convenient things with both the budget and purchase tracking (depending on your excel/other skills of course). And you'd have to set up a new page for each month etc, which always takes me way longer than I think it will. YNAB also has the phone app so that takes care of tangling with an easy way to check up on things on your phone when you're out.
It's easy to put off buying games because you might not even open them until later, but you could benefit from budgeting right now in the six months or more before it goes on sale.
Full disclosure, I've lapsed and haven't entered anything for the past month, partly out of laziness and partly because of moving house and other life craziness, and I'm keen to get back in today and see how bad the damage is when I'm not checking up on my spending.
Double post.
Triple posticle
I've been considering to pick this up for a while. It has quite the following for a buget/money app. I was able to save a some money after tracking my expenses earlier in the year and I'm looking to get back into it. I used a simple excel spreadsheet and kept it to only a few budget categories but this may be better.
+1 on this being worth the price.
I got the app during a sale.
Maybe in a mid-week madness?
As far as I have seen, YNAB goes on sale twice a year, January 1st and during Summer sale (not this year though). You can wait a bit - they could offer it at the beginning of July. Meanwhile, you can try out the demo.
If you buy it on Steam, you can use the app code for activating a non-Steam version. Handy if you don't want to run Steam for this one app only.
Also: +1 to worth it at full price. 10 percent discount here (I'm sure others can also offer their referral links).
Worth it, but it will take a while to get all the categories lined up properly. Wife and I have been using it for over a year to keep an eye on things, and since we keep mostly separate finances it has been a fantastic tool for maintaining oversight over our collective pool of moneys. Where any one of our accounts could be the source for great stress and consternation, seeing all the numbers meshing together has been a great source of comfort.
Due to some recent changes we need to sit down and reorganize our categories. There is some definite stream-lining that could be done, and we need to consider things like splitting out the details of credit card purchases from places that cover multiple categories.
Ultimately though, YNAB has helped us identify that we spend way too much money in any given month, and that we are apparently very resistant to changing that despite seeing it repeat every month. *shrug* The trend is still in the right direction, but could be moving much faster with some discipline.
If you buy it on Steam, you can use the app code for activating a non-Steam version. Handy if you don't want to run Steam for this one app only.
I did not know this. You deserve both a hug and a beer.
I've found it... alright. There's a lot of fudgery I have to do to make it work but I am in no way an accountant so that's probably the problem right there.
And with the Steam version, you can create a desktop/menu shortcut to the YNAB.exe application itself and run that directly. Steam doesn't need to be running, and Steam won't show that you're running YNAB. (Good thing, too, or else it would be amongst my most-played "games".)
I'm keen to get back in today and see how bad the damage is when I'm not checking up on my spending.
It's bad XD
And with the Steam version, you can create a desktop/menu shortcut to the YNAB.exe application itself and run that directly. Steam doesn't need to be running, and Steam won't show that you're running YNAB. (Good thing, too, or else it would be amongst my most-played "games".)
I am using the shortcut on my home computer and it's a perfect method. However, at work I can't install Steam (closed ports or something), so the fact that I can install the "normal" client is very handy.
Big new version of YNAB is out. I haven't tried it yet, but I've read the extensive transition guide and can relay these bullet points:
- Subscription pricing: US$5/mo or US$50/yr (with a lifetime 10% off if you sign up before the end of January).
- Browser-based (for now), and there's a new app.
- The "rules" (i.e. the YNAB budgeting philosophy) stay the same, but the program itself has been completely rethought.
- Better support for goals and budgeting for the future.
- Easier to take care of overspending.
- Automatic import of bank transactions in the US and Canada.
- Complete revision of how credit cards are handled.
That's what stood out to me, anyway. I don't need another monthly subscription, but then... I can budget for it... plus if there's one piece of software I have that's worth its price, it's YNAB.
I wonder if this means the standalone software that's been on Steam is going away? I've been waiting for it to go back on sale, since it's been 75% off multiple times in the past. If they're moving to a subscription model, those sales might be gone forever?
Edit - ehh, that transition site seems to answer that question - might see YNAB on sale again, but officially supported for only one more year.
I wish they had a lifetime membership like Plex has.
I think I'll stick to YNAB 4 and and start looking elsewhere.
Pity, I REALLY liked their software.
Yeah I really like the software too and was looking forward to some of the new features. I am VERY disappointed they moved to a subscription model that is so expensive, I guess I'll just keep using version 4 for as long as I am able. I don't like subscription models in general and resist them, but I would have paid $20 or $25 per year since I use their software every day. $50? Nope.
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