Peace of Mind Organizing

Living spendfully

12 May 2025

In 2023, I became a YNAB Certified Coach. I help my clients create and maintain spending plans with the YNAB app. Originally, YNAB stood for You Need A Budget, but they’ve stopped using the B word (Budget) so it’s just YNAB now.

YNAB has coined the term spendfulness, which they define as “the state of making intentional financial decisions with clarity and confidence, free from second guessing.” When you’re living spendfully, your spending is aligned with your values and priorities.

And when you’re living spendfully, life is good.

What does that look like for me? Thanks to YNAB:

• I know exactly how I’m spending my money
• I have no credit card debt
• I give every dollar a job so I am constantly in touch with my financial priorities
• I don’t second guess my spending, which means I don’t feel guilt around my spending

We made the big decision to sell our house and rent a luxury apartment last year, which is completely in alignment with our priorities. That’s going against the grain for most people, but for us it’s absolutely right. YNAB helped us realize that this dream could be a reality.

For me, living spendfully is a way of life. I’ve been using YNAB for my business since 2018 and for our personal finances since 2021. I look at both my personal and business spending plans every single day and I’m disappointed if there aren’t transactions to categorize or dollars to assign. It’s a weirdly fun and rewarding activity for me.

If you’re not familiar with YNAB, I urge you to check it out. (That’s an affiliate link. If you click on it and start a free trial and then subscribe, we both get a free month added to our subscriptions.) It can take a little while to understand how to use YNAB because it’s unlike other budgeting apps and it requires a bit of a mindset shift.

The good news is that YNAB has all sorts of help available: written guides, long and short videos, free workshops and podcasts. There’s also lots of peer help available on social media, like the YNAB Fans Facebook Group and the YNAB subreddit. And there are really helpful YouTube channels. Nick True’s Mapped Out Money YouTube channel is very popular.

If you have the means, you can hire a YNAB Certified Coach. You can learn about my YNAB coaching services at Peace of Mind Spending. Or you can search the YNAB Certified Coach Directory to find one who resonates with you.

My wish for you is that you can become spendful. It can create such peace of mind!

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