They Loved Doing This YNAB Work in their Marriage
Here is what some recent YNAB clients shared with me. Nancy and Cal are a young married couple with a 1 year old, two full time jobs and a full and beautiful life. They have big dreams and goals, and came into coaching already really savvy around finances and money. As you can see, they still had tons of room for growth and optimization, and our time together was really fun and fruitful. 🌈
Read more below about their experience working with me to simplify their shared finances, get action plans together to budget for some big projects, and get a handle on using YNAB to clarify their monthly targets and goals around spending and saving. And all that while juggling a 1 year old :) I hope this insight is helpful if you are considering my coaching services and want a peek at what to expect!
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How would you describe your budget or money management strategy BEFORE working with me?
Our family strategy was based on a mix of using multiple accounts as planned spending "buckets" and a lot of trust that things would work out. We used credit cards to pay for everything, which we mostly could pay in full each month, but made our finances feel stressful because we were essentially living a month behind, always with a few thousand dollar credit card bill, which felt unmanageable.
How would you describe your budget/money plan NOW?
We love YNAB. We really believe in it. We MAJORLY simplified our account structure. Bless you, Margo, for sitting with us that first session and helping us to map out all the accounts we had and helping us to come up with a plan to move forward.
How are you feeling NOW about your budget and your relationship with cash flow in your life?
A lot more clarity in general and a refreshing sense of simplicity. I wish we had YNAB sooner, we think it would have saved unneeded spending over the years because of the mindfulness encouraged by the whole system.
What were 1-3 of the biggest takeaways or game changers from our time working together?
Although we intended to have "shared finances" after marriage, we've reached a whole new level of this after coaching with Margo and implementing YNAB.
Saving for a goal and then having all the money, or even some of it, is really self-empowering.
What was the most challenging aspect of creating and implementing a budget? How might it have been made less challenging?
It has been difficult to see how long term some of our goals need to be given "competing" priorities. Not specific to YNAB, but having two careers and a small child has made developing a habit with YNAB challenging. This isn't a function of coaching or YNAB and I'm thankful to have had the opportunity and support to do this when my child is small so hopefully we have a peaceful family life with mature financial practices that we can teach her about.
Would you recommend that others work with me as a YNAB budget coach? If yes, why? If not, why not?
YES. Coaching with you made me want to spend even more time with you. I wanted all of our sessions to have more time available because you're smart and made both of us feel like "we got this" even when it was hard.
Who do you think would most benefit from this type of coaching?
This is a great question. I loved doing this work within my marriage and also think single mom's would benefit!