“We spent HOW much on food last month?!”
That conversation was the spark that ignited starting my YNAB trial, and which turned into years of YNAB fandom.
My husband and I were using Mint at the time (RIP, and welcome Mint Migrators!). We couldn’t agree on how much we had spent—he said $700, and I insisted it was $1,000. Regardless, it was eye-poppingly WAY MORE than we wanted to spend on groceries and dining out at the time. So, I set out to find a solution, and that solution was YNAB. I saw a number (too much money spent on food) and it made me take action (hello YNAB!).
There’s a saying in the business world: “Whatever gets measured gets managed.” There’s something about seeing numbers, data, and metrics that can spur us to movement. To change. To progress.
With YNAB’s newest feature, you now have a new way to look at your finances. Join me in rolling out the red carpet for…drum roll please…the Spending Breakdown.* It’s now here for YNAB users everywhere!
What is the Spending Breakdown?
The Spending Breakdown is a stack-ranked view of your top categories with spending totaled up by month (and more time frames coming soon!).
To find the Spending Breakdown feature, open the Reflect tab (formerly called Reports) and you’ll enter a colorful world of charts and graphs. Even if you don’t “do” charts and graphs, you’ll love it here. Promise.
Why are ‘Reports’ called ‘Reflect’ now?
A brief aside: why the name change from Reports to Reflect? Because YNAB looks ahead with optimism, not behind with shame.
We think of Reports as telling us about past events (you might remember Ben M.’s epic crime scene analogy).
And Reflect? That’s about future aspirations. It leans into what YNAB is all about—grace and forward-thinking. We want you to reflect on what’s happened so it can help shape your day today, and tomorrow too.
The Spending Breakdown feature shows your outflows in a new way, so you can gut-check if your spending is supporting your goals. It’s a new perspective that can drive meaningful changes.
You’ll see a running total of this month up top, but don’t dwell on that number too much or let it define you. A higher number does not mean bad, and a lower number does not mean good. As our YNAB teachers will often remind us, there is no such thing as a normal month. So sometimes the number will be high. Sometimes it will be low. And that’s just how life goes.
Tap into the information bubble to get the full picture of your inflows and outflows for that month. You might have inflows added back to categories that are part of this number, which could be from returns, refunds, or a friend paying you back.
What’s the benefit of this feature?
YNAB is good for planning, yes, but what we’re all really after is behavior change. We want to know if we’re spending enough on the things that matter, and paring back on the things that don’t. At a quick glance, the Spending Breakdown gives you a clear view into whether your priorities align with your spending.
Maybe you’re surprised how much housing takes up from your spending pie, or how you wish you actually spent more money on experiences or gifts.
Wherever your brain goes, we hope this feature gives you an opportunity to reflect.
How your Spending Breakdown plays out in real life
When one of our YNAB team members, Kody, was trying out this feature, he, like many others, had to take a good hard look at the dining out number. It was higher than he would’ve liked. It was higher than what he wanted. And oh my, can’t we all relate to that.
As Kody scanned through his Spending Breakdown, he saw where he was slipping back into old habits. This reflection helped him see how his spending didn’t line up with his priorities. Motivated by this newfound knowledge and reality check, he made some changes.
When tempted to order DoorDash after a long day, Kody found the energy to prepare a meal from what he already had. Yes, it took more effort, but he knew it would help him get where he wanted to go.
These weren’t changes within YNAB—he didn’t make adjustments to his targets or categories, but he made changes in his real-world day-to-day life. The Spending Breakdown served as a behavior check that spurred action.
How to use your Spending Breakdown for a clearer view
Check that you have the latest version of the app, then go ahead—take a gander and scroll through your own Spending Breakdown!
Ask yourself:
- How do you feel about your top spending categories so far?
- Is your total spending higher or lower than you’d like?
- Are there categories you wish you spent more on?
- Are there categories you’re surprised you didn’t spend more on? (Good job, you’ve already made progress!)
- Do you need to make any changes to your plan to align your spending with your priorities?
- Do you need to make any changes to your behavior?
The next step is simple: make changes to your plan if it doesn’t feel accurate or make behavior changes if your spending habits aren’t in line with the future you want.
As for me and my eye-popping dining out budget? Well, I’ve recently come out of a season where eating out was saving my sanity. So for the past few months, I’ve adjusted that category up, up, and up. Now that life is settling down, I can move that target back down as well.
Your spending plan can always change—just make sure it reflects the reality you want to build. Come back to the Spending Breakdown as often as you like to pause and reflect. Then, continue your steady progress toward building a life full of spending, saving, and living joyfully. You deserve it!
*Note: Additional changes are still coming to Spending Breakdown with even more functionality. Stay tuned for the next updates!
Curious to see more of what YNAB reports can do? Read more here:
YNAB Reports and Data
Spending Report Overview
More on Reports
Discover the ‘why’ behind your financial tendencies with the YNAB Spending Personality Quiz. Gain a clear picture of your spending habits and see how you can grow!
