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I don't know YNAB, but my DH uses mint.com for work expenses and seems to really like it. It categorizes your expenses/receipts and tells you what you have left to spend in each category.

I fell behind a lot but many people use it consistently with great results! I just need to be more disciplined. I used to own it but when my computer died I lost the program and so I haven't used it in many years.

YNAB is a definite YAY for me! I tell whoever will listen about it, hahah...

Is it easy to get behind? Do you trust their website? I'm a little hesitant to give other websites any of my banking info... Pretty easy to setup, but there is a small learning curve. They have tons of videos, tutorials, and an entire forum on their website though to help guide you through any questions you have. You don't need to give them any banking info since it's not automated like Mint. They do this intentionally because you're less likely to have visibility/accountability into your finances when everything is automated. I manually input all my transactions into YNAB, but you can also download your bank or credit card statements and import it that way if you prefer not to input things one by one.

Tell me what the pros and cons are. And do programs like neat receipt and freshbooks (for small businesses) work well with YNAB?
Pros: It tracks roll overs really easily, I love their "4 rules" that are the key to YNAB, you can pull reports and they have pie charts to give you visuals on how you're spending. If you go over your budget in a certain category you can choose to subtract that from your next month's budget for that specific category or subtract from your overall budget so there is room to make up for overspending. It's super easy to plan for future expenses or save for vacations. It is true budgeting, not just expense tracking! It comes with a free smartphone app that syncs all your info seamlessly - so easy to check how much you have left in a certain category when you're out and about. There's a lot more but too much to write about here.

I don't know what neat receipts and freshbooks are... never heard of them.

Eta: also, what is better about YNAB than my fancy spreadsheet? I had a fancy spreadsheet too. I promise you, it is better.

@.twist.: nope you don't need to enter anything! so you know how there are 3 columns? the very right-hand column will show how much remains in that budget category. if you didn't pay out that bill this month it will show $10.17 in that column... and it automatically rolls over into the next month. am i making sense or just confusing you even more??

@.twist.: that's great!! i'm so glad you love it already - it is the best budgeting tool i have ever come across! their website is really helpful too if you ever get confused about something. i also follow their blog and read the comments because i learn a lot from there too.

@.twist.: I see you already got the free trial, but just wanted to chime in with my two cents! We just finished our first month of using YNAB and I am still really liking it. DH thought it was just a glorified spreadsheet when I first bought it too, but now he agrees it's wayyy more than that.

@Mrs. High Heels: Thank you for turning me onto YNAB, all your posts finally wore me down to give it a shot!

@Mrs. High Heels: @.twist.: I was looking into receipt scanners and it looks like there's better scanners out there.

http://lifehacker.com/5993869/five-best-document-scanners-for-going-paperless

Doxie Go is one of them. Also, doxie has a student and teacher version that is only $119. http://www.getdoxie.com/product/doxie-u/features-students.html

http://www.getdoxie.com/info/products.html

Amazon is selling a doxie for $114.
http://www.amazon.com/Doxie-DX100-amazing-scanner-documents/dp/B003Y3YO7A/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1OP0NOY40BEOK

@bluestriped bee: good to know, thank you!