Updated April 9, 2025
Way back in 2014, I sunk a whopping 40.5 hours into an indie video game called “Papers, Please.” Have you heard of it? You play as a customs agent in a fictional Soviet Union-esque country. Every day, you work your way through a line of grumpy travelers, looking for tiny discrepancies in increasingly-complex sets of paperwork. And that’s pretty much the whole game!
Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Aren’t video games supposed to be fun? This sounds like a chore!” And, yes, it sounds boring, but I promise it’s an absolute blast. It’s just one of those games you won’t understand until you try it for yourself.
Getting a month ahead in YNAB is kind of like that. It doesn’t sound like the sexiest financial goal. It might even sound a little boring. But once you experience it for yourself, you’ll never want to go back! You’re just going to have to trust me. Or keep reading.
Getting a month ahead is going to take a lot more effort than downloading an 86mb game on Steam, so I understand if my word isn’t enough. That's why we asked our Instagram followers to tell us how it feels to get a month ahead. And boy did they respond!
Hundreds of people shared how this simple financial habit absolutely changed their life. I’ll show you some of my favorite comments, and hopefully by the end, you’ll see the game-changing power of getting a month ahead!
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But before we pour through the comments, let’s take a step back and talk about what we mean when we say you should “get a month ahead in YNAB.” It’s one of those savings goals that isn’t talked about much in the personal finance world. This principle is at the heart of YNAB’s resilience question : “What can I set aside for next month’s spending?”
The idea is to save up a month’s worth of expenses, so you can set it aside for next month. At the beginning of the new month, your categories will all be fully funded on the first of the month with real money that you have in the bank account. Then, every time you get paid, you assign money to next month’s priorities, so that you can consistently live on last month’s income. You’ve broken the paycheck to paycheck cycle for good.
Now, I could go on about the many benefits of getting a month ahead, but instead, I’m going to let the YNAB community describe it for you, cause there’s no better way to demonstrate how it feels to get a month ahead than telling real stories from real YNABers!
Imagine how you would feel if you knew that no matter what happens, you had all your monthly bills, other monthly expenses, and even wants covered for an entire month? You’d have more space to handle unexpected expenses, you’d reduce your reliance on credit cards, and you’d enjoy all the practical benefits of a large savings account. I love the way Instagram user @Thismarioperez described it:
I also love the way that @Jen_argetsinger put it:
More peace and less stress means better mental and physical health. The benefits are life-changing. Perhaps though, you’re not feeling particularly stressed about your finances right now. You might find that after you get a month ahead, you’ll love it more than you thought you would. Take it from @Cathyc1515:
You may have a system that you feel is working for you, but I guarantee you that adding this financial habit will take it to the next level no matter what your financial situation is. Getting a month ahead brings enormous peace. @Bjsanz_ summed it up perfectly:
I don’t have to tell you that life is full of surprises. And sometimes you have to make quick decisions with very little time to gather crucial information. But if you live on the previous month’s income, any time you have a disruption in cash flow or a large unexpected expense, you have more space to make mindful decisions.
Those better decisions will pile up over the course of your life, and you’ll end up in a much better financial place in the long run. @Craftandcluster hit the nail on the head:
When you have a month’s income saved up and assigned to next month’s needs, you don’t have to be so reactive, and that can make all the difference. That goes for small decisions, but also the really big ones, like what job to take after a layoff. One YNABer, @msmocha60, said they could take their time after a layoff to breathe and find the right job for them.
Heck yes, it means a lot! In fact, it means everything, because they don’t have to take just any job that comes along. We shouldn’t make a decision that important while in a rush and under a ton of stress. Because this YNABer was a month ahead and had an emergency fund, they could take their time to regroup and make sure their next job was even better than their last.
When you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle, you can make decisions about how you balance your work and family life. @Hannahlpede shared:
There’s nothing more valuable than being able to spend as much time with your family as you want without being handcuffed to a demanding job. That’s true financial freedom right there!
@Pascalebri found more space to breathe as a freelancer:
f you’ve run your own business, you know that the temptation to overwork yourself is very real, because the more you work, the more money you make! But when you have a big-picture view of your finances, you know exactly how much you need to work to be okay, so you don’t have to let constant fear drive you to unhealthy work habits.
But one of my favorite comments came from @Bee.harts. They explained that being a month ahead allowed them to take a big risk in their career:
Taking career risks like this could prove to make an enormous long-term difference for this YNABer, but they would never be able to take the leap without a solid foundation. Getting a month ahead lets you be more emotionally and financially prepared to take these risks.
You can take it from me, too! I’ve shared in my own story that if I wasn’t using YNAB and I hadn’t gotten a month ahead, I may not have ever taken a job here! And I am certain that would have been one of the biggest career mistakes I could ever have made.
More peace, mindfulness, and control is all well and good. But before we get to the last point, I want to get super practical about your day-to-day financial life. How would it feel to put ALL your bills on auto-pay right now? If you’re not a month ahead, it probably feels terrifying doesn’t it? Not so for these YNABers:
The feeling of peace knowing that you have all your bills covered before next month even begins absolutely is priceless! And what’s more, automating bill payments will free up a ton of time spent on worthless bookkeeping. That means more time and more energy spent on what matters—making sure the way you spend reflects who you are.
Oh, and aside from the peace and the freed up time, you might just feel some well-earned pride in yourself:
The biggest benefit of getting a month ahead is it supercharges any other financial goal you have. Whether you want to become debt free, invest more for retirement, renovate your home, or just have more peace of mind, you'll always go into it from a position of strength.
Accomplishing the goal of getting a month ahead will give you the confidence and space to do anything you want with money! @Gissel.carolina nailed it:
It is nice indeed! Take it from @Iamjoacy, who felt safe going after an awesome vacation that meant so much to their family:
For @Nikolini.stuckembuckem living on last month’s income (and then some!) completely changed the money conversations with their partner:
What could be more valuable?
By now, I hope you’re convinced that getting a month ahead is worth it! So what are some tools that can help get me there? I’m so glad you asked. I’d love to tell you. It all starts with giving every dollar a job . Making a sustainable spending plan is the first step toward getting a month ahead.
YNAB is the way! It’s so much more than some stuffy budgeting software. It’s the ultimate life-planning tool, and the only option out there that is specifically designed to help you achieve and sustain the goal of getting a month ahead.
YNAB has a built in way to track progress toward this goal. On the mobile app, check the “Assigned in future months” section in the Spotlight space. You can see this information in the web app in the bar on the right side of the Budget screen when you don’t have any categories selected. There you can see a pie chart indicating how close you are to fully funding future months.
Getting a month ahead makes you more peaceful and more mindful. It lets you take more healthy risks from a position of strength. It lets you put more of the tedium of money management on autopilot and puts you in a place where you can tackle anything that comes your way—and ultimately, build the life you want. And that’s what YNAB is all about!
I’m sure you’re jumping up and down and looking for ways to send more money toward the goal of getting a month ahead. There’s no better way to get started than to sign up for a free trial of YNAB. Try it today!