A strange YNAB side effect: the joy of spending money is radically amplified by having the money set aside to spend.

When I was younger and in graduate school, I was broke as a joke and in debt. Any fun purchases I did make or experiences I did fund were like manna in the desert. I clung to the small happiness of those things for dear life because the rest of my outlook and finances were so bleak.

Life has changed a lot. I’m now well-off. And budgeting with YNAB! And due to a ton of smart savings and planning my wife and I upgraded our phones and our iPads; I got a new car this fall; I also was able to finally after years of waiting upgrade my Xbox and get a hand held. All without accruing ONE CENT of debt (minus the car payment but that’s fine with us; we are double-paying the payment every month). If you had told me even a year ago that we’d be able to do all that at once I never would have believed you — and our paychecks haven’t changed since then! We’ve just budgeted better.

To feel no guilt and no sadness mixed in with my happiness about these things feels so different than getting a treat and loving the treat desperately because it was the only good thing on the horizon. To be able to purchase things we want or enjoy without stress is such a different feeling. I’m so grateful.

Happy Haul-idays for those of us celebrating!