Did you know you can name your budget in YNAB? It’s true, you can call each and every budget in your YNAB account something different. And since the name of your budget is so prominent right there in the top left corner of the web app, it’s a great opportunity to make a joke, give a word of inspiration, or even just help you stay organized.
YNABers love all of those things, and even more they love talking about how they set up their spending plans in YNAB. So I asked the team at YNAB and the community over on the YNAB Fans Facebook group how they name their budgets. In celebration of YNAB’s 20th anniversary, I’ve grouped them into 20 fun-filled categories. Hopefully you’ll find these both inspiring and fun. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get into it!
1. “My Budget”
A lot of people joked that their budget in YNAB is still the default “My Budget.” Some people didn’t know that you could change your budget name but didn’t like the prospect of change. And if that’s you, I want you to know that’s absolutely okay! Maybe you like how it is! If that’s the case, more power to you!
2. Alliteration
Alright, this category is more for me to share the name of my own budget, because I think it’s fun. My last (and first) name both start with B, so maybe alliteration is just in my blood. The name of my budget follows suit – “Barlowe Bodacious Budget” has been my name of choice since the very beginning when I started YNAB way back in 2013.
I guess you could say I’m besotted with baptizing my budget with beguiling ‘B’ words because they bring a boost of brightness to my budgeting bliss.
3. Your favorite songs
So many people referenced their favorite songs in our discussion online. They’re rife with perfect budget-naming potential. I’ll wrap up a few of them for you:
- “Budget, Budget Real Good”
- “Ground Control to Major Funds”
- “Born to be Wild-ly Responsible” (this was my favorite)
- “Fancy” for Reba McIntire’s famous song — “Here’s your one chance Fancy, don’t let me down.”
Some of the references were more of a serious nature.
- One user chose “Rolling in the Deep” as they prepared for a divorce.
- Another chose “All by Myself” after losing their partner.
4. Your feelings at the time
And that leads me to the group of people who named their budget after the way they were feeling when they used it. One commenter said they chose “Dear God” after YNAB revealed how much they were spending on dining out.
Another YNABer went with “My New Life” because the YNAB method had inspired them to build a new life for themselves. Another went with the simple “Excited!” because that’s exactly how they felt when they started their first spending plan!
5. Puns
Puns, oh so many puns. “Goal Digger” and “Thrifty Shades of Pay” were a couple of my favorites. Some of the delightfully terrible puns included “Cents and Sensibility” and “Coin-quer the World.”
6. Dates
Alright, we’ve gotten a little too dad-jokey even for me, so let’s get a little practical. Many people simply named their budgets based on the date ranges they cover. Things like “Current since 1/1/23” and “2022 to present” were common.
I myself use this system for my budget names! My active budget is always the alliterative name I shared above, but any past budgets always include the date range. It’s a good way to stay organized when I want to look up an old transaction for that random vacation spot we’re revisiting after 7 years.
7. Intentions and goals
The most inspiring budget names by far had to do with YNABers’ intentions or goals for new years. Inspiring entries included:
- Year of Insights
- Get that new kitchen
- Cultivating Joy
- The year of debt free
- All things Bright & Beautiful
- Road to Retirement
8. Book characters
I was especially drawn to the YNABers who named their budgets after their favorite book characters. One named their budget “Jeeves” after the beloved butler from PG Wodehouse’s “Jeeves and Wooster” series.
One YNABer chose “Samwise” after everyone’s favorite Lord of the Rings character. My favorite though was a surprise. One YNABer named their budget “Scrooge” but not for the miserly version we see at the beginning of A Christmas Carol, but for the reformed generous man we love at the end.
9. Names portmanteau
Okay, maybe I chose this category just because portmanteau is one of my favorite words. It means smooshing two words together, like brunch, spork, guesstimate, and blog (web + log, bet you didn’t know that!).
If you’re using YNAB with a partner, we recommend a few different ways to set up your budgets, but if you have a joint budget, smooshing your names together just makes sense. Joanna and Tim call their budget Jim. Maybe if your names are Ben and Jennifer, you could go with the classic Bennifer (it’s gonna be forever this time).
10. Encouraging words
Changing your financial life is hard, so name your spending plan something that will give you a little pick me up. I loved one YNABer who chose “Phoenix Rising” for a new budget they started after a particularly trying time. Another chose “2024Ever” because “I want this to be the turning point for the rest of our lives!” I also saw “Third time’s the charm” for a YNABer who was determined to make YNAB work! And one simply went with “Abundance 💰”.
11. Something other than “budget”
We’ve used that word a lot in this blog, and for some of you that word has a very negative connotation. One YNABer chose to go with “Spending Plan” because it feels less restrictive. With a spending plan, you are designing the life you want by aligning your categories with your priorities. Ah, the sweet taste of freedom.
12. Nickname for dollars (or any other currency!)
Your budget contains your dollars all neatly organized into special digital envelopes ready and waiting to be spent. So it’s only natural to name your budget for the thing it contains. I saw several fun names like this such as “Dollar Bucks,” “Precious Monies,” and “Ma Billz.”
13. Give it a nickname
Several YNABers enjoy giving their budget a real-life human name so they can reference it like it’s a person.
- “Can we go out to eat tonight? What does Gunda say?”
- “Check with Harriet on how much we’ve saved for vacation.”
- “Do you think Margaret could budge on the entertainment category?”
One user combined the nickname with alliteration, going with “Fiduciary Fred.”
14. Emojis
You know we love our emojis here at YNAB. They can add a little fun and color to your financial numbers. And emojis are fully supported in budget names too. Some of the most fun ones I saw included “ 🌈☀️” and “Kids 😱😱😱.”
15. Quotes
We all love our most quotable media, so why not include that in your budget name? The funniest one was “Why can’t I have no kids and three money?” (from The Simpsons). “Treat yo’ self!” from Parks and Rec was probably the most popular budget name of them all! Personally, I’m partial to that most quotable movie of the past 20 years, Napoleon Dynamite. But instead of “Do the chickens have large talons?” you could name your plan, “Does your budget have large savings?”
16. YNAB principles
I was absolutely stoked to see one YNABer name their budget after the common mantras we teach here at YNAB. One user chose “Find the Money First,” they said “in a desperate attempt to do just that instead of just spending. Any of the names of the Four Rules would be just perfect, too!
17. A nice message to the YNAB Support Team
If you didn’t know, our support team here at YNAB is totally awesome. If you give them permission using the Support Access feature, they can even take a look at your budget to answer any questions specific to your exact situation. One of our team members said they once saw an encouraging message in the name of a YNABers budget, and it made their day. They’d love to see more!
18. Inside jokes
MB in the YNAB Fans group shared a fun story with their budget name:
“Liz used to tease me about my rapid/reckless spending, which I described as wanting to “build a big leaf pile of dollars, then jump in it and send them flying.” Our budget is called “Liz & MB’s Leaf Pile”.
A fun inside joke with your partner or friends could be the perfect name to give you a laugh every day.
19. Tabletop game references
Okay, I had to include this one, because I’ve very recently gotten into D&D. So this budget name is absolutely awesome. IYKYK:
“I’m in the process of making my budget all D&D themed (I have a personal brand to uphold 😅) It’s called “(Money) Bag of Holding 💰”.
20. Show and movie references
I saved my favorite for last. Everyone likes to reference their favorite shows. “Budget, Beets, Battlestar Galactica” was a delight for The Office fans. Other references included “Gringotts” for the Harry Potter bank, “The Real World” for our old-school MTV fans. And of course, “The Banana Stand” because, as the characters of Arrested Development will remind you, there’s always money there.
So go forth and have an absolute blast naming your budget something fun, inspiring, or practical. But remember, whatever you choose, the purpose of your budget is to help you make sure your spending lines up with your priorities so you can build the life you have always wanted.
Do you want more fun YNAB wisdom, puns, and obscure television references? Sign up for YNAB’s newsletters today!
