I planned to do paper-and-pencil for 2015, but when Steam had YNAB for $14.99, I went ahead and got it. I had been on the free trial, so had started to get the hang of it. So it is January 31 and my budget worked out just fine, although I was doing a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul…wasn't very accurate in terms of how much I spend in what categories. Somewhat to my surprise, I can easily live within that budget, and shouldn't have any trouble saving…if I can quit shopping for stuff on Amazon Prime. Ha-ha. I did do a lot of paper-and-pencil work to make sure I wasn't making any spending mistakes. And I put only my checking account on YNAB--I mean the fixed monthly income that comes in. I started a paper-and-pencil Net Worth record in a green- speckled college composition notebook. That lists my checking account base (an extra month's income, as YNAB recommends), my emergency fund down at the local bank, the amount of cash in the house, and of course, my Vanguard totals for VTSAX and VTBLX. I rack up a net worth once a week…a little too often, but it helps me keep my nose to the grindstone picking up pennies, rolling my spare change, not doing a bunch of clown spending, eating up All the food in my house, taking five-minute showers, keeping the thermostat at 65/62, etc. etc. So I am satisfied with my blended method.
What is really annoying is that a Steam window pops up on my MacBook desktop every single time I crank up my computer. I can't figure out how to eliminate it. Grrrrrrr. Just have to click Cancel button and move on to open Safari or whatever.