The JABA Journal

Dev updates, tips,
and everything in between.

Follow along as we build JABA. Honest updates on what we're shipping, budgeting advice that actually helps, and how to get the most out of the app.

Budgeting Tips

How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck

How to stop living paycheck to paycheck: map which paycheck pays which bill, then build one month of essential costs so this month runs on last month's pay.

How to Start a Zero-Based Budget Mid-Month How to start a zero-based budget mid-month: assign only money you already have, cover bills due before your next paycheck first, and leave nothing unassigned for the days left.
Budgeting Tips
Zero-Based Budgeting Categories for Beginners A starter list of zero-based budgeting categories for beginners: 10 to 15 categories covering bills, everyday spending, saving, and costs that come later, plus how to adjust when a category runs short.
Budgeting Tips
How to Choose a Privacy-Focused Budgeting App How to pick a budgeting app that respects your privacy: judge it by what it makes you hand over, check the store page and policy, and confirm you can get your data out.
Budgeting Tips
Looking for a YNAB Alternative on iPhone? What to look for when you move from YNAB to another zero-based budgeting app on iPhone. Keep the method, judge the daily workflow, skip the best-app lists.
Budgeting Tips
Zero-Based Budgeting with Irregular Income How to use zero-based budgeting with irregular income: budget only money you already have, build a lean floor budget, and assign each payment the day it lands.
Budgeting Tips
How to Use Credit Cards with Zero-Based Budgeting How to budget with credit cards in a zero-based budget: the swipe is the expense, the card payment is a transfer, and your category balance is the real limit.
Budgeting Tips
User Accounts Are Taking Shape in JABA Behind the scenes, JABA now handles user account changes automatically, keeping your data in sync as the app grows closer to a real sign-in experience.
Dev Updates
Transactions Are Now Editable in JABA You can now edit transactions, allocate money to a category, and enjoy a more polished, stable experience across accounts, budgets, and accessibility.
Dev Updates
Your Budget View Now Shows What You've Allocated and What's Left The Budget tab now displays your categories with allocated amounts, remaining balances, and progress bars — so you can see exactly where your money stands at a glance.
Dev Updates
Signing Up for JABA Is Now More Reliable Waitlist status is now checked correctly, your name comes through as expected at signup, and we've made behind-the-scenes improvements that help JABA run more consistently across platforms.
Dev Updates
Encryption research The last couple of weeks has been spent researching encryption to make sure you're data is safe and secure.
Dev Updates
Website and backend This website and a backend have been deployed.
Dev Updates
Zero-Based Budgeting 101 A plain-language primer on zero-based budgeting: plan from money you already have, and why that works.
Budgeting Tips
Announcing JABA We are building a zero-based budgeting app for iOS and macOS, and we want you along for the ride.
Announcements