Before there were four rules, there were... no rules at all! Ben and Ernie take a trip in the Wayback Machine to collect every iteration of the YNAB Rules they could find, going all the way back to 2004 when Jesse started the company. As Jesse developed the ideas behind his budget spreadsheet, the rules start forming, but it took a few years before the rules as we know them today came into focus.

The YNAB Team is always looking for ways to explain the YNAB method in clearer terms, but looking back at old versions of the Four Rules gives some insight into how the budgeting method and the software have changed over time.

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