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The YNAB Podcast
One of Jesse's takeaway from the recent YNAB Fan Fest in Salt Lake City is that YNAB'ers are good at iterating. They make a plan for their money, spend the money, and reflect on whether the spending was on things they were really looking for. Then, they adjust the plan. In the process, they're not just learning how to manage money, they're learning more about themselves. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter/X: Tik Tok:
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Wielding Money Against Yourself
The YNAB Podcast
We've all done it before, saying something to the effect of: "I'd love to do X, if only I could afford it." We have all cited money as the reason we haven't done something, or bought something we say we wanted. The next time you catch yourself saying this, Jesse urges you to stop and examine why it is you are blaming money for the reason you can't do (or buy) the thing. Is it because you really want to do/buy it, or because you're seeking escape from some other uncomfortable part of your life? If you really DO want the thing, but you're blaming lack of money for it, perhaps you are feeling...
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What YNAB REALLY Does For You
The YNAB Podcast
Bigger bank account balances, paying off debt, saving marriages... these are all things thousands of YNAB'ers have praised YNAB for helping them accomplish. But it's not what YNAB is about. Jesse explains: YNAB is really about getting to know yourself better, and making better spending decisions as a result. It's about reducing the second guessing in your life, and spending your money in perfect alignment with you. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter/X: ...
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The Paradox of Money
The YNAB Podcast
Using YNAB reveals a paradox about money -- the more you engage with it, and spend time and energy on it, the more it gets out of the way and just let's you live your life. Money is you, so learning how to manage it really means learning more about yourself and becoming more in tune with your desires, your values, and your priorities. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter/X: Tik Tok:
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Money Gets Out of the Way
The YNAB Podcast
When you practice the four habits of YNAB, money just gets out of the way. In today's episode, Jesse reflects on his thought process about paying for kids' college. Where he used to be against it, now that he has kids in college, he is helping them pay for it. As he has talked about on the podcast many times, his thoughts and opinions change over the time; the podcast is a sort of audio journal documenting these changes. But the real win here is that because Jesse and his wife put money aside for their kids, they were able to make this decision without worrying about money. The money was not a...
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20 Years!
The YNAB Podcast
Twenty years ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Jesse Mecham launched youneedabudget.com with a budgeting spreadsheet and a modest goal: cover the $350 a month in rent he owed for the next couple years until he and his wife graduated from college. Since then, YNAB has grown leaps and bounds beyond Jesse's original idea. In today's episode, Jesse reflects on the last two decades, thanks the people who have made it happen (most importantly YOU, YNAB users!), and wonders what the next two decades have in store. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free...
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Money Ready, Spend With Joy
The YNAB Podcast
Jesse shares a YNAB win from his strength coach, Andrew, who is an avid YNAB'er. Andrew was shopping at REI when he ran across a pair of returned ski boots that were marked way down. They fit perfectly. Normally he would hem and haw over a purchase like this, but because he had been slowly funding a category for new ski boots the money was there. No stress, all joy! Barbell Logic -- Personalized Online Strength Coaching Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: Instagram: ...
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More Isn't More
The YNAB Podcast
Many people bemoan the fact that they don't earn more money. But what baffles many who eventually do earn more money, is that it doesn't fix any of their financial problems! There is no income that cannot be outspent. Put another way, broken spending habits lead to broken spending, and when you have more money, that just leads to more broken spending. Now, there are people who have a legitimate income problem, but those folks are fewer in number than you might think. The solution for most isn't more, it's spending with purpose! Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: ...
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Earning With Purpose
The YNAB Podcast
The first habit of YNAB is to give every dollar a job. We tend to think of it purely as a spending exercise, as in, what do these dollars need to do for me? Buy clothes, groceries, pay the rent, etc. But Jesse points out how this process of giving your dollars jobs can help you find more meaning in your earning, not just your spending. When you know what your dollars are doing for you, the way you earn those dollars takes on more meaning, even if the work is not intrinsically meaningful. Beginning Balance Podcast Apple: Spotify: Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:...
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Tentacles and Rainbows
The YNAB Podcast
Money sinks its tentacles into nearly everything, and those tentacles can feel like, well, tentacles, or they can feel like rainbows. Jesse wants you to look at money and see rainbows, blessing all the facets of life that money touches. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: Instagram: Twitter: Tik Tok:
info_outlineJesse shares a trick for improving your Rule Two planning (Embrace Your True Expenses), and better prepare for the next unexpected expense.
Jesse suggests pulling your last six months of bank statements, and quickly scanning them for large expenditures. Look at the number of digits, and flag the transactions that have a large number of digits (to you). This should only take a few minutes. Note the payee. This exercise is the first place to look when planning for future unexpected expenses. Did you get in a fender bender and end up with a $1,000 bill from the body shop? Did you hire a plumber to fix some leaking pipes in your basement? These are possible future expenses you can use Rule Two to plan for.
Now, hopefully you won't be getting into fender benders on a regular basis! But that auto shop expense might trigger you to think about upcoming regular car maintenance that you haven't yet budgeted for. Likewise, owning a house means regular maintenance, so at some point you're probably going to call a plumber out again. Time to assign money in your budget and plan for that!
This is a good, easy strategy for improving your Rule Two thinking, and put future you in a better financial position.
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