YNAB

On the surface, emergency funds sound like a very prudent idea. You set aside cash for unknowable, unforseeable events so that you aren't strapped when you really need it. We're not disagreeing with the idea, but an emergency fund is somewhat counter to the core principle of YNAB: giving every dollar a job. In an emergency fund, dollars are given a job, but it's a vague one. &nbsp; Jesse likens it to a football coach yelling at his defense to "just stop the other team from scoring!" The coach is identifying the basic goal of the game, but there's nothing specific to help the players actually accomplish that task. A good coach instead instructs players what to do at an individual level, adjusting their positioning, technique, key reads etc. so that they can more effectively play their role on the team. The net result is the same -- stopping the other team from scoring -- but the results are far more effective. &nbsp; The same is true with your dollars. While yes, we do want to set aside money for larger, less frequent expenses, the truth is many of these expenses are knowable, we just don't plan for them. New roof, new tires, plumbing repair, etc. Including these items into your plan and saving for them accomplishes what the emergency fund accomplishes, but with more clarity. &nbsp; So, consider just deleting your emergency fund. Or at least make it smaller, and give those dollars more specific, effective jobs. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to San Diego, Minneapolis, and NYC:  &nbsp;

Delete Your Emergency Fund

If the world seems like it's on fire right now... it may be true. But then again, the world always seems like it's on fire, at least depending on who you ask. If you ask the news, it certainly is! Fortunately, the YNAB method -- giving every dollar a job and working through the 5 Questions -- can bring peace and calm to your finances. &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to San Diego, Minneapolis, and NYC:  &nbsp;

How to Be Spendful When the World Is on Fire

Jesse has a long history experimenting with money. From rating every meal he and the family ate out, to "hyperbudgeting," to not budgeting at all... he's run an experiment almost every year for the last several years to see how his habits affect his financial planning. In today's episode Jesse recaps the experiments he's done, how they went (good and bad), and reminds us that personal finance is, well, personal. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to Minneapolis and NYC:  &nbsp;

What I've Learned from Years of Experimenting with Money

Spendfulness is the new word around YNAB, but the concept goes back to the beginning of the company... and even before the company itself. In today's episode, Jesse recounts the very early days of YNAB, when the budgeting method was just a spreadsheet. Jesse realized that the spreadsheet was enforcing a set of behaviors, or "rules," around money and that those rules were the foundation of what is now referred to as the YNAB method. YNAB is more than a spreadsheet, and more than a software tool, it is a set of principles for managing money and, more importantly, learning about yourself. Knowing thyself is at the heart of spendfulness, and as it turns out, living spendfulness is what YNAB was about the whole time! &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to Minneapolis and NYC:  &nbsp;

Spendfulness: An Origin Story

Judging from the difficulties many adults have managing their money, we don't do a great job collectively of teaching our kids about money. Jesse doesn't consider himself an expert on this, but he does have seven kids, and thus seven chances to instill good money habits in his own children. In today's episode he shares how he teaches his kids about money using the YNAB method, scaled down in language and concepts that younger children can understand. &nbsp; At the end of the day, the goal for kids is the same as the goal for adults... Jesse wants them to love the way they spend, and imagine what money can do for them. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to Minneapolis and NYC:  &nbsp;

How and When We Teach Our Kids About Money

To many, the word "budget" brings to mine restrictions, guilt, punishment, and a general feeling of dread that they don't have control over their money, much less hit their budget goals. But this idea that a budget means setting hard limits on spending in various categories, then looking back every month to see if you were "good" or "bad" in adhering to those limits... it's all backwards! &nbsp; Jesse has another way to look at "budgeting," or planning as he calls it. You give every dollar you have a job -- you look at what future expenses you know you have coming and put those dollars into categories to cover those expenses. Once you have your future expenses covered, then you start thinking about what else you'd like to do with your money: take a trip, buy some new clothes, maybe go out to a nice restaurant. Then, as life happens and your needs change, you can move the money around. It's not a failure that your spending doesn't perfectly adhere to some arbitrary category number, it just means you got new information, circumstances changed, and therefore your spending plan needs to change with it. &nbsp; Once you wrap your head around this way of thinking about money, of planning for the future rather than looking backwards and punishing yourself, then you can start loving the way you spend. Guilt free. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on Youtube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp; Tickets to YNAB Fan Fest 2025 are on sale now! Coming to Minneapolis and NYC:  &nbsp;

You've Got Budgeting Backwards

Jesse has ranted about credit cards and their pernicious way of separating you from your money, both literally and metaphorically -- obfuscating the way you spend and distancing your priorities from the point of sale. Today he warns against the newest form of this pernicious spending: buy now, pay later programs. It's like a credit card you don't have to sign up -- just purchase an item, and via an app like Klarna or Affirm, you can split up the cost of that item over several smaller installments. &nbsp; Of course, buy now pay later programs encourage spending you don't have, rather than  in YNAB. But even if you have the money, splitting a purchase into multiple installments is just putting off the decision to purchase into the future. YNAB's goal is to help you be spendful, to spend with joy and clarity about what it is you want your money to do for you. Buying something the YNAB way means you've given your dollars a job and you have money set aside in a category meant to cover that purchase. Or, you don't have money in a category for that purchase, but you pull money from other categories to find the money -- making a clear decision to forego something else to buy this thing now. &nbsp; Putting off the payment for an item is ultimately just robbing you of clarity, because the money doesn't flow out of the category when you purchase. It sits there, unused while you have the item but earmarked for a future date when the installment comes due. A buy now pay later purchase adds a layer of complexity to your spending plan, while lacking the conviction to say "do I really want this right now?" &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:

Why Buy Now, Pay Later is the WORST Way to Spend

Personal finance is personal, as the saying goes, and the only constant in life is change, to employ another saying. On that note, Jesse issues a challenge in today's episode: change your plan! Add a category, put some money in it, delete a category, shuffle some dollars around... just make a change. This is a reminder to yourself that the beauty of a plan is it's flexibility. As life changes, your plan can change along with it. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:

Change Your Plan, Today!

You've probably heard the term "moving the goalposts," that is, a deceptive argument strategy in which you change the question, the criteria, or the standard by which you are evaluating something. The metaphor comes from sports, and it's a good metaphor for personal finance. Early in our adult lives we make a lot choices because money is scarce -- you choose to live with roommates instead of your own apartment, you skip buying something you want to prioritize schooling or training, for instance -- but as we get older and accumulate more financial resources our standards change and our choices change along with that. The goalposts move, so to speak. &nbsp; Some call that lifestyle inflation or lifestyle creep, but Jesse doesn't like the term. It connotes something bad, something you shouldn't indulge in, but as Jesse points out, it's perfectly reasonable to want more things and different living conditions when you're older. That moldy apartment might have been fine as a college student, but with a family of five you probably want cleaner, more spacious accomodations. &nbsp; So instead think of living a more expansive life as the goalposts shifting over time, and that's ok. &nbsp;Just take some time to reflect back on where those goalposts started, and appreciate how well your spending aligns with your priorities. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:

It's OK to Move Your Goalposts

When you don't have a plan for your money, it can feel like money is in control of your life. That can be a terrifying feeling! YNAB can not only help you set a plan for your money, but reclaim control of your money, and control over your life. &nbsp; &nbsp; Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube:  &nbsp; Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter/X:  Tik Tok:  &nbsp;

Money Doesn't Have to Control You

You Need A Budget Podcast

082 - The Age of Money

YNAB's (very successful) headline on the homepage sends the message of "control," but most people say they don't like budgets because they feel controlled.  Which is it?

083 - Control

If you just decide things are great, maybe a monthly budget is a bit too frequent…how long would you last before the lack of frequency/familiarity left you sinking back into your old ways?

084 - Budgeting Late in the Month

There are three secrets to budgeting successfully on even the wildest of variable incomes.  Here they are.

085 - YNAB for the Freelancer

(Holiday spending target - current category balance) / six months remaining = your monthly contributions for the rest of 2013.

086 - It's Beginning to Look Halfway Like Christmas

Mark's blog post from a while back spurred this commentary.  My thoughts on financial priorities regarding the big picture, longer-term stuff.

093 - Financial Priorities

A weekly dose of just the right medicine to help you get out of debt, save more money, and beat the paycheck to paycheck cycle.

093 - Financial Priorities

You Need A Budget (YNAB)

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