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How is a budget like a clock?    Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule One in an Afternoon.

How is a budget like a visit from the in-laws?    Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule Two the In-Laws are Coming

How is a budget like a college football game?   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule Three and Alabama Football a little

Jesse goes back to basics and breaks down YNAB's Rule One: Give Every Dollar A Job.   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule One Broken Down

Jesse goes back to basics and breaks down YNAB's Rule Two: Embrace Your True Expenses    Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule Two Broken Down

Jesse goes back to basics and breaks down YNAB's Rule Three: Roll With The Punches &nbsp; &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule Three is War

Jesse goes back to basics and breaks down YNAB's Rule Four: Age Your Money &nbsp; &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Rule Four and Waistlines

Jesse discusses payroll advances in relation to age of money. &nbsp; &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Fixing the Paycheck to Paycheck Cycle

If you made it through the last few weeks, you know why Jesse hates debt and why you should too! &nbsp; Start the New Year by putting those feelings into action. Jesse has created a "debt bootcamp" for YNAB users to help you get serious about getting rid of your debt for good. Best of all, it's FREE for all YNAB software subscribers. &nbsp; The Debt Bootcamp will be an intense, 8-week challenge to get rid of as much debt as possible. The camp will be run through a private Facebook group where you can stay accountable with other YNAB'ers and share your successes and challenges. &nbsp; Go to https://www.youneedabudget.com/bootcamp/&nbsp;to sign up now! &nbsp; &nbsp;

The YNAB Debt Bootcamp

For better or worse (probably worse), credit cards are a major part of our financial world now. Cash is becoming less and less convenient to use every year, and debit cards continue to lack the same level of fraud protection that credit cards enjoy. &nbsp; This isn't coincidence either. Jesse attended a "payments trends" conference in 2019, where the main topic was how to make payments easier, to remove as much friction as possible from the process of buying things. Why? Simply put, when you spend more money, more often, payment vendors make more money. &nbsp; The problem is, you can't win the credit card game. Not only do payment vendors make money when you spend, the banks that underwrite credit card debt know (because they have studied human behavior) that when you swipe a credit card, you tend to spend more money. Credit card points and rewards are carefully designed to entice you to spend more money, because banks know that you will likely carry higher debt levels with a credit card. &nbsp; So if you can't win the game, maybe the solution is just to opt out. &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com &nbsp; Also, go to https://www.youneedabudget.com/bootcamp/&nbsp;to sign up for the YNAB Debt Bootcamp!

Opting Out of the Credit Card Game

Save money for known future expenses, or pay down debt? It's a challenge many people face while trying to eliminate their debt. It's a conundrum too -- you could take your savings and pay down debt now, or hold onto to those savings for the new tires you know your car needs next month, or the Christmas gifts you want to buy for the family. If you do that, though, the debt balance stays the same while you continue to pay interest... &nbsp; Jesse argues that optionality is the key here. Obeying rule #2 -- embracing your true expenses -- means setting aside money for those known expenses and eventualities in your life. It's tempting to pay down as much debt as you can now, but setting aside cash for your true expenses gives you options. &nbsp; What if your true expenses are bigger than you anticipated? What if you get hit with unexpected expenses on top of that? If you've set aside the cash, you are in a position to handle those expenses when they come. If you've already used the cash to pay down debt, then you won't have any to cover unexpected expenses. This makes you much more likely to put those on the credit card and then... now you are in debt again. &nbsp; Jesse often meets people whose finances look like their diets -- they yoyo in and out of debt constantly. It's a mentally and emotionally draining prospect. But by giving yourself options, you can have it both ways. You can prepare to pay your true expenses in the future AND pay down debt. And you'll be more likely to stay out of debt, which is the ultimate goal! &nbsp; &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Also, go to &nbsp;to sign up for the YNAB Debt Bootcamp!

Optionality & Why You Should Follow Rule Two Instead of Paying Down Debt

They are prepared for emergencies, for setbacks, for unexpected life changes. In fact emergencies don’t seem to happen as often to them. YNAB’ers are a lucky set, it seems, but maybe there’s more to the truth than a roll of the dice. &nbsp; Survivorship bias is a logical fallacy in which you focus on a group of people or things that made it past a selection process, without considering those that failed. This bias can lead to a number of erroneous conclusions. In finance, survivorship bias occurs when evaluating the returns of, say, companies in a certain sector of the economy. If you only look at current technology firms, you might look at the technology sector and determine that it radically outperforms the market… but those same returns may look very different if you consider all the technology firms within the same time period that went bankrupt. &nbsp; Survivorship bias appears everywhere in life, and YNAB’ers are no exception. At first glance it may seem like those in good financial health just didn’t have the same number of setbacks that those in poor financial health did. But maybe it’s not just luck. Maybe those with good financial health stay that way because they budget responsibly. &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at  &nbsp; Also, go to &nbsp;to sign up for the YNAB Debt Bootcamp!

Budgeting for Lady Luck

Jesse and the YNAB team are excited to announce a new service: financial wellness for businesses and their employees! For any company, big or small, YNAB will educate your employees on the most important yet often overlooked aspect of financial wellbeing… budgeting of course. &nbsp; Financially stress-free employees are good employees. They are empowered, they have freedom to be creative in their life, and they are more productive as a result. &nbsp; This is a FREE service for the business. You can find out more by going to: &nbsp;

Financial Wellness by YNAB

Recently Jesse received an email from a woman who claimed YNAB was really a program about mindfulness... just using money and budgeting as the entry point. So Jesse invited this woman onto the podcast to talk about the connection between mindfulness, meditation, and money. Welcome to&nbsp;Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, a mindfulness expert, yoga instructor, and filmmaker currently residing in Madison, WI where she runs The Studio. &nbsp; The Studio:  &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at

Mindfulness and Money: A Chat with a Meditation Expert

Jesse tackles the defeatist attitude some people develop that they are just no good with money. As they say, comparison is the thief of joy, and we should add, it's very misleading when it comes to money! Watching what other people do with their money isn't particularly helpful or relevant to your own situation. Bottom line, being smart with your money simply means knowing what you want your money to do, and allowing it do that for you. This is something anyone can do! &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at

Are You Just Not Smart With Money?

Jesse lays out a strategy for managing unknown expenses without continually dipping into your emergency fund. Traditional budgeting advice tells you to create an emergency fund for dealing with unforeseen expenses, but often people end up using their emergency funds for irregular, but foreseeable expenses -- things like new tires, new cars, A/C repair, etc. They don't happen regularly, maybe only every several years, but if you look into the future you know they are coming. &nbsp; For YNAB'ers that are following Rule #2, Embracing Your True Expenses, these aren't true emergencies, and they are already covered in the budget. In the rare event of a true emergency that catches you off guard, Jesse recommends that rather than spending money out of your global emergency fund, set up a new category for that expense. Maybe it's a house repair that you had never encountered before. Make a new category for that type of repair, and start a new sinking fund for it like you do for other Rule #2 expenses. &nbsp; Over time, this strategy will give you useful data about your true expenses, so that you can be more prepared for next time. &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at

Never Spend Your Emergency Fund Again

It's not a dirty word, so let's say it together -- wealth! At YNAB, we often use the words "save money," and it's a more approachable concept, something that seems achievable in the short term. Wealth can seem like such a far-off concept sometimes. But at the end of the day, that's what we're all trying to do, is to build wealth that will allow us to do more of what we want to do in life. &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at

You Are Building WEALTH

The end of the year is nigh, and 2020 has been one of the most stressful in recent memory. Jesse offers some advice for those dealing with fear and anxiety during these times. &nbsp; During times of fear and uncertainty, Jesse draws on Stephen R. Covey's seminal book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.&nbsp;The first habit is to be proactive and take responsibility for your reactions to events. To that end, Covey asks readers to consider their circle of influence -- What do you control? Where do you not have control? Drawing a very clear picture of your circle of influence, and defining what you don't control, can help with realizing what things you ought to be fear and what things are outside your influence, and thus should be outside your concern (or at least unworthy of spending mental bandwidth on). When people start budgeting, they often can't control what they make, but they can control some of things they spend on. So focusing on spending, giving their money a job, and following the four steps brings their attention to concrete, actionable things within their circle of influence. &nbsp; Secondly, Jesse recommends learning more about the things you are fearful of. What information could you gather about a topic that would help you better understand it? If you are fearful about money, how about understanding how much you have in your checking account right now? Then take another step. What does that money need to do between now and the next time you get paid? Gathering data points and information about the things causing you fear and anxiety can help make them seem more manageable. &nbsp; Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at

Tackling Fear

Jesse issues a New Years' challenge for YNAB'ers. For the next 34 days, abide by just three rules:&nbsp;  Write down every single thing you spend money on. You can do this in YNAB, or on a sheet of paper, but it must include every penny spent! Purchase ONLY essentials. Essential means you must have it to live. Do not eat out, or order take-in from restaurants. No restaurant spending, full stop. It's only 34 days, you can do it!  YNAB's data and experience has shown that people often find hundreds, even a thousand, extra dollars in their budget by doing these three things. In particular, eating out has proven to be the number one most common drain on the budget. Remember, this is only for a short time! It's a small amount of hardship to endure, that can provide a major boost your savings and financial health to start the New Year. &nbsp; Start the reset today: https://www.youneedabudget.com/34dayreset/

Join Me In a 34-Day Reset

Just like weight loss, there are some people who manage to pay off their debt through a burst of willpower and concerted effort... only to fall into debt again, usually slowly. Jesse points out that often this is a failure to follow  (Embracing Your True Expenses), and discusses how you can prevent slipping into old habits in the New Year. &nbsp; Are you ready for a financial reset?

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