We all know we need to save for retirement, but it can feel a long ways away. Savings can always wait while you deal with something more urgent, it seems, until all of a sudden retirement starts staring you in the face!

The most important factors in saving for retirement are starting early, and consistency, Ernie reminds us. How do you create consistency? There's an easy trick. If you're not yet, start contributing something -- anything! -- to your retirement accounts now. That amount will be some percentage of your income. Each quarter, increase that percentage of your income you are contributing by 1%. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up fast! And most importantly, it's a slow enough change that it gives you time to adjust. As one YNAB listener writes in, it doesn't even feel like you're missing the extra money, while at the same time it's encouraging to see your retirement accounts going up.

We want to hear your YNAB stories! Please take a moment to tell us about your biggest budgeting wins here:

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Ben and Ernie ask a question that strikes fear into those who don't budget (and sometimes to those who do): can I afford this? At least for YNAB'ers, this question isn't about whether you have the dollars and cents in your bank account to make the purchase, it's about your emotion, how you feel about buying the thing in question versus something else. As Ben explains, it's about opportunity cost, and luckily YNAB is very good at helping you understand opportunity costs with your money.

We want to hear your YNAB stories! Please take a moment to tell us about your biggest budgeting wins here:

https://youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories

Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345

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Ben and Ernie tackle the big credit card question (should you use them?) that Jesse has been wrestling with this year, with a slightly different take. Ben, of course, does not use credit cards as he shared with Jesse in episode #621. Ernie, on the other hand, has done it both ways, cutting up the credit card during times of his life where he was busy paying down debt, and now using it judiciously to accrue travel points that he can use on family vacations.

We want to hear your YNAB stories! Please take a moment to tell us about your biggest budgeting wins here:

https://youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories

Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast

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Jesse is taking a break for the summer, so Ben and Ernie (from the Budget Nerds podcast) are stepping in to guest host.  Today, they talk about paying off debt... sustainably! So many personal finance resources urge people to pay off debt as soon as they can, and white knuckle their way toward financial freedom. While this can work for short periods of time, for many people paying off debt is a marathon, not a sprint, and white-knuckling has many pitfalls.

For one, when you're throwing every dollar and focusing all of your energy on paying off debt, it's easy to ignore Rule Two -- embracing your true expenses. If you get hit by an unplanned expense and you've thrown all your extra cash at your debt, then you may find yourself reaching for the credit card... and thereby accruing more debt. So, Ben and Ernie urge you to take things a little slower. Work the Four Rules, budget for true expenses, and have some cash reserves set aside, so that your journey to pay off debt doesn't start going backwards.

And more importantly, taking things at your own pace can help you avoid burnout and stay focused on the long term goal. As long as you are aligning your money with your priorities, you are doing it right!

We want to hear your YNAB stories! Please take a moment to tell us about your biggest budgeting wins here:

https://youneedabudget.typeform.com/ynaber-stories

Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6

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