The YNAB Podcast

New York Times columnist and bestselling author Ron Lieber joins the podcast for a frank discussion about the ever rising cost of college and whether it's even a good idea for young people today. Evaluating the true cost of college, as it turns out, is essentially a budgeting exercise. There's the sticker price for tuition and room and board, but the real analysis lies in examining the hidden costs, as well as the hidden benefits. Ron Lieber helps us break those down and demystify the college problem.

 

Ron Lieber

https://ronlieber.com

 

The Price You Pay for College

https://ronlieber.com/books/the-price-you-pay-for-college/

 

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 480_Ron_Lieber_What_Does_College_Really_Cost.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Buying a house is a stressful experience, especially in the current market where low supply and high demand have pushed prices up and up. Naturally, house shoppers worry about overpaying for a house, or whether they've overpaid for a house they've already bought. We'd all like to perfectly time the market and buy at the lowest possible point, but it's very difficult to do.

 

Jesse reminds house shoppers to check in with their reasons for owning a house before they worry. Is your house a real estate investment that you are buying with an exit strategy? Then purchase price is very important, and you should be worried about overpaying!

 

But are you buying a house to be your home? In that case, it's not an investment, it's the place where you live, and the purchase price only matters insofar as it fits your budget. If you value the lifestyle that a house offers, and that house fits your budget, then don't sweat whether you have overpaid or not. You are giving your house dollars the job of securing housing that fits your needs.

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 479_How_to_Time_a_Home_Purchase.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

What does budgeting have to do with nutrition? A lot, actually, explains Kali Langevin, a nutritionist and Registered Dietitian who has spent 16 years working with athletes in United States Soccer Federation. Kali is also a long time YNAB user, and joins the podcast to explain how the Four Rules can be applied to nutrition. Much like Jesse encourages people to be mindful of their spending habits -- giving dollars jobs that accomplish the things that you value -- Kali encourages people to be mindful of their eating habits, being intentional with meal times and the rituals around food.

 

Kali on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalilangevin

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 478_Kali_Langevin_Nutrition.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

This week's Money Story comes from the vivacious Diania Merriam, founder of the EconoMe Conference which brings together speakers in the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). After finding herself working for a decent salary in NYC but falling deeper into debt, Diania decided to pull her head out of the financial sand and figure out where her finances stood. Around the same time, a friend introduced her to the Mr. Money Mustache blog and the concept of FIRE.

 

Armed with these tools, she started cutting her expenses and aggressively paying off debt. Eventually, Diania managed to stash away 60% of her income, and pay off $30k of debt. Ever the life of the party, Diania attributes part of her success to realizing that her happiness lies in connecting with friends and shared experiences, not necessarily in spending money in exclusive clubs. After paying off her debt, she was also able to pursue her dream of hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

 

Today Diania has reached CoastFI, having already saved enough to retire in the future at the standard age of 65 but still working, albeit at a more relaxed pace. Financial independence has allowed her to pursue more fulfilling work (like the EconoMe Conference) and engage in new adventures. This, she explains, is the real American Dream.

 

Optimal Finance Daily Podcast: https://oldpodcast.com/optimal-finance-daily-podcast/

EconoMe Conference: https://economeconference.com

 

 

Direct download: 477_Money_Stories_EP05_Diania_Merriam_v2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Jesse chats with Geoff Woods, President of ProduKtive, the training company behind the bestselling book The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. After leaving a high-stress and ultimately unfulfilling job in medical device sales, Geoff set out to surround himself with successful mentors. Eventually Geoff found Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, and immersed himself in their philosophy of the "one thing," that is, the concept of relentlessly pursuing the single most impactful thing you can do in your day, and arranging your schedule to accomplish that thing first.

 

Geoff describes the one thing as a stack of dominoes. Accomplishing the one thing you can do first -- "can" is the operative word here, this task must be small and easily achievable today -- topples the first domino in the chain, which topples the next, and the next, and so forth. Most people never do the work to identify this one thing, however, and get stuck spending lots of time toppling individual dominoes without ever setting off this chain reaction.

 

The connection to budgeting is clear. Before you give every dollar a job, you need to know what it is your budget needs to do for you -- what you value, what you are trying to optimize for. Once you've identified this, you can assign your dollars jobs.

 

The ONE Thing Podcast: https://www.the1thing.com/podcasts/

The ONE Thing book: https://www.amazon.com/ONE-Thing-Surprisingly-Extraordinary-Results-ebook/dp/B00C1BHQXK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HGDLQ2QU6QJP&dchild=1&keywords=the+one+thing+keller&qid=1615904686&sprefix=the+one+thing+ke%2Caps%2C245&sr=8-1

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

 

Direct download: 476_Geoff_Woods_The_One_Thing.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Jesse attempts to give some advice on purchasing a car... before admitting that he has no advice to give! Well, maybe a bit of advice. Jesse reminds us that optimizing your budget involves optimizing for YOUR needs and wants. Jesse chooses to lease a Tesla to drive around in, because he wanted to have as little headaches with car maintenance as possible. That's important to him today, but ten years ago his needs and wants were totally different, and thus the things he chose to optimize his budget for were too.

 

So this episode is not about how to buy the most cost-effective used car, or how to get a good deal on a new car, or anything like that. It's about examining your own needs and shaping your budget around them.

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 475_Optimizing_Your_Car_Purchase_Not_Really.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Bestselling author Ian Morgan Cron introduces the Enneagram, a personality typing system which identifies nine different personality types, their motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. As Ian explains, understanding your enneagram can help you better understand your motivations for why you want to do the things you do, which has direct implications in budgeting. Understanding the motivations and perspectives of others, especially those with polar differences in personality, can help you mitigate conflict and reach compromise in your family relationships and in the workplace.

 

Ian Morgan Cron is a psychotherapist, Episcopal priest, and an accomplished author. His book The Road Back to You champions the Enneagram for people that seek to better "know thyself."

 

https://ianmorgancron.com

Direct download: 474_Ian_Morgan_Cron_Enneagram.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Jesse reminds us that the ideal budget... is the budget which helps you achieve your goals and values. And those goals and values can, and will, change over time!

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 473_Heres_the_Ideal_Budget.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MDT

Robert Leonard has been a uniquely driven person since a young age. Eyeing the professional ranks of motocross at age 14 (the minimum age to turn pro was 16), he competed all over the country. When his father discouraged his going pro, Robert started working various jobs and reading about investing. By the time he graduated college, he had already purchased his first piece of real estate and began "house hacking" -- leasing spare rooms to roommates to generate cash flow to cover the mortgage.

 

Over the years Robert has continued to house hack, selling properties and rolling the profits into the next investment. He now owns a portfolio of rental properties. On the side, he also invests in individual stocks as a value investor, and enjoys the process of digging through company financials and earnings to find undervalued companies to buy and hold.

 

Robert is also passionate about teaching other people how to get started with investing in both real estate and the stock market, and he hosts two podcasts on the topic. Check the links below to follow Robert, learn more about his philosophy, and his podcasts!

 

Robert on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therobertleonard/

 

Real Estate 101 Podcast: https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/real-estate-101/

 

Millenial Investing Podcast: https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/millennial-investing/

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: 472_Robert_Leonard.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00pm MDT

Sita Thomas is a woman of many talents, and many careers, having worked jobs ranging from massage therapy to data analytics. She has been using YNAB for over 8 years to help her reach her goals, including going back to school and making a career change, taking time off work to care for a terminally ill family member, and removing the day to day stresses of money from her life.

 

Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Direct download: EP04_MoneyStories_Sita_Thomas.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:00pm MDT