School is back in session, and it's a good time to tune up the budget. Want to really nail it this year? Go back to the Four Rules, Jesse says, and simplify. Now is the time to close those extra bank accounts, the multiple credit cards, the three different brokerage accounts. Budgeting is all about helping you make better decisions, after all, and simplifying helps you do that too.

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https://www.youneedabudget.com/college/

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A listener writes the show to ask: what should he and his family do with a life-changing windfall? The listener has a mortgage, and a HELOC, and some savings goals such as saving for his kids' college education. The windfall amount is enough to payoff all these things, and in addition he has recently earned a large raise. While the windfall is a huge gift, he wants to be calm, reasonable, and disciplined with allocating it towards the family's financial goals. Jesse helps walk through the problem, and identify some emotionally driven questions one should ask in this situation.

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Jesse shares a few book titles he has been working through lately, and how the lessons from Jocko's Exteme Ownership have been working their way through the Mecham household and YNAB. It's not all business books this time! Topics range from leadership to the history of money to science fiction.

Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs-ebook/dp/B0739PYQSS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=jocko+willink+extreme+ownership&qid=1660506517&s=books&sprefix=jocko+willink+ex%2Cstripbooks%2C69&sr=1-1

Debrief to Win by Robert “Cujo” Teschner

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1732929815/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Layered Money: From Gold and Dollars to Bitcoin and Central Bank Digital Currencies by Nik Bhatia

https://www.amazon.com/Layered-Money-Dollars-Bitcoin-Currencies-ebook/dp/B08T7T47HC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZYVYV927YTEG&keywords=layered+money&qid=1660506593&s=books&sprefix=layered+money%2Cstripbooks%2C60&sr=1-1

Dune by Frank Herbert

https://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert-ebook/dp/B00B7NPRY8/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=dune+frank+herbert&qid=1660506937&s=books&sprefix=dune+frank%2Cstripbooks%2C74&sr=1-2

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals-ebook/dp/B08FGV64B1/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DVV12Z77CLKP&keywords=four+thousand+weeks&qid=1660507272&s=books&sprefix=four+thousand%2Cstripbooks%2C90&sr=1-1

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A listener writes Jesse to ask what he should do with his first real job and first real paycheck -- pay off debt, or start investing? This is a popular question with a few answers, and in Jesse's mind, the answers are all valid! What matters most is where you picture your life five years from now, whether you are happy with that picture, and whether your current trajectory is going to get you there.

Some people get a lot of satisfaction from having a big nest egg, even while carrying debt. Others prize the freedom they feel from not having debt more than the size of their investment accounts. And of course, some people prefer to be somewhere in between.

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There's a moment that happens when you run across something you really want -- it's like an itch that wants you to whip out the credit card and scratch it! In these moments, we're probably not very clear on our priorities and Rule One, so Jesse reminds us that the budget is the thing that helps us answer the question: can I afford this? Am I going to be OK after I buy this? And the budget answers those questions for you by bringing clarity to your priorities and the jobs you have assigned to your dollars.

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