Mon, 9 December 2024
It's not too late! The first rule of YNAB's Four Rules is "give every dollar a job," and you can implement it right now. Take a look at your bank account balance, and think to yourself: what does this money need to do for me right now? What does it need to do for me in the future? Now you have started thinking about your future self, and being proactive. This simple step can change your life!
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Mon, 2 December 2024
Jesse grew up in a frugal family -- frugality for frugality's sake, as he describes it. As he has grown, discovered the YNAB method, and worked the four rules, he has come to a conclusion -- he is not even a little frugal! Frugality implies thrift, spending little money so as to conserve the resource. The idea is that spending money frugally is an effort to not waste money.
YNAB's four rules help you identify the things that matter in your life, however, the things you do want to spend money on. And once you have identified those things, Jesse challenges you to double down and spend more on the things that matter to you. As he has mentioned in other episodes, money is just an extension of you, and if money is you, then why would you want less of you in the world?
So Jesse is not frugal. Not even a little bit!
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Mon, 25 November 2024
It's common parlance to say someone is "good with money," but it's often said in a way that suggests some people are innately gifted with money management skills. Jesse punches back at this supposition. He argues that becoming good with money is a skill, and skills are acquired through habit -- stringing together a lot of days with good money decisions until the good decisions become second nature.
You don't have to be perfect either! Jesse cites his favorite definition of intelligence, which is error correction, i.e. someone who makes an error, realizes the error, and then fixes it, demonstrates intelligence. It turns out, error correction is built into YNAB's four habits: rolling with the punches is the process of reacting to new circumstances by reallocating money as needed. Then, in the future you can plan for those new circumstances by embracing them as part of your true expenses (habit #2).
Next time you catch yourself thinking "I'm not good with money," focus on making one good decision, then another the next day, then correcting your errors... until it becomes another skill you have acquired!
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Mon, 18 November 2024
Most folks do a lot of mental math with their money. They see something they want to buy, they check their bank balance, and start doing some mental math on what other things that balance needs to be able to pay for before they buy the thing. The problem is, mental math gets very sloppy very quickly! Life is often just too complex, with too many variables to be able to hold all your future spending needs in your head at all times. It's too easy to spend the same dollar many times over when you rely on mental math.
YNAB helps you do money differently. YNAB gives you a simple four step method for identifying all the things your money needs to do for you now, the major things it needs to do for you in the future, and, over time, getting you to start paying next month's bills with today's money so you can finally get ahead.
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Mon, 11 November 2024
Sometimes YNAB'ers talk about money being "boring." That is, working the Four Rules patientily, consistently, until managing your money becomes another daily habit. As Jesse sees it, however, there's nothing boring about working the method. Each time you work the method, and follow the four rules, you learn more about yourself and what you want your money to do for you. And there's nothing boring about you!
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Sun, 3 November 2024
It is generally accepted that the market is driven by demand. What if YNAB was really just a long con to generate demand for quality goods and services... like toasters?
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Mon, 28 October 2024
Jesse's back with another round of Ask Jesse, where he answers questions in his inbox. In today's episode, Jesse discusses his recent engagement with Marx's Das Kapital (he gave up on it), gives an update on his debit and credit card usage, and explains how too much awareness around your investments can end up be a negative.
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Direct download: 703_Ask_Jesse_Reading_Habits_Debit_Card_Update.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 21 October 2024
One of Jesse's takeaway from the recent YNAB Fan Fest in Salt Lake City is that YNAB'ers are good at iterating. They make a plan for their money, spend the money, and reflect on whether the spending was on things they were really looking for. Then, they adjust the plan. In the process, they're not just learning how to manage money, they're learning more about themselves.
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Mon, 14 October 2024
We've all done it before, saying something to the effect of: "I'd love to do X, if only I could afford it." We have all cited money as the reason we haven't done something, or bought something we say we wanted. The next time you catch yourself saying this, Jesse urges you to stop and examine why it is you are blaming money for the reason you can't do (or buy) the thing. Is it because you really want to do/buy it, or because you're seeking escape from some other uncomfortable part of your life? If you really DO want the thing, but you're blaming lack of money for it, perhaps you are feeling frustration that you have allowed less important priorities to get in the way of saving for the thing.
Whatever it is, money is not a good excuse for not doing something you really want to do. But, we blame money because there is some real friction we are experiencing, so it's worth honoring the feeling and digging deeper to figure out what's driving it. In that way, we can stop wielding money against ourselves and allow money to work with ourselves.
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Mon, 7 October 2024
Bigger bank account balances, paying off debt, saving marriages... these are all things thousands of YNAB'ers have praised YNAB for helping them accomplish. But it's not what YNAB is about. Jesse explains: YNAB is really about getting to know yourself better, and making better spending decisions as a result. It's about reducing the second guessing in your life, and spending your money in perfect alignment with you.
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Mon, 30 September 2024
Using YNAB reveals a paradox about money -- the more you engage with it, and spend time and energy on it, the more it gets out of the way and just let's you live your life. Money is you, so learning how to manage it really means learning more about yourself and becoming more in tune with your desires, your values, and your priorities.
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Mon, 23 September 2024
When you practice the four habits of YNAB, money just gets out of the way. In today's episode, Jesse reflects on his thought process about paying for kids' college. Where he used to be against it, now that he has kids in college, he is helping them pay for it. As he has talked about on the podcast many times, his thoughts and opinions change over the time; the podcast is a sort of audio journal documenting these changes. But the real win here is that because Jesse and his wife put money aside for their kids, they were able to make this decision without worrying about money. The money was not a deciding factor, leaving them free to decide whether helping their kids with college was the best decision for them. And that is freeing!
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Mon, 16 September 2024
Twenty years ago, in a galaxy far, far away... Jesse Mecham launched youneedabudget.com with a budgeting spreadsheet and a modest goal: cover the $350 a month in rent he owed for the next couple years until he and his wife graduated from college. Since then, YNAB has grown leaps and bounds beyond Jesse's original idea. In today's episode, Jesse reflects on the last two decades, thanks the people who have made it happen (most importantly YOU, YNAB users!), and wonders what the next two decades have in store.
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Mon, 9 September 2024
Jesse shares a YNAB win from his strength coach, Andrew, who is an avid YNAB'er. Andrew was shopping at REI when he ran across a pair of returned ski boots that were marked way down. They fit perfectly. Normally he would hem and haw over a purchase like this, but because he had been slowly funding a category for new ski boots the money was there. No stress, all joy!
Barbell Logic -- Personalized Online Strength Coaching
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Mon, 2 September 2024
Many people bemoan the fact that they don't earn more money. But what baffles many who eventually do earn more money, is that it doesn't fix any of their financial problems! There is no income that cannot be outspent. Put another way, broken spending habits lead to broken spending, and when you have more money, that just leads to more broken spending.
Now, there are people who have a legitimate income problem, but those folks are fewer in number than you might think. The solution for most isn't more, it's spending with purpose!
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Mon, 26 August 2024
The first habit of YNAB is to give every dollar a job. We tend to think of it purely as a spending exercise, as in, what do these dollars need to do for me? Buy clothes, groceries, pay the rent, etc. But Jesse points out how this process of giving your dollars jobs can help you find more meaning in your earning, not just your spending. When you know what your dollars are doing for you, the way you earn those dollars takes on more meaning, even if the work is not intrinsically meaningful.
Beginning Balance Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beginning-balance/id1569423517 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7APubdzXN2eeeMdNpCLkiy?si=757aff0c35ad4178
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Mon, 19 August 2024
Money sinks its tentacles into nearly everything, and those tentacles can feel like, well, tentacles, or they can feel like rainbows. Jesse wants you to look at money and see rainbows, blessing all the facets of life that money touches.
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Mon, 12 August 2024
Frugality is a virtue. At least, that's what many people in the financial space would claim. Being frugal is commonly seen as a good thing, presumably because it enables you to save more money. The environmentally conscious might see value in frugality as a means to reducing overall consumption. YNAB, one could argue, aims to make you more frugal. But YNAB is more interested in a deeper question: why be more frugal?
The first habit in the YNAB method is to give every dollar a job. To do so, you have to know what it is you want your money to do for you, where you are aiming at. Saving money is a great thing, but YNAB encourages you to ask the question: for what?
Being frugal is not an answer. It is merely the means by which you get to the answer!
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Mon, 5 August 2024
Jesse shares a story about taking a group of kids hiking, and coming down with altitude sickness on the first day. He could have quit, but he figured out a way to re-route the hike where he could safely get through. It's not so different when working with personal finances. It's tempting to just quit when things get hard, or road blocks come up, but sometimes all you need to do is slow down your plans.
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Mon, 29 July 2024
Big financial goals are great. It's what we live for at YNAB! But, life happens in between those big goals, and Jesse reminds you that it's ok to spend some money "in the meantime."
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Mon, 22 July 2024
Jesse shares a fun way to handle "fun money" from long-time YNAB software engineer Kyle. Kyle suggests creating separate bank accounts for fun money with separate budgets as well. His method evolved from the desire to keep the visibility of fun money separate from his spouse, so they could 1.) take any judgment or guilt away from spending fun money, and 2.) spend on fun things for each other without ruining the surprise!
Ordinarily, Jesse advocates for simplifying your bank accounts as much as possible, but Kyle is a veteran YNAB'er and his method may be a fun experiment for you to try in your own family!
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Mon, 15 July 2024
We organize our lives by the calendar, and the calendar is organized into months. It's no surprise then, that we tend to think of finances in terms of months -- monthly payments, monthly contributions, having 3-6 months of expenses saved. The month has a lot of utility, but it is an arbitrary division of time. Jesse examines how the month can be useful, yet also detrimental, to making money decisions.
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Mon, 8 July 2024
Jesse waxes poetic about Costco and how simple their model makes purchasing decisions. He also brings up the point that we often spend a lot of time searching for the best deal, for that one hot tip that will maximize our dollars for a certain purchase. Our time and attention is a resource as well, and perhaps we should just go buy the thing, and be done with it.
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Mon, 1 July 2024
Jesse delivers a good old fashioned rant about the evils of debt. While he may have softened his rhetoric over the past decade, Jesse is no less serious about his distaste for debt!
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Mon, 24 June 2024
Well meaning companies will bring in financial advisors to extol the virtues of investing in 401ks and matching plans, while some of their employees are still living paycheck to paycheck. With YNAB, you can take control of your money and get off the paycheck to paycheck cycle, then run to HR and take that 401k match like you stole it!
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Mon, 17 June 2024
Money can be chaotic, noisy, tinged with anxiety and fear. Or, with YNAB, it can be boring! At YNAB we strive for money to be boring, so that life can be rich, exciting, and full.
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Mon, 10 June 2024
As the saying goes, "stuff" happens. Life throws curveballs, sometimes several in a row, and YNAB'ers prepare for this financially by following the Four Rules:
Today's episode is mostly about rule #3. When you roll with the punches, you reassign money you have saved up for other expenses in the future to cover the unexpected expense you are facing right now. After working the method for a while, you'll build up more and more money in your categories, and therefore have more money available to cover unexpeceted expenses when life decides to throw you a curveball. Think of your money like shock absorbers -- it doesn't take away all the pain or stress of unforeseen circumstances, but it does take away the money stress, which can be a blessing!
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Mon, 3 June 2024
Those categories that you love to spend in, those categories that suck you right in. What if you could increase your spending in that category by 50%? Jesse challenges you that you can in fact do this, by honing in on the things you love, and the things you don't. Spend less on the things you don't love -- not because you are cutting! -- but so that you can spend more on the things you love.
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Direct download: 682_Category_Tractor_Beam_Sucked_Me_Right_In.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 27 May 2024
According to Jesse, absolutely you can! In fact, YNAB enables you to be more spontaneous. Planning your spending with YNAB doesn't mean locking your dollars into rigid categories that cannot change. It means setting aside money ahead of time for the things you don't know you want yet. Many people who thrive on spontaneity unfortunately end up in financial trouble, because they're never sure whether they have the money to afford their spur of the moment purchases and experiences. Using YNAB, however, you can set up categories whose only purpose is to hold money for spontaneous expenses, so that when the time comes you can spend the money without worrying about the consequences later. It's already there, and it's meant to be spent!
Celebrate YNAB's 20th Anniversary: YNAB Fan Fest, September 21, 2024
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Mon, 20 May 2024
We tend to think of spending as a problem that needs to be solved, however YNAB encourages spending as a thing to be enjoyed, as long as that spending is in accordance with priorities and people understand the tradeoffs they are making when they spend. In the world of personal finance we also tend to think about people who are natural spenders, but they are natural savers as well, and YNAB can help them too! Jesse responds to a comment from a YNAB team member who identifies as a natural saver, who has used YNAB to learn to love spending money as much as she does saving it.
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Mon, 13 May 2024
Jesse fields a question from the YNAB team about how he stays positive in light of rapidly increasing grocery prices.
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Mon, 6 May 2024
Jesse answers another round of questions from his inbox, including a number of suggestions for new books to read!
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Mon, 29 April 2024
It's not uncommon for people to remark to Jesse that they wished they would have found YNAB sooner. The four habits are such a powerful tool for bringing clarity to your money and joy to your spending. Today Jesse wants to remind you that regretting the past is no way to live!
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Mon, 22 April 2024
Jesse reviews the Four Rules and takes issue with those who say, "yeah must be nice to have extra money to make a plan with... everything I make is spoken for." It's true, there are some people who have a legitimate income problem. But this argument often becomes an excuse to not actually make plans for your money, to not try to follow the rules and start to get ahead on your expenses. After all, what's the alternative?
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Mon, 15 April 2024
Your biggest single expense is one you probably don't think about much... unless you're American and it's April 15th. You may think it's housing, or maybe education, or raising kids, but all those costs are dwarfed by the elephant on your income statement: taxes. We are taxed in hundreds of ways, some obvious like income taxes and sales tax, others more insidious like fuel tax, air travel tax, liquor tax, etc, etc. Jesse points this out to demonstrate something important -- you can be desensitized to almost any expense, even the single biggest expense in your life!
Beginning Balance Podcast with Jesse and Mark Butler Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beginning-balance/id1569423517 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7APubdzXN2eeeMdNpCLkiy?si=75eb73f1ac0a49ba
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Mon, 8 April 2024
Let's cut spending! And then... what exactly? The all too common advice that you need to "cut spending" implies that your level of consumption is simply too high. That may or may not be the case, but in Jesse's experience and the thousands upon thousands of people YNAB has helped to regain control over their money, "spending less" is rarely the problem. Most people don't have a spending too much problem, they have a spending on the wrong things problem. For that reason, you'll never hear Jesse give advice to just "cut spending."
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Mon, 1 April 2024
Jesse answers another round of questions from YNAB listeners. Today someone asks whether there is such a thing as "perfect YNAB" use and if good enough use is OK (yes!). Another YNAB'er is confused on how to calculate tithes for business income, and, as always, there are some questions and comments about credit card rewards.
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Mon, 25 March 2024
Jesse answers a question from a listener who argues that becuase he carries enough cash to cover his credit card spending at all times, he is not riding the float and therefore is gaming the credit card companies. Jesse quotes Charlie Munger -- "show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome" (he actually said outcome not behavior) -- and observes that financial institutions have big incentives to encourage more spending, because spending increases their fees. So where there's an incentive, there's a behavior they want to encourage, and using credit cards is it. In Jesse's experience, ditching the credit card has made him less likely to impulse spend, and that experience is likely what financial institutions have figured out!
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Mon, 18 March 2024
Jesse argues that the common refrain of a thing having "inherent value" or "intrinsic value" is not actually a thing. As Jesse explains, value is a moving target, constantly shifting along with our desires and material circumstances. To a starving man, food is worth more than gold. To that same man well-fed, it can be worth little. We see this with our own money -- as our circumstances change, the categories we prioritze shift. Rule 3, roll with the punches, acknowledges the ever-shifting nature of our needs and desires, and challenges us to make trade-offs to materialize those changes in our financial plans. To that end, nothing has an inherent value, but rather a variable value, the only certainty being that it will fluctuate over time.
Beginning Balance Podcast -- the show Jesse mentions has not aired yet, but will be coming soon! In the meantime, check out more of Jesse's musings about money here: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beginning-balance/id1569423517 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7APubdzXN2eeeMdNpCLkiy?si=19e8c25d5b104494
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Mon, 11 March 2024
Jesse is back answering another round of questions from his inbox. Today he responds to listeners asking whether the Four Rules are really rules or rather habits, what his favorite time management tools are, and how to relate to a spouse uninterested in budgeting.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
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Direct download: 670_Ask_Jesse_Lavish_Praise_and_Woodchip_Gardening.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:00am MST |
Mon, 4 March 2024
Jesse shares a story from a YNAB'er who had a major mindset shift about money. For this person, money went from a stressful topic to envisioning it as "young creatures just looking to party." Imagining your dollars as little "you's," searching for ways to improve your life and live out your values takes away the fear and anxiety around money.
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Direct download: 669_Young_Creatures_Looking_to_Party.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 26 February 2024
Mirror, mirror on the wall... which category is the truest of them all? Over the last several weeks, Jesse has explored the idea that money is more than just a tool, it's a reflection of you. Your spending is a representation of your energies and your desires, and therefore a proxy for who you are. So, if you imagined the categories in your spending plan as a mirror -- what would that mirror say about you? Do you like what's in the reflection?
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Mon, 19 February 2024
One of the pervasive messages about money is that "it's just a tool," and Jesse takes issue with that! When money is reduced to a mere tool, like a wrench or a screwdriver, it invites people to be more careless with it, to use it then put it in a drawer and forget about it. Hearkening back to episode #650: It's You All the Way Down, Jesse reminds us that if a dollar is the product of your energies, then a dollar is you! You aren't just a tool -- you are a human, with desires and values which are reflected in your spending. In this light, then, money takes on a much larger role than merely "tool," and it should be treated with the importance and attention it deserves.
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
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Mon, 12 February 2024
Whether your bank account is looking bare and collecting dust, or flush with cash, the temptation is all the same: to run away from the money. The person in dire financial straits often wishes they had a bunch of money, because then they wouldn't have to worry about money. On the flipside, the person newly flush with cash is quick to forget about the money, because they feel like they have enough now. Inattention is a mistake, no matter how it happens!
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Mon, 5 February 2024
Jesse opens his inbox for another for round of Ask Jesse, where he answers emails from YNAB'ers about all things money, finance, and... well, life! In today's episode, one listener asks about how to deal with a reluctant partner who doesn't want to participate in the YNAB process. Other listeners share their successes paying off debt and gaining control of their money for the first time.
Send your question to Jesse:
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Mon, 29 January 2024
Back in October 2023, Jesse asked listeners to look at their last ten transactions on YNAB and rank them on a scale from one to three, with one being spending that sucked joy from them and three being spending that sparked joy. Then he asked listeners to share their most interesting "three," the most interesting transaction that brough joy. Today, Jesse digs through the answers and discovers an interesting commonality -- the spending that sparked the most joy was spending on other people.
Have a question for Jesse? Email him at:
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Direct download: 664_A_Sample_of_Interesting_Joyful_Spending.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 22 January 2024
A few weeks ago, Jesse put out the call to share your New Years resolutions, as well as a guiding word for 2024 -- something to help you put your resolution into action day to day. Jesse received a number of great responses, and shares a sample of them on today's podcast.
Good luck working toward your goals in 2024!
Have a question for Jesse? Email him at:
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Direct download: 663_A_Sample_of_New_Years_Resolutions.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 15 January 2024
Jesse revisits his infamous experiment in which he essentially stopped budgeting for an entire year. The result from that experiment was that he and his family spent several thousand extra dollars that they couldn't account for, and even though the extra spending was not material to the family bottom line, it still bothered Jesse. Today, he hits on what exactly it was that bothered him. Managing money well, building a plan for spending, is virtuous, and virtue is something that you do, not something that you simply have. When the Mecham family stopped following the Four Rules, they lost the habit!
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email at:
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Mon, 8 January 2024
Anytime the word resolution comes up, there are naysayers claiming that they don't work. That goals don't work. Unfortunately a lot of people buy into that when they set a goal and fail to achieve it. Their failure leads them to believe that settings goals is a useless endeavour. Jesse offers some encouragement this year, for the goals you seek to achieve and those you fall short on.
Tell Jesse about your goals for 2024! Send him an email at:
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Direct download: 661_A_Clarification_on_Goal_Failures.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:00am MST |
Mon, 1 January 2024
As we embrace the New Year, Jesse challenges you to pick some goals and set some resolutions. Even if you fail, you will certainly learn some things in the process of chasing a goal, and that experience is invaluable!
Tell Jesse about your goals for 2024! Send him an email at:
Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com
Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
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