The YNAB Podcast

The YNAB Podcast episodes:

• 04.15.2024

  Your Biggest Single Expense

  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...

  
• 04.08.2024

  Let's Cut Spending!

  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...

  
• 04.01.2024

  Ask Jesse: Perfect YNAB, Tithing Confusion, and More Credit Card Comments

  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...

  
• 03.25.2024

  Gaming the Credit Card System... Maybe

  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...

  
• 03.18.2024

  Inherent Value Doesn't Exist

  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...

  
• 03.11.2024

  Ask Jesse: Lavish Praise and Woodchip Gardening (Sort Of)

  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...

  
• 03.04.2024

  Young Creatures Just Looking to Party

  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,"...

  
• 02.26.2024

  Looking In the Mirror

  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...

  
• 02.19.2024

  Money Is Not a Tool

  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...

  
• 02.12.2024

  Dire Straits, or Rolling In It, It's All the Same

  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,...

  
• 02.05.2024

  Ask Jesse: How to Plan with a Reluctant Partner, and Some Successes

  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...

  
• 01.29.2024

  A Sample of Interesting, Joyful Spending

  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...

  
• 01.22.2024

  YNABers Share Their New Years Resolutions

  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...

  
• 01.15.2024

  I Love Money

  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...

  
• 01.08.2024

  A Clarification on Goal Failures

  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...

  
• 01.01.2024

  Goals Are Awesome

  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!  ...

  
• 12.25.2023

  Merry Christmas from YNAB

  Jesse wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, full of meaning and joy. Hopefully this is a day you can enjoy without worrying about money, because you've dutifully saved up for it all year, but if not -- you can always start...

  
• 12.18.2023

  Invest In Preparedness, Not Prediction

  Jesse ran across a quote from one of his favorite authors, Nassim Taleb. In his book Antifragile, Taleb advises "invest in preparedness, not prediction," which also neatly describes the goal of YNAB. We cannot predict the future with any...

  
• 12.11.2023

  A Quote from F.W. Boreham

  Jesse ran across a quote from author F.W. Boreham the other day that resonated strongly: "We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us." Mr. Boreham described the goal of the Four Rules in one simple...

  
• 12.04.2023

  Ask Jesse: Selling a Rental Property, Buying a Car, and Pausing Retirement to Save?

  Jesse is back with another round of questions from his inbox, including whether or not a listener should sell her rental property, whether it's worth buying a new car to relieve the stress of sticking with an old car with...

  
• 11.27.2023

  Giving the Old Bird to Money

  Jesse has been focusing on the joy of spending money lately, and one way to achieve joy is to simply give it away. In a sense, giving away money is the ultimate way to give money the bird, so to...

  
• 11.20.2023

  It Has Nothing, and Everything, to Do with Spending

  "You need to spend less money." "Money's not everything." But what if you don't need to spend less money. And what if money is everything? In today's episode Jesse offers up the idea that money is you -- the sum...

  
• 11.13.2023

  You Didn't Quit. To Every Season...

  Once again, the holidays are nearly upon us. If your spending plan hasn't gone to, well, plan then that is OK. Seasons are everywhere in life. We see them every year and we see them over periods of many years....

  
• 11.06.2023

  Building Habits: Four of Them, Actually

  At YNAB they're called the Four Rules, but as Jesse argues, maybe they are best described as habits! The four habits of budgeting...   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   Sign up for a free...

  
• 11.03.2023

  BONUS: Goodbye Mint, Hello YNAB

  Breaking news! On November 2, 2023 Intuit announced that it would be shutting down Mint, a popular personal finance app it acquired back in 2009. In January 2024, millions of users will be left looking for a replacement budgeting app....

  
• 10.30.2023

  Joy Is a Three

  Jesse invites you to play a game. Look at your last ten transactions and rate them 1 to 3: 1 = negative joy (sucked joy out of your life) 2 = neutral 3 = sparks joy There's one...

  
• 10.23.2023

  It's You All the Way Down

  A dollar represents you. It is the product of your energies. Your labor and your brainpower creates products and services that you exchange for money, whether you work a job or run a business. Therefore, a spending plan is really...

  
• 10.16.2023

  Ask Jesse: Airlines are Banks, Better Money Habits, and Fast Talking

  In today's episode, Jesse answers questions from YNAB'ers including how to build the habit of checking YNAB before spending and how to slow down Jesse's speech patterns for UK listeners (there's an app for that!). A listener also sends in...

  
• 10.09.2023

  Ask Jesse: Credit Card Rebels, Banks, and Emergency Funds

  Jesse answers your questions on today's show, including how big an emergency fund does a teacher need? A YNAB'er shares a recent talk from the chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition which reveals the (surprise!) unscrupulous motivations of credit card...

  
• 10.02.2023

  Guilty on All Counts

  Spending money doesn't have to make you feel guilty! Jesse offers a pep talk to end the guilt trip, one budget at a time.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   Sign up for a...

  
• 09.25.2023

  Shift Your Spending Into High Gear

  If you think about it, there's only one thing that money can do -- be spent! The use of money is, ultimately, the spending of money. Even if you give money away, it's given to others so that they may...

  
• 09.18.2023

  Ask Jesse: ...And Done!

  Pfew! Done, finally! Jesse clears up the backlog in his Ask Jesse mailbox, answering listener questions about the nature of credit card spending in YNAB, whether YNAB'ers should still have emergency funds, and what to do when saving up for...

  
• 09.11.2023

  Ask Jesse: We're Getting There People!

  Jesse continues to work through his backlog of Ask Jesse questions, including his thoughts on credit karma, the magic of 1% retirement contributions, and whether he would save cash in case of recession or pay down debt.   Four Thousand...

  
• 09.04.2023

  Ask Jesse: Still Catching Up

  Jesse is catching up on his inbox after a summer break, and answering your questions!    Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com   Follow...

  
• 08.28.2023

  Ask Jesse: Catching Up

  Since Jesse has been away, the emails have been piling up! Jesse works through his backlog of Ask Jesse questions today, including a woman who has a newfound distaste for credit cards... and wrote to Jesse to tell about it!...

  
• 08.21.2023

  An Experiment Made Permanent

  Jesse is back from his summer break and ready to answer your questions and talk money! Long-time listeners of the podcast know that each year Jesse experiments with something in his financial life, whether its reconciliation intervals or category structures....

  
• 08.14.2023

  When Expenses Rise: Ben Rolls With the Punches

  What do you do when the biggest line item in your budget increases, like, a lot? You engage your Rule Two super powers and roll with the punches of course. Emotionally, however, it's not easy when you have to reallocate...

  
• 08.07.2023

  Money Stress

  Ernie is running solo today, and sharing some recent developments in his financial life that have made him rethink his budget entirely. YNAB'ers are creatures of habit, and many of us enjoy the budgets we have created and honed over...

  
• 07.31.2023

  Rules Changes: A Quick Trip Through YNAB History

  Did you know that YNAB's Four Rules weren't always four? And contrary to popular belief, they did not spring forth from Jesse's head fully formed! No, the Four Rules developed over years as Jesse refined and clarified the YNAB method...

  
• 07.24.2023

  How to Talk to Your Partner About Budgeting

  Ben and Ernie share their personal experiences talking to their partners about budgeting and YNAB. Every family is different, and every partnership will handle communicating about money and budgeting differently, but the important thing is that you do it! Frequent,...

  
• 07.17.2023

  Managing Vacation Transactions

  It's peak vacation season, so Ben and Ernie are comparing notes on handling the vacation budget in the moment. One the one hand, you want vacation to be vacation -- a time to unplug, be in the present moment, engaged...

  
• 07.10.2023

  How Often Should You Reconcile?

  Reconcile your budget, that is! Ben and Ernie discuss their budget reconciliation habits, and make a case for why you should reconcile every day, especially if you are new to YNAB.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an...

  
• 07.03.2023

  Leaving Margin for Life

  Ben and Ernie share a tip for making the budget feels a little less constricting -- leave a little margin in your categories! This is not an emergency fund, Ben says, but a way to give yourself some flexibility and...

  
• 06.26.2023

  One Easy Trick to Boost Your Retirement Savings

  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...

  
• 06.19.2023

  This Question Doesn't Have to Be Scary: Can I Afford This?

  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...

  
• 06.12.2023

  A Different Take on Credit Cards

  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...

  
• 06.05.2023

  Paying Off Debt the Sustainable Way

  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...

  
• 05.29.2023

  Rule Four Reviewed

  Beef is pretty good aged, but you know what's even better? Aging your money! That's Rule Four -- aging your money. Basically, increase the amount of time between when you earn the money and when you spend it. By following...

  
• 05.22.2023

  Rule Three Reviewed

  Be like the reed... blowing in the wind. It's not a haiku, Jesse is talking about Rule Three -- rolling with the punches. Life happens, and unexpected things are going to pop up that could break the budget. When you...

  
• 05.15.2023

  Rule Two Reviewed

  It's back to basics time! Rule Two in the YNAB method is "embrace your future expenses." In short, think about the things you will have to buy or pay for in the future, and act on them NOW. Car going...