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By Jesse Mecham
4.7
10651,065 ratings
The podcast currently has 831 episodes available.
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It's that time of year again... time to burn it all down! The budget, that is. Every year Jesse "burns down" his budget, deleting all the categories and questioning whether the family could live without them. It's a fun thought experiment, especially with the typical must-have things. Do you really need groceries every month? Of course you do, but what if you didn't do it? How would you survive? The point is not to figure out how to live without groceries, it's to ask the question and get your brain thinking about the deeply held assumptions you have about your consumption. At the end of the day, most of your categories will probably go back in. But hopefully, you'll rethink at least one thing in your budget, and find an opportunity to bring your spending more in line with your priorities in the New Year. Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse continues discussing the new central question of the YNAB method -- what does your money need to do? -- which replaced the old commandment to give every dollar a job. There are only five ways to answer this question, but it is deceptively deep. One of those answers is "for now," that is, the money needs to be used now, for expenses that are imminent and non-negotiable. The mortgage, water and electricity, groceries (maybe)... but not necessarily all bills. Jesse warns that the "for now" category of answers is easy to get lazy with, and that simply deciding all your bills and commitments need to be paid now doesn't give you true clarity into what your money needs to do. For instance, let's take groceries. You need food now, sure, but do you need to buy groceries right now? Maybe you have a store of food that has built up in the pantry, that you have forgotten about or are avoiding. You don't absolutely have to buy groceries if that's the case, and eating your stores offers some options with your money that you may not have identified otherwise. Order Jesse's new book, Never Worry About Money Again: www.neverworryaboutmoneyagain.com Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

Jesse ponders the question -- what is enough? What if you set the bar at physical subsistance, enough food, shelter, and clothing to be secure? If that is enough, then everything you have beyond it is extra. When you set the bar there, then everything you spend on extra takes on more meaning -- it's not stuff you have to buy, it's stuff you get to buy, and therefore is more expressive of yourself. What does your money need to do... once you have enough? Order Jesse's new book, Never Worry About Money Again: www.neverworryaboutmoneyagain.com Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

Money can be for now, it can be for later, but it can also be for ease. What do you mean, ease? Simply put, when you get one month ahead on your spending -- you start living on last month's income instead of yesterday's income -- your life gets simpler. No more timing games trying to figure out when to pay which bill so that you have enough to last until the next paycheck, no more late fees when you forget to pay on time, no more overdrafts. Your bills go on autopay, you know they are covered because you've already set money aside for them last month, and now you can rest at ease and think about longer term plans for your spending and your life. Order Jesse's new book, Never Worry About Money Again: www.neverworryaboutmoneyagain.com Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

What does your money need to do? Last week, Jesse talked about the first answer to this question -- the money "for now," those non-negotiable expenses or goods that need to be paid for or bought in the immediate future. He urged you to consider what exactly what non-negotiable, and that the term encompasses fewer expenses that we think. Today, Jesse covers the second possible answer to the question -- money "for later," including bills and things that may not be non-negotiable but are nevertheless highly important, but also things which have some flexibility. Order Jesse's new book, Never Worry About Money Again: www.neverworryaboutmoneyagain.com Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
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