You Need A Budget (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. Intuit is directing users to its Credit Karma service, but it's unclear yet whether it will offer the budgeting and expense tracking features Mint was known for.   YNAB, however, still remains! Jesse points out that YNAB may not be the right solution for every Mint user -- after all, YNAB aims to help you change your behavior and thinking around spending, not just track your expenses and produce pretty graphs. As Jesse puts it, YNAB is like the movie Minority Report, where robots can predict the future and prevent crime before it happens. Mint, on the other hand, is like an episode of CSI, where there's a dead body, and everyone is trying to figure out why it happened. Mint is good at tracking expenses and telling you what happened in the past, but it leaves it up to you to dete

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 catch! You can only rate two of those transactions as neutral. Why? Because Jesse said so. Then share your most interesting 1's and 3's with Jesse! Email him at:  askjesse@ynab.com     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

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 a representation of YOU! It's you all the way down from your labors and thoughts to your dollars and how you choose to spend them. So spending wisely is not just about choosing the right things to buy, or saving for the future, it's about direct your energies -- yourself -- out into the world in the manner you want.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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 an interesting article about how airlines have essentially turned into banks via their elaborate reward points systems.   Ron Lieber on the YNAB Podcast (Episode #480) Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-need-a-budget-ynab/id477248343?i=1000515131147 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qh75uqa9uzQGggz7wwYiS?si=088cd75db8be4f01   Pocket Casts podcast player: https://pocketcasts.com   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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 companies. Another YNAB'er from India asks how to setup the budget when you have income and expenses in two different currencies.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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 spend it. Or if you save money, that money is being saved (and perhaps invested in hopes of getting more money in the future) so that it can be spent in the future. But it's all spending at the end of the day. In today's episode, Jesse paints a picture of spending with a budget a mind, spending with clarity (because you are in tune with what you want your money to do), and perhaps most importantly, spending guilt-free.   Budgeting is really about spending money, and spending it without remorse or guilt... maybe even spending with joy?   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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 a down payment while houses continue to rise in price.     Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122     Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

Jesse is catching up on his inbox after a summer break, and answering your questions!    Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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!   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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

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. This year Jesse decided to wean himself off credit cards entirely, and he provides an update on that project. So far it's looking good, and he expects that this will be a permanent change.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   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  

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 dollars away from categories to handle the increased expenses in another category. It's not just a math problem -- each of those dollars symbolizes intentions and plans, which now must be put on hold, or changed altogether.   In Ben's case, it's renovating a bathroom badly in need of a refresh. In this episode, Ben shares how he keeps his spirits up when he has to roll with punches and put plans on hold.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6

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 the years as neat pieces of work in themselves. But as Jesse has said over and over on the podcast, the budget really exists to serve your needs and help you prioritize your spending in accordance with your values. Life is dynamic, and sometimes those needs change!   That means the budget needs to change with your life. Ernie shares how he blew up his budget and started over after a series of home renovation projects and medical bills started taxing his existing category balances. Money stress started building -- even veteran YNAB'ers are not immune to it! -- and he realized the budget was no longer serving his needs. That's the takeaway: don't be too precious with the budget you've created, even if it has served you well for a long time. And understand that money stress happens t

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 behind the software (and originally, the spreadsheet). Ben and Ernie take a quick spin through the history of the Four Rules, going all the way back to the very first YNAB website in 2004.   Budget Nerds Episode #50: A Brief History of the YNAB Rules Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/50-a-brief-history-of-the-ynab-rules/id1606054345?i=1000581636493 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/episode/3AdIeFpt0ZfuM0kKEF8Yr0?si=d235636937564f38     Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudge

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, regular money conversations help everyone stay on the same page and focused on the same goals, whether one person manages all the YNAB details or each person shares equally in that task.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

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 with your family and friends. On the other hand, waiting until the end of the trip to categorize all your transactions can be overwhelming! Ben and Ernie share their approach to managing the transaction log without going crazy or burying your face in your phone the whole trip.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

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 email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

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 fun.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

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 the face!   The most important factors in saving for retirement are starting early, and consistency, Ernie reminds us. How do you create consistency? There's an easy trick. If you're not yet, start contributing something -- anything! -- to your retirement accounts now. That amount will be some percentage of your income. Each quarter, increase that percentage of your income you are contributing by 1%. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up fast! And most importantly, it's a slow enough change that it gives you time to adjust. As one YNAB listener writes in, it doesn't even feel like you're missing the extra money, while at the same time it's encouraging to see your retirement accounts going up.     We want to hear your YNAB stories! Please take a moment to tell us about your biggest budgeting wins her