Budget Nerds

Latest Episodes:

#144 - Never Worry About Money Again: An Interview with YNAB Founder Jesse Mecham Aug 31, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie talk to the man himself, Jesse Mecham, about his new book Never Worry About Money Again, which just hit the New York Times Bestseller list. In this book, Jesse distills the YNAB ethos into one simple question -- what does your money need to do? -- and demonstrates the variety of ways that question can be answered, and what that reveals about a person. This process of questioning aims to help someone understand more about themself, and, by aligning spending with their values, put more of themselves out into the world. That is the essence of YNAB, and the reason why Jesse wrote this book.

Order Never Worry About Money Again: https://www.neverworryaboutmoneyagain.com/

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#143 - What Does "Getting Good at Money" Really Mean? Jul 29, 2026

Show notes

If you follow any of the content at YNAB -- whether it's Budget Nerds, the Jesse Mecham Show, or social media -- you've probably heard the term "getting good at money" in many different contexts over the past few months. But what does it actually mean to be "good" at money. Ben and Ernie share their thoughts about what being good with money is, in terms of skill, emotional wellness, and a strong sense of purpose in life.

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#142 - Tag, You're It! Ben and Ernie Answer 12 Questions About Their YNAB Journey Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie respond to a YouTube tag from new and enthusiastic YNABer Niamh, asking them to answer 12 questions about their YNAB journey and daily money habits.

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

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#141 - Ask Ben & Ernie: Travel, Debt, and Life After Month Ahead Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie are back with a Q&A episode, answering questions about YNAB from podcast listeners and YouTube viewers. In this episode, they discuss travel tips for funding vacations and keeping vacation expenses organized in the moment. They talk about how the new photo feature and bulk editing features can be used to preserve important memories as well as information about your travels.

The Nerds also explore how YNAB can simplify tax preparation with a little planning (and sometimes a separate plan if you own a business). They answer questions about debt paydown while still working towards getting a month ahead on expenses, as well as the other side of the coin -- what do you do after everything is funded, you're a month ahead or more, and you're asking yourself: "what next?"

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

budgetnerds@ynab.com

#140 - YNAB With Us Live! (YouTube Live May 13, 2026) May 14, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie are live on YouTube again, this time inviting you to YNAB with them! Ben and Ernie went live on May 13, 2026, and walked through their recent transactions -- categorizing, moving money, re-evaluating priorities -- and answered questions from viewers along the way.

This livestream relies heavily on screensharing since Ben and Ernie are using the YNAB app live, so we recommend you check out the replay of the livestream on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/live/PNC4OkJbHwA?si=MNDmYSG_RgLxWe0o

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

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Ben & Ernie LIVE Today on YouTube 3:30pm ET May 13, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie are going live again on YouTube today, May 13th, 2026 at 3:30pm Eastern time. They'll be going through their own transactions, categorizing, moving money to handle overspending, and more, so you'll get to YNAB with them in real time!

Set your alarm clocks and follow the livestream at the link below.

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Budget Nerds Livestreams: https://www.youtube.com/@YNABofficial/streams

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

budgetnerds@ynab.com

#139 - Sixteen YNAB Features Hidden in Plain Sight Apr 29, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie round up sixteen of their favorite YNAB features and share them on today's show, including some oft-overlooked tools in the app. Whether you're brand new or a veteran YNAB'er, there's probably at least one feature in this episode you haven't heard about (including some brand new stuff)!

This episode is highly visual, so we recommend you view it on YouTube so you can see how these features work in the app. Follow the links below to the YNAB YouTube channel.

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

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#138 - Our Biggest Wins Episode Yet: 22 Epic YNAB Wins Apr 08, 2026

Show notes

Ben and Ernie are back with another round of YNAB wins, and they keep getting better and better. In today's episode they share 22 money wins from YNAB'ers around the world who found financial peace, gained confidence in their spending, and navigated difficult life challenges with less money stress through their use of YNAB. Ben and Ernie broke the wins into six categories:

Feeling more clear-headed
Feeling more peaceful
Feeling prepared
Feeling confident
Feeling free
Feeling peaceful together

If you are looking for inspiration and encouragement for your own money story, this episode is for you!

Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

budgetnerds@ynab.com

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#137 - Patching vs (re)Building Your Money Habits Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

Ernie floated a sports reference to Ben in a recent discussion, the concept of an NFL team patching together the holes in their lineup with trades and free agents versus completely rebuilding it from the ground up. Patching of course is the quick fix -- it gets you results now, so you can field a team and compete this season. The results, however, may not be what you want, and often the patched-together team doesn't hold up over a long season. Rebuilding is the long road. It usually means suffering now so that you can have a strong, cohesive unit to play with next season (or sometimes several seasons in the future). A team built from the ground up also has depth. When things go wrong, and injuries happen, that team has seasoned players who can fill the gaps and still act as a cohesive unit.

Well, it turns out the same is true for our money habits. Ben and Ernie run through a list of common habits that are trying to patch the holes in your spending plan, and compare them to sustainable building habits, which lead to a strong, flexible plan that aligns with your life.

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Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

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#136 - Our Favorite Things to Do In YNAB | 2026 Edition Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

Nearly five years ago, in a very early episode of Budget Nerds (before the podcast feed!), Ben and Ernie discussed their top three favorite things to do in YNAB. Today they are revisiting that concept to share what still lights them up about using YNAB. Some things include slick new YNAB features such as focused views, others hearken back to the simple beauty of giving every dollar a job and reconciling accounts.

Ben's current top 3:

Reconciling accounts -- in typical nerdy fashion, Ben reconciles manually before his pending transactions clear with the bank, then compares the balances afterward to ensure they match. It's the harder, but (for him) more satisfying way.
Moving money out of overfunded accounts with "fill up to" targets. Ben uses a lot of targets that require him to fill up to a target amount in the category, but not all of those dollars are used every month. By using the overfunded focused view, he can pull those unneeded dollars out of the overfunded categories and voila! It's like finding $20 in the pocket of your jeans.
YNAB as a system of record. Ben's librarian comes through here. YNAB isn't just a tool for managing your money, it's also a useful database of your financial data. You can easily query it to find transactions for years past based on the payee or even notes you left in the memo field. This comes in handy when doing taxes, meeting with your accountant, or trying to figure out what restaurant you ate at and loved on vacation four years ago.

Ernie's top 3:

Cost to be me -- this is a newer feature that adds up your targets and shows you what it takes to fund your current lifestyle. You can compare this against your expected income and see how much margin you will have any given month.
Assinging into future months using the auto-assign feature. Ernie's addicted to seeing those pie charts for future months fill up!
Available amounts. This has been a feature of YNAB forever, but it still brings Ernie joy. Scrolling through his categories and seeing the available amounts brought Ernie a sense of peace and comfort when he first started using YNAB, and it still does today. These are real dollars, not hypothetical future dollars, and they are there to work for you.

Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube

Budget Nerds Livestreams: https://www.youtube.com/@YNABofficial/streams

Budget Nerds Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Share your YNAB win with Ben and Ernie!

budgetnerds@ynab.com

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