The Jesse Mecham Show

Latest Episodes:

Goals Are Awesome Jan 01, 2024

Show notes

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:

askjesse@ynab.com

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Merry Christmas from YNAB Dec 25, 2023

Show notes

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 working on next year. After your Christmas celebrations are over, create a Christmas target for 2024 and start putting a little money away now. And as Jesse says, the Christmas bill is a joyous one!

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

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Invest In Preparedness, Not Prediction Dec 18, 2023

Show notes

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 certainty, so it's folly to behave as if we can with our spending habits. What we can do, however, is prepare for the future by embracing our future expenses, and even though we don't know exactly when (or how much) those future expenses will occur, we can save up a pile of cash to handle them.

Jesse gives the example of an old car. As his early 2000's Toyota Camry aged, he started dutifully socking away $150/mo to cover inevitable repairs as well as a replacement vehicle. Years later, he had enough for a replacement, but the car was still humming along. So in this case he did not successfully predict the future. He could have held off on saving that money and directed it toward something else. At the end of the day, however, by preparing for the day he needed a new car, Jesse had a pile of cash in his bank account. When that day didn't come, he still had lots of options, because he had the cash. If he hadn't prepared, and the car died earlier than expected... then he likely would have ended up having to borrow money for the car.

This gets back to the idea of being "antifragile." Owing money is a state of fragility, because someone else has a claim on your future cash flows until you pay off the debt. It prevents you from using your cash to prepare for the future.

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

A Quote from F.W. Boreham Dec 11, 2023

Show notes

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 and effective sentence! Working the Four Rules to create a spending plan involves making decisons -- decisions about what you value and where you want to spend your money. Those decisions stack on each other and in turn lead you to financial freedom, peace, and, ultimately, more joy with your money.

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

Ask Jesse: Selling a Rental Property, Buying a Car, and Pausing Retirement to Save? Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

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 problems, and if pausing retirement savings to get a month ahead on expenses is worth consideration.

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

Giving the Old Bird to Money Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

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 speak. It's an act of defiance, that you don't need it, and you aren't consumed by it. But mostly, it's an act of joy, to give it away freely because your spending plan is working and your needs and wants are met.

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

It Has Nothing, and Everything, to Do with Spending Nov 20, 2023

Show notes

"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 product of your energies and desires -- and if that's true, then you don't need to spend less money. You need to spend more of you on you! The more you can engage with the question of "what do I want my money to do" the more joy spending can bring you, because ultimately that question is "what do I want to do?"

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

You Didn't Quit. To Every Season... Nov 13, 2023

Show notes

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. Some seasons you're really engaged with your spending and some seasons you're not. But you didn't quit. Whether you need a fresh start, or you're trucking along and spending with joy, this is a season.

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

Building Habits: Four of Them, Actually Nov 06, 2023

Show notes

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:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

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BONUS: Goodbye Mint, Hello YNAB Nov 03, 2023

Show notes

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 determine why those things happened and how to prevent problems in the future. YNAB encourages you to create a plan for your dollars and anticipate future expenses, so that you can solve financial problems before they happen. And, because life is complex and ever-evolving, YNAB helps you roll with the punches and adjust your plan as you go. Oh, and YNAB won't try to sell you on credit cards, pay as you go plans, or other debt either.

So if you have left Mint and are looking for a new, more powerful approach to your personal finance goals, consider YNAB!

Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:

askjesse@ynab.com

Follow YNAB on social media:

Facebook: @iYNAB

Instagram: @youneedabudget

Twitter: @ynab

Tik Tok: @ynabofficial