You Need A Budget (YNAB‪)‬ Jesse Mecham

Not having money stress is a GREAT feeling to have. But a YNAB employee, Katie, pointed out a downside to it -- people assume you make more money than you really do. Because who else would  have no money stress except people who are rolling it in?
 
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askjesse@ynab.com
 
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Jesse fields more listener questions today, including what you should do when you double your income (teaser: there's really not a wrong answer as long as it's saving!), how to budget for real estate investments, and whether debit cards have sufficient fraud protection to use over credit cards.
 
Please keep your questions coming! Send them to:
askjesse@ynab.com
 
 
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Jesse answers listener questions about tracking 401k deposits in YNAB and how to strategize paying off student loans. Jesse shares his evolving thoughts about credit cards, and why the Mecham household will only use a single debit card for expenses in 2023.
 
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
askjesse@ynab.com
 
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Last week Jesse urged YNAB'ers not to make any sudden or drastic moves to their budget. But you know it's the beginning of the year, and that can only mean one thing! It's time for a budget burndown.
 
Every year Jesse burns down his budget... er, plan, and examines every single assumption built into it. Do we really need to own a house? What if we lived in an RV for awhile? Do we need two cars? What if we sold one? Etc, etc. The point of this exercise is to question everything, and in the process, better understand what your non-negotiables are. In most cases, you'll likely put most of the categories you had back into your plan. But perhaps the burn down process helps you identify a couple areas that don't really serve you anymore, or dollars that could be more useful doing a different job.
 
So, get ready to burn it down!
 
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
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Happy New Year! We hope 2023 is a fruitful and productive year, financially and otherwise, for everyone. It's that time of year again, the time for resolutions, big goals, and new plans. Jesse urges you to pump the brakes, however, and DO NOT make big changes to your budget. Not right now. Just iterate on what you've been doing, and try to do a little bit better than last year.
 
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
askjesse@ynab.com
 
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We hope you had a Merry Christmas and very happy holiday! If you didn't use YNAB to plan for this year's Christmas bill, that's OK, you can start now for next year! In January start saving for Christmas 2023 by putting aside one twelfth of the Christmas budget each month.
 
Jesse also has another exercise for you. Write a little note to yourself about what went well this Christmas, and what you want to do differently next time. Then set a reminder for that note to open back up in October 2023. You'll have forgotten by then, and you'll have plenty of time to prepare to make the next Christmas even better than the last.
 
Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email:
askjesse@ynab.com
 
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