The Jesse Mecham Show

According to YouGov, one of the top resolutions for 2026 is saving more money. While Jesse has issues with the concept of "saving" money as he has discussed in previous podcasts, the intention is still clear -- people want to get to a more stable financial position, which (for most) means more cash in the bank and less debt. Jesse also points out that consumer debt continues to hit all time highs, which leads to his approach to the question: should I build my savings or pay off debt?   Jesse urges folks to consider, why do they feel the need to reach for consumer debt in the first place? Reaching for debt regularly, especially pernicious forms of debt like credit cards and buy now, pay later programs, indicates that you aren't aware and in alignment with your true expenses -- the larger and less frequent expenses that you know will happen, but aren't regular monthly bills like rent or utilities. Auto maintenance is a classic example of true expenses -- you know you'll need oil changes, transmission fluid changes, new tires, etc. eventually, but it's not a regular monthly expense.   The trap many people fall into is throwing everything they have into debt payments, only to have a true expense pop up and no cash to pay for it. So they bring out the credit card and fall back into the same cycle that got them into debt in the first place. If you turn your attention away from paying off debt for a bit and instead focus on setting money aside for these true expenses, like tires, then you can reduce your need to rely on consumer debt to cover these. Just setting aside $50 or $100 a month toward these expenses can make you so much more financially resilient, that you no longer need debt and can now begin to pay off debt from a place of stability.   All of a sudden, you are planning and thinking about money like a YNABer!     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

One small change can make a huge difference. Jesse shares a recent experience with his strength training. After stagnating and failing to make gains for a long while, he read about a simple post workout drink consisting of protein and dextrose powder. He tried it, felt his recovery jump through the roof after a few workouts, and started making gains again.   There's an analog when it comes to your money. Give every dollar a job. It's the one simple rule that YNAB uses to help you finally get control of your money. Like Jesse's postworkout shake, it's simple, and seemingly a minor action. But giving your dollars jobs consistently, month over month, changes your mindset around money drastically for the better. It's one small step you can take to finally get good at money.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! We hope you had a wonderful holiday season. Now that it's January once more, it's time to tally up the damage from the holiday season... that is, if you didn't plan for the damage already!    Unfortunately, Christmas and New Year's is a season where many folks go into debt. Some are still carrying debt from the prior year. Holiday spending doesn't have to be a surprise, however. If you start now, you can set aside a little bit each month so that when next December arrives, your holiday spending category will be stuffed as a stocking.   So, today, pour a cup of coffee, sit down, and tally up your holiday spending from 2025. Don't forget travel and extra groceries! Divide that number by 12 -- that's your monthly savings target for the 2026 holiday category. Set aside that amount each month and next December your holiday spending will be stress and guilt free. If you use the YNAB software, you can set this amount as a target in your holiday category and YNAB will do the math for you. Simply set a target for December with the total amount you want to save in your holiday category, and YNAB will tell you how much you need to set aside in the category each month to get there.   Here's to getting better with money, one target at a time, in 2026!   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

    Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

It's a common trap to think that making more money is the answer to your financial worries. Many people think that if they just had a bigger income, then they'd be able to afford everything they needed and wanted, and they wouldn't have to worry anymore. But a recent experience reminded Jesse that this simply isn't true.   Jesse spoke at an event with wealthy business owners, and he posed a simple question to the audience: "who here is worried about money?" Every hand went up. Now, these people may not be worried about paying the monthly electric bill, but they do have money worries -- perhaps worried for their kids, perhaps worried about meeting payroll... whatever the reason, the worry is there.   There's another old adage, "more money, more problems." This is closer to the truth, but it doesn't have to be that either. With YNAB you can learn to align your spending habits with your goals and vision for the future; you can bring your money in line with your idea of the good life. YNAB helps you break the paycheck to paycheck cycle and finally remove money as a stressor in your life.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Everyone is familiar with the "savers and spenders" dichotomy: some people identify as savers and others spenders, the implication being that spenders are irresponsible with money and savers are wise and frugal. As Jesse has argued, it's a false dichotomy. In fact, YNAB's overarching goal is to help everyone become a "spender" -- a wise spender whose spending is in alignment with their priorities. A good spender knows exactly what he or she is spending for; she gives every dollar a job.   When you look at money through this lens, everything is spending, including savings. Savings is just future spending, by you or someone else that you leave your money to. Good savers are good spenders, ultimately.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

      Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

The average person is bad at money. Actually, most people are bad at money! Living paycheck to paycheck, with little to no savings and a lot of debt is the norm. But you don't have to be. Learning to spend well is the key to learning to be good with money, because all things finanical flow from spending. YNAB teaches you just how to do that.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Jesse shares a story about helping his daughter use YNAB to plan her spending and save for an electric bicycle. The bike was $600, quite a big ticket item for a 9 year old, but together they came up with a plan and created a target in YNAB to assign money toward that goal each month. And when the day came a few months later to make the purchase... she didn't want it.   The burning desire for the bike had passed, and the clarity of the tradeoffs she would have to make to buy it set in. At the end of the day, the bike wasn't worth it to her. That is the power of YNAB and delayed gratification. By saving for the bike first, she was able to learn whether it was in alignment with her priorities. Often when the initial desire for something hits, it overwhelms our sense of priorities. And when we use debt to shortcut the time delay it takes to save up for a thing, it not only obscures our priorities but it also robs us of the choice to not buy it when the smoke clears and our sense of priorities returns.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Jesse is taking a short break while he's on the road. He'll be back in a couple weeks!   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

In today's episode, Jesse hands over the mic to YNAB team member Dave Crombleholme, who presented at the Minneapolis Fan Fest in June 2025. Dave is perhaps most famous for his idea of the Wish Farm at YNAB, but he's also spent a long time wrestling with the word budget. In Dave's presentation, he outlines various iterations of the YNAB rules over the years, explains why the concept of rules never sat right in the first place, and how trying redefining the word budget proved to be a frustrating endeavor. In the end, it was always about spending, about giving every dollar a job, and spending to build the live you want to live.   Sign up for YNAB Fan Fest updates: https://www.ynab.com/events   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

In June 2025 at YNAB Fan Fest Minneapolis, Jesse gave a talk about how money is a medium -- not just of exchange, but, ultimately, of you. When you really examine what it is that money does in the world, it is a thing which translates your energy and effort (required to earn the money) into tangible goods and services. When you draw a throughline between your work and your spending, money just falls away. It's simply a medium for you to express yourself in the world.   Sign up for YNAB Fan Fest updates: https://www.ynab.com/events   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

When worry creeps in to your money, the knee jerk response is to think: "I just need to make more money, that will solve my problems." But as Jesse shares in a humorous conversation with his daughter, it's interesting how quickly you can spend more and more money in your mind. Unless you're a billionaire, money has a way of becoming stressful when you're only solution is to need more and more of it.   Jesse's approach when worry creeps in? Double down on YNAB. Go back to giving every dollar a job -- which is the core principle of the YNAB method -- and taking active control of your money. Doing this not only helps you create a plan for your money, it puts you in the driver seat of your money, and helps you regain confidence in your plan, one transaction at a time.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

It's no secret, college is expensive. But if you haven't looked in a few years, college has gotten really expensive, especially certain schools with a lot of name recognition and clout. Jesse has a senior in high school, so as he's been helping with the college application process, he's been pondering: is college worth it? And more importantly, is every college worth it?   As Jesse balks at the eye watering price of Yale (over $100k a year now), he urges listeners to really check in with their "why" for college, get clear about their priorities, and not get caught up in the hype of prestige.   Resources mentioned in this episode: The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

When you don't have a plan for your money, it can feel like money is in control of your life. That can be a terrifying feeling! YNAB can not only help you set a plan for your money, but reclaim control of your money, and control over your life.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Money shouldn't keep you up at night, and it doesn't have to! Giving every dollar a job and asking yourself five questions about what your money needs to do not only grows your bank account, it gives you peace of mind (and better sleep)     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Did you make a resolution to have a "no buy year" this year? How's that going? While Jesse loves the idea of a no-buy year, mainly because he loves to experiment with money and behavior, he admits the concept of it is flawed. A "no buy year" typically means you refrain from making any non-essential purchases so that you can save more money. As Jesse explains, though, saving money really means being good at spending money, and the way you get good at that... is to spend money! Spend money according to a plan, after asking yourself 5 essential questions about what that money needs to do for you.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Football season is nearly upon us, and Jesse is thinking about the pigskin again. And money, of course. When you look at the great sports movies, they usually revolve around a struggling team -- often a team of stragglers and dubious athletes -- and a great coach who motivates them, helps them find their desire to compete, and puts them in positions to maximize the abilities they do have. You can do the same thing with your money. Give your dollars jobs, identify the best places to use your dollars so that they can work together to achieve your goals. Coach your money from a disorganized mess (like a 6-year old soccer game) into an intentional, well-oiled, strategic athletic team.   It all starts with one rule, and five questions.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Saving vs spending... there's no question which one is more fun, right? Obviously, spending! By comparison, saving feels like a chore, something you ought to do, the responsible thing to do, but is definitely less fun. After all, you get something when you spend -- an item, an experience, a service. With saving you get, well, just more money in a pile somewhere.   As Jesse points out, no one says "I have a saving problem" but you hear "I have a spending problem" all the time. It's because spending is concrete. It has weight to it. Spending has a clear line to the value of the money being spent and what you value in the spending of it.   Saving money is actually a misnomer. All money exists to be spent, whether it's now or in the future. Savings is really just spending that will take place in the future. When you follow the YNAB method and give every dollar a job, including your "savings" dollars, you are planning for how you will spend that money in the future. You're making your savings concrete, putting a vision behind those dollars.   When you reframe the idea of saving like that, all of a sudden it becomes much easier to do!   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial

You've probably heard the term "moving the goalposts," that is, a deceptive argument strategy in which you change the question, the criteria, or the standard by which you are evaluating something. The metaphor comes from sports, and it's a good metaphor for personal finance. Early in our adult lives we make a lot choices because money is scarce -- you choose to live with roommates instead of your own apartment, you skip buying something you want to prioritize schooling or training, for instance -- but as we get older and accumulate more financial resources our standards change and our choices change along with that. The goalposts move, so to speak.   Some call that lifestyle inflation or lifestyle creep, but Jesse doesn't like the term. It connotes something bad, something you shouldn't indulge in, but as Jesse points out, it's perfectly reasonable to want more things and different living conditions when you're older. That moldy apartment might have been fine as a college student, but with a family of five you probably want cleaner, more spacious accomodations.   So instead think of living a more expansive life as the goalposts shifting over time, and that's ok.  Just take some time to reflect back on where those goalposts started, and appreciate how well your spending aligns with your priorities.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   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: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial