Advertise on podcast: The Jesse Mecham Show

Jesse offers a thought experiment (or a real experiment if you choose to actually do it, which you should!): write a letter to your past self -- you get to decide how long ago -- teaching him or her about money. Tell them about the things you've learned, some of the mistakes you've made, and what kinds of things they have to look forward to as they learn to get good with money. Jesse actually did write a letter to his past self, and he shares it on the podcast.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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 recalls his experience as a young missionary in Germany struggling to learn the language. Every day he would take notes of words or phrases he didn't know, and every evening he would study those words. Then one day, he had a conversation with a man in Stuttgart, and he answered completely in German, without thinking or translating. It just clicked.   Money is a skill, like language, and it can just click too. But often that comes after many days and weeks and months of following the plan, giving every dollar a job, and answering the five questions about what your money needs to do for you. Then one day, before you know it, it will just click, and you'll realize you are good with money.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

At YNAB we often talk about how getting good with money can help you reduce stress, improve your confidence, improve your relationships, and generally bring you a sense of peace and security -- which is true! There are also some hard mathematical advantages to getting good with money. Jesse points out how getting good with money, learning to set money aside for future expenses can net you great deals. In today's age of ubiquitous consumer credit, paying for things upfront becauase you already have the money can save you anywhere from a few percent to a large chunk (Jesse references a medical bill that was nearly 60% cheaper when paying cash upfront).   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

For a lot of people, money carries a lot of negative connotations and emotional baggage. But when you ask kids about money, before they have had a chance to develop negative associations with it, you can hear a different story. Jesse asked his kids what they thought about money and shares some of their answers. He also discusses how the Mecham family has introduced the concept of money to their kids and helped guide them to developing good habits and skills with it.    Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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 an interesting question, isn't it? Imagine for a second... your credit cards are paid off, you have cash in the bank, your bills are on autopay and you don't even know when they will hit because you already have the money in your account. In fact, you get to the first day of the month and all your bills for that month are already paid for. What would this do to your stress? Your relationships with your friends and family? How would it affect the way you look at your life, your goals and desires?   This could be you... and you could become something more when you learn to get good with money.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

Remember those Snickers commercials about people acting out because they were "hangry?" We could say the same thing happens to people who are stressed about money. Maybe you're shorter with your kids, maybe you feel pressure to work more hours, to move faster, maybe you argue with your spouse more -- however your money stress manifests, it still... manifests.   There's another way. You can learn to become good with money, to gain control over it rather than feeling like it controls you, and to get rid of your money stress forever. It's called YNAB. You can check it out and try it free for 34 days here: www.youneedabudget.com   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @ynabofficial Instagram: @ynab.official Twitter/X: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial  

Money is the source of many relationship conflicts. It's the number one reason cited for divorce, for one. Money can, frankly, destroy relationships, but it doesn't have to. You can claim ownership of your money, and rid yourself of money stress -- and by extension, reduce your relationships stress too.   Jesse urges you to embrace curiosity — curiosity about what you can do and create with your money. You can incorporate a vision exercise into your daily routine with questions as small as "what do we want today to look like?" to big questions like "what do we want our kids' childhood to look like?" After all, discussions about money are really questions about life.   The next time you have a discussion with your spouse, partner, or child, be curious about what that person is saying. Sincerely curious. No judgment, just seeking understanding. Figuring out what you want your money to do for you is much easier when you understand you and your family's desires. Then money can become an amplifier of your shared vision, rather than a source of stress, strife, and division.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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: [email protected]   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 of the interesting effects of using YNAB is how it shapes your vision of money through multiple viewpoints. There's the spending you are doing now, when you make a transaction, then there's the tradeoff that spending causes in the future, becuase the spending you do now impacts the spening you will do in the future.   Jesse gives the example of a man going out for sushi. The $30 he spends now on the sushi is $30 that he isn't spending on Christmas presents several months from now. The juxtaposition is a bit extreme, but the point is that unplanned spending does have an impact on your planned spending, and when you start planning how to spend your money with YNAB, then you see how your decisions now are affecting your decisions later. In a word, it's clarity.   And, importantly, when you have this clarity with your money and you clearly see the tradeoffs you are making by spending on a thing or an experience now, you can now spend without guilt or fear or anxiety, because you are owning the choice and you are happy with it.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

If life has pummeled you, and you've woken up from a financial bender -- hundreds of uncategorized transactions in YNAB with no recollection of what happend to all that money -- it's ok. Just get back on the horse and start again.   Jesse offers a humorous, and helpful, solution. Categorize all those transactions under a new category called "Bender," and start looking forward. Don't worry about what happened. Decide what your money needs to do for you now and in the near future, and assign the dollars you have now to those categories.   While reflecting on the past is important to understanding our behaviors and identifying areas of our spending where we need more clarity, it's only important to the extent it helps us get better at assigning money in the future. So pick yourself up, climb back on the horse (I mean, wagon) and give every dollar a job today.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

If you think you're bad with money, you're not alone. Money management is not something that comes natural to most, and it's certainly not something that most of us are taught. But getting good with money is a skill, and that's good news! No matter where you are starting, you can get better at managing your money and learn to live stress-free when it comes to money.   Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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 got an item or two on your to-do list that you never seem to get to. Whenever you think about, you aren't in a position to act on it. There always seems to be something in the way when you have time and attention to complete the task. Yet these open loops, as they are sometimes referred to, are a drain on your attention and mental capacity.   Unpaid bills are mental vampires too, clogging up your subconscious and draining your mental energy. With YNAB, you don't have worry about unpaid bills hanging over your head anymore. YNAB helps you assign the dollars you have in your account now to cover bills in the future, so that when they come due, you simply pay them (or even better, autopay them!) and move on with life. Stress free!     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

Almost everyone spends on impulse from time to time -- it's pretty normal human behavior -- but we don't always want to spend impulsively. Jesse recommends a simple strategy for dealing with your impulses: make a list! Write down all the things you want as they come to you.   Sometimes the act of writing something scratches the itch enough to satisfy your wanting. If it doesn't, however, that's where YNAB steps in. With YNAB you can not only write down your wants as categories, you can set dollars aside to pay for them. And when you do that, now you can turn those impulses into guilt-free fun and enjoyment.     Watch The Jesse Mecham Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jessemechamshow   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected]   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  

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: [email protected]   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: [email protected]   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