The Jesse Mecham Show

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 c...

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 de...

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 ki...

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...

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 t...

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 m...

    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 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...

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 wh...

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 o...

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, c...

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 wh...

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,...

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...

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...

    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...

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....

      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.yo...

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 b...

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   Fo...

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 neve...

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 fa...

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 i...