The Jesse Mecham Show

There's something growing at the Mecham household... and it's in the backyard! Jesse confesses he spent a good portion of his paternity leave preparing a garden with a handful of chicks, fruit trees, and a garden full of asparagus, cantaloupes, and other goodies.   As always, while exercising his green thumb Jesse was thinking about budgeting. Immediate gratification is rare in the natural world....

After receiving several questions about what to do with windfall money during times of economic uncertainty (like these), Jesse tackles the topic in today's episode. As always, but especially true nowadays, cash is king!   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Freshly returned from paternity leave, Jesse discusses how YNAB has handled the coronavirus pandemic as a company. As always, his focus and the company's focus has been on giving the best budgeting advice they can.   Additionally, the YNAB team has written articles exploring how people can weather the financial storm in the wake of COVID-19. You can read the blog entries here: https://www.youneeda...

Jesse examines how the recent panic buying of food, home goods, and other staples highlights the intrinsic value of certain things that we take for granted. When demand for historically safe assets like bonds and gold falls, yet demand for household goods like flour and toilet paper soar, it shines some light on the practical value of things. In short,  you can eat flour, but you can't eat a bar o...

Jesse muses on the impact the coronavirus will ultimately have on people and their habits. When society reopens, will people return to their previous habits? Or will they grow, having spent their time in isolation examining themselves and their priorities, their Rule Zero?   Jesse hopes that people do use this time to reflect, to re-examine their life and rediscover their priorities, and, most imp...

Last week Jesse discussed the importance of Rule #1, giving every dollar a job. Rule one is always important, but in uncertain times like these it takes on renewed significance. Jesse has often talked about the rule before the rule, though, the so-called Rule Zero.   Rule Zero is understanding what's important to you, why you're bothering to give your dollars a job in the first place. At the end o...

With the world at a standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing is certain. We've never budgeted at a time like this!   Jesse offers some comforting words in this time of crisis, and reminds us to follow Rule #1: Give Every Dollar A Job. Never stop budgeting. Even if it's only a week ahead, a day ahead, staying engaged and continually planning will give you the best chance to survive financ...

At YNAB there is a document called the Vision Doc, which spells out the "commander's intent" for the company, how to behave and act on the company's behalf. Employees must make many decisions on a day to day basis, but with a clear commander's intent they have the freedom to make those smaller decisions while adhering to the company's greater goal.   It's useful to develop the same commander's int...

Jesse reads an excerpt from the book The End of Average by Todd Rose. In the late 1940's the Air Force had a dangerous problem on its hands -- aircraft of all kinds were malfunctioning and crashing at alarming rates. The Air Force brought in scientist  Lt Gilbert S Daniels to diagnose the problem. Daniels discovered that the Air Force had designed cockpits based on thousands of physical measuremen...

We often talk about the budget as if it's a noun. Is it "in the budget"? Did you check the budget? When you treat the budget as a noun it takes on a rigid, inflexible quality, like the budget is set on stone tablets.   But what if we thought about "budget" as a verb? As an action, an activity, budgeting becomes a process, a thing which can change and evolve with each iteration.   Jesse discusses t...

Money is made to spend. We all want something, and that something usually costs money. Some of the "wants" are fleeting desires, spurred by mood or peer pressure or perhaps just a whim. Other "wants" are genuine desires and items or experiences that actually add value to your life.   Whichever it is, Jesse argues that you should wait. Wait before you buy anything, even the genuine wants. For one t...

There's a cliche in TV and film whenever something bad happens in a crowd of people, inevitably someone in the crowd shouts "why doesn't someone do something !" This is usually the cue for the superhero to enter stage right. We hear this sentiment all the time, not just in bad cinema, but in real life. Anytime a problem reaches a level of widespread concern -- whether it's a local neighborhood iss...

They are prepared for emergencies, for setbacks, for unexpected life changes. In fact emergencies don't seem to happen as often to them. YNAB'ers are a lucky set, it seems, but maybe there's more to the truth than a roll of the dice.   Survivorship bias is a logical fallacy in which you focus on a group of people or things that made it past a selection process, without considering those that faile...

In episode 411, Jesse decried the ubiquity of credit cards and the fact that they enjoy a number of benefits that plain old debit cards do not... at the risk of getting yourself in debt. Since then, he's learned of a few strategies for managing fraud risk with debit cards.   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com   Also, go to https://www.youneedabudget.com/bootcamp/  to...

Jesse admits he's got an itch to scratch. He likes to invest gamble in the stock market from time to time, using an app that allows him to trade at the swipe of a finger.   At least he's honest -- it's gambling with fun money, not investing. And that's the key. It's money he can afford to lose, and it's not much.   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com   Also, go to htt...

Wealth is not a dirty word. After all, wealth can allow us to do many interesting and fulfilling things with our lives. At the very least, it provides options , opening up the range of possibilities before us. Simply put, wealth can allow us to live the life we want to live.   The only problem is that the accumulation of wealth is often followed by increasing expenses. Some of these are obvious --...

Save money for known future expenses, or pay down debt? It's a challenge many people face while trying to eliminate their debt. It's a conundrum too -- you could take your savings and pay down debt now, or hold onto to those savings for the new tires you know your car needs next month, or the Christmas gifts you want to buy for the family. If you do that, though, the debt balance stays the same wh...

Jesse reflects on a Senate bill -- now signed into law as the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act -- which will require a greater amount of employers to offer 401(k) plans to employees. The new law also makes it easier for annuities to be included in 401(k) offerings by easing the fiduciary rules around fees and expense ratios.   401k) plans are excellent vehicles fo...

For better or worse (probably worse), credit cards are a major part of our financial world now. Cash is becoming less and less convenient to use every year, and debit cards continue to lack the same level of fraud protection that credit cards enjoy.   This isn't coincidence either. Jesse attended a "payments trends" conference in 2019, where the main topic was how to make payments easier, to remov...

It's time to blow it all up! Every January, Jesse takes time with his family to "blow up" his budget and all the assumptions that drive it. He takes a fresh look at the dollars in the budget, and starts to question everything.   Need to set aside $400 for a new set of tires in March? That's a responsible Rule #2 line of thinking. But the burndown is your chance to think deeper... do we even need a...

If you made it through the last few weeks, you know why Jesse hates debt and why you should too!   Start the New Year by putting those feelings into action. Jesse has created a "debt bootcamp" for YNAB users to help you get serious about getting rid of your debt for good. Best of all, it's FREE for all YNAB software subscribers.   The Debt Bootcamp will be an intense, 8-week challenge to get rid o...

The corporations are playing a game, and you can't win. So opt out and stop playing the game! In the part 4 of the "Why I Hate Debt" miniseries, Jesse explains how behind every credit card is a clever system of points, travel miles, and other "free" rewards designed to keep you spending and in debt.   Credit cards are a very profitable industry. Would banks and finance companies be giving away rew...

Jesse hates debt, and you should too! In Part 3 of anti-debt miniseries, Jesse argues that debt is not just a drain on our cash flow and creativity, it also restricts our future opportunities!   The burden of debt keeps us from realizing our full potential in many ways -- starting a business, taking a lower paying job for more fulfilling work, moving to a new state or country -- often in the early...

In Part 2 of the Why I Hate Debt miniseries, Jesse explains why debt is a non-negotiable for him, and why is should be for you too.   At 22 years old, trying to finish his Masters degree and expecting his first child, Jesse found himself caught between two non-negotiables: 1.) Living without debt, and 2.) Allowing his wife to quit work to focus on raising their child. The problem? They didn't have...

Jesse hates debt, and you should too. Debt service constricts our cash flow, limits out ability to do other things like savings and investing, and generally introduces more stress into our lives. In this first part of a mini-series on debt, Jesse makes a case for living completely debt-free.   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com