The Jesse Mecham Show

Mirror, mirror on the wall... which category is the truest of them all? Over the last several weeks, Jesse has explored the idea that money is more than just a tool, it's a reflection of you. Your sp…

One of the pervasive messages about money is that "it's just a tool," and Jesse takes issue with that! When money is reduced to a mere tool, like a wrench or a screwdriver, it invites people to be mo…

Whether your bank account is looking bare and collecting dust, or flush with cash, the temptation is all the same: to run away from the money. The person in dire financial straits often wishes they h…

Jesse opens his inbox for another for round of Ask Jesse, where he answers emails from YNAB'ers about all things money, finance, and... well, life! In today's episode, one listener asks about how to …

Back in October 2023, Jesse asked listeners to look at their last ten transactions on YNAB and rank them on a scale from one to three, with one being spending that sucked joy from them and three bein…

A few weeks ago, Jesse put out the call to share your New Years resolutions, as well as a guiding word for 2024 -- something to help you put your resolution into action day to day. Jesse received a n…

Jesse revisits his infamous experiment in which he essentially stopped budgeting for an entire year. The result from that experiment was that he and his family spent several thousand extra dollars th…

Anytime the word resolution comes up, there are naysayers claiming that they don't work. That goals don't work. Unfortunately a lot of people buy into that when they set a goal and fail to achieve it…

As we embrace the New Year, Jesse challenges you to pick some goals and set some resolutions. Even if you fail, you will certainly learn some things in the process of chasing a goal, and that experie…

Jesse wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, full of meaning and joy. Hopefully this is a day you can enjoy without worrying about money, because you've dutifully saved up for it all year, but if not -- …

Jesse ran across a quote from one of his favorite authors, Nassim Taleb. In his book Antifragile, Taleb advises "invest in preparedness, not prediction," which also neatly describes the goal of YNAB…

Jesse ran across a quote from author F.W. Boreham the other day that resonated strongly: "We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us." Mr. Boreham described the goal of the…

Jesse is back with another round of questions from his inbox, including whether or not a listener should sell her rental property, whether it's worth buying a new car to relieve the stress of stickin…

Jesse has been focusing on the joy of spending money lately, and one way to achieve joy is to simply give it away. In a sense, giving away money is the ultimate way to give money the bird, so to spea…

"You need to spend less money." "Money's not everything." But what if you don't need to spend less money. And what if money is everything? In today's episode Jesse offers up the idea that money is yo…

Once again, the holidays are nearly upon us. If your spending plan hasn't gone to, well, plan then that is OK. Seasons are everywhere in life. We see them every year and we see them over periods of m…

At YNAB they're called the Four Rules, but as Jesse argues, maybe they are best described as habits! The four habits of budgeting...

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Breaking news! On November 2, 2023 Intuit announced that it would be shutting down Mint, a popular personal finance app it acquired back in 2009. In January 2024, millions of users will be left looki…

Jesse invites you to play a game. Look at your last ten transactions and rate them 1 to 3:

• 1 = negative joy (sucked joy out of your life)
• 2 = neutral
• 3 = sparks joy

There's one catch! You can only …

A dollar represents you. It is the product of your energies. Your labor and your brainpower creates products and services that you exchange for money, whether you work a job or run a business. Theref…