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Jesse Mecham

YNAB Founder

Jesse Mecham is a personal finance expert, speaker, business leader, and the Founder of You Need A Budget (or YNAB if you are very busy and important). Jesse hosts The Jesse Mecham Show, and is the Wall Street Journal best-selling author of book You Need A Budget. (He’s nothing if not consistent!) A self-proclaimed “recovering CPA,” he is deeply passionate about teaching individuals, families, and business owners the YNAB Method so they can gain total control of their money. 

Jesse first developed the YNAB method as a broke, newly married college student who really needed a budget. In an attempt to make an additional $300/month to cover rent, he sold his budgeting spreadsheet online and YNAB was born. Since 2004, the software has grown into a leading personal finance platform and has helped hundreds of thousands of people break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, get out of debt, and save more money. Now, YNAB has a growing team living and working all around the world, and has built a thriving remote culture that earned recognition as Fortune’s #1 best small company to work for (YNAB was doing remote work before it was cool!). When not teaching people how to budget, Jesse loves gardening, woodworking, marksmanship, and travel. He also spends a good bit of time with his wife and the seven small people that live in their house.

All articles by

Jesse

Our Income is Going Up, Our Spending is Going Up Too

Having just moved recently, we’ve travelled up the social ladder from very, very, very low, to very low. And the view is a bit better.

The Benefits of Living Within Your Means

If you want to successfully live within your means, you need to have a system in place to record, track, monitor, and evaluate your spending.

Budgeting: Invest it and Watch it Grow (Part IV)

One of the most sure-fire ways you can retire sitting on top of a sufficient nest egg is to invest regularly. I know – it’s boring isn’t it?

Budgeting: Have Fun with It (Part III)

Let’s face it, you need to have a bit of fun with your money. It’s vital to a functioning financial situation.

Budgeting: Giving Benefits the Giver (Part II)

One aspect of giving that simply cannot be ignored is the strong sense of gratitude that is felt by the giver.

Budgeting: Finding Cash Flow (Part I)

I’ve decided I’m going to focus on the various advantages of budgeting. Yes – I call it budgeting. Yes – it involves writing down what you spend. Yes – it means you can’t spend willy nilly without reaping the consequences (well, you’ll reap the consequences whether you budget or not).

New Year’s Resolutions

Sure Christmas is coming up in 22 days, and we’re probably all a bit focused on everything that has to do with Christmas. But, you do realize, that just seven days after Christmas you’ll have 2006 staring you (blankly?) in the face. What will you do with it? I love to exercise.

How to Manage Your Money: Know your Beta

In the investing world there is a number known as beta. You can think of beta as the tendency of your finances to respond to swings in life.

Money Trick: Give Every Dollar a J-O-B

If someone were to ask me to give them one piece of advice regarding their money I would tell them one thing: Get on a written budget.

7 Ways to Avoid Personal Bankruptcy

If you are considering filing for personal bankruptcy, here are seven actions you can take to help you avoid it.

How to Get Out of Credit Card Debt: 3 Steps to Follow

If you're wondering how to get out of credit card debt, I've got some good news: you can, if you just follow these three steps.

40-Year Mortgage: Is it a Good Idea?

The 40-year mortgage is a lesser-known option for buying a house. Before you jump into one of these mortgages, here's what you need to know.