Jesse Mecham

You, yes, you, always need a budget, but I find it especially important on Black Friday. Whether or not you partake in the madness that is Black Friday, I hope you’ll think about the real danger behind the frenzy: your rapidly changing priorities.

If little things add up to something big, you should continue doing those things and not feel bad about it. Yes, I'm talking about lattes.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of debt. I hate it. Debt messes with your priorities. Stop robbing future you by accumulating debt.

We try not to play favorites, but if we had a favorite rule, let’s just say Rule Three: Roll With the Punches, would be a front-runner. And we talk a lot about “Rolling with the Punches,” but today we want to talk about exactly what you can do to address overspending.

When budgeting with an irregular income, you will always start with the same question: What does this money have to do before I’m paid again?

Budgeting and forecasting are not created equal. Budgeting is planning how you will use money that you have on-hand. Forecasting is planning how you will spend money you think you will have—you hope you will have—in the future. As a result, budgeting tends to be more realistic.

From Podcast #176: Is That Budget Half Empty or Half Full? Jesse dispenses some relationship advice that could help lead to budgeting success.

Credit cards aren't inherently bad. People using credit cards can get themselves into trouble. Credit cards themselves? They aren't the problem.

YNAB is the right weapon for the variable income fight. Its simple interface allows you to manage your Variable Income Fund easily.

If I could sit down with every new YNABer at my kitchen table with a cup of coffee, this is what I’d say: I struggled at first, too.

The experiment with credit card churning started because Julie and I realized that our travel budget is an important line item for us.

Wondering how to have a monthly budget meeting? It can be a party or it can be an absolute disaster. Here's how we do it.