The Best Episodes from the YNAB Podcast: 25 of Our Favorites

If you’ve ever listened to the YNAB podcast, chances are you discovered quickly that there are a LOT of episodes. YNAB’s founder Jesse has been hosting podcasts since way back before they were cool. Like, remember the old timey radio show days?

Not that far back because he wasn’t born yet, but if he had been, we’re confident you’d all be gathered around the radio cabinet to tune into money-related matters on a Friday night. Probably.

Anyway, we’ve arrived. We’re airing our 500th podcast episode and we’re celebrating by compiling a list of our favorite You Need a Budget Podcast episodes for your easy listening enjoyment.

Staff Favorites:

How to Time a Home Purchase – Buying a house can be a stressful experience—and even more so in a highly competitive market. Figure out why you’re buying a house and how that intent should influence your finances.

What Does College Really Cost? Ron Lieber Explains – Whether you’re a young adult going for the first time, a parent watching your child leave the nest, or a seasoned professional starting a new chapter, going to college is a big deal! Learn more about the reality, risks, and rewards of college costs with New York Times columnist and bestselling author Ron Lieber.

YNAB and Privacy – You shouldn’t have to sell your soul—or your data—to successfully manage your finances. We take privacy seriously here at YNAB, which is why this episode about our philosophy around data is near and dear to our team. Learn more about how we do and don’t use the information that you entrust us with!  

Where Has the Zero Gone? Kelly, one of our teachers, references this one all the time in our workshops. It’ll reframe the way you look at getting into debt forever and ever.

Renting a House is Awesome – For anyone that has ever felt “bad” about renting and feeling like it’s not the wisest financial move, this episode is a must-listen that will instantly relieve your guilt.

Student Loan Syndrome: an Interview with Ryan Law – If you’re debating if you should consolidate your student loans, this episode will give you clarity and guidance on what is usually a confusing, tangly subject.

Savings: Undetected – When Ernie (one of YNAB’s teachers) heard this episode, he implemented the retirement savings advice immediately, and he’s still doing it!

Bonus Episode: Ramit Sethi Interview – This longer episode is a fascinating conversation between Jesse and Ramit Sethi – the author of “I Will Teach You to Be Rich.” It had multiple votes from the staff as a favorite episode.

If You’re Brand New to Budgeting:

This is Why You Can’t Get Out of Debt – Got debt? You’re not alone. The popularity of this episode proves that getting, and staying, out of debt is a struggle for many. Break the cycle by getting more familiar with Rule Two (Embracing Your True Expenses) and get on track once and for all.

3 Ways to Curb Your Money Spending Problem – It’s one thing to have a budget, and quite another to develop the willpower to stick to it. Cut down on takeout and make your Amazon delivery driver wonder where you went with some tips and tricks for saving instead of spending.

Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck – This is where it all begins! The inaugural podcast of You Need a Budget covers the basics, and the story behind YNAB (although don’t hold too tightly to the naming of rules 2 and 4! The wording has changed slightly over time). It all starts here with episode 001 and some killer old-school clip art that we couldn’t figure out how to update into our current style, so there it shall sit in all of its 3-D budgeting bar glory.

Rule One Broken Down – Learn exactly what it means to follow Rule One: Give Every Dollar a Job.

Rule Two Broken Down – This episode covers the basics of Rule Two: Embrace Your True Expenses.

Rule Three is War – Learn the third rule for less money stress: Roll with the Punches (and here’s how to do it).

Rule Four and Waistlines – This episode covers Rule Four: Age Your Money. Here’s what it means and how to do it…

Budgeting is Spending. If you’ve ever given the word “budget” some serious side eye and immediately thought of something restrictive where you’ll never spend money again, give this episode a listen.

Track What You Want to Change. Debating how many categories you should have in your budget? Let this episode show you the way.

Just Show Up – At some point in your budgeting journey, you might not feel like you’re making as much progress as you wanted, and you might need a little inspiration and motivation to keep going. This episode is just what the budgeting doctor ordered.

For the Seasoned Budgeter:

Here’s the Ideal Budget – Once you’ve been bitten by the budgeting bug, you may find yourself chasing the dream of creating the ideal budget—constantly re-working, refining, and tinkering with your processes and systems. It turns out that the definition of the ideal budget is probably easier than you think and this episode can help you recognize what really works.  

Four Common Traits of People Who Aren’t Stressed About Money – It may seem like the only people who aren’t stressed about money are the ones who have an abundance of it, but that’s not necessarily the case! Break free from feast or famine mode by reevaluating your relationship with money with this episode about what people who aren’t anxious about their finances have in common.

Arbitrary Milestones – Need a little extra zuzz in your budgeting life? Feeling a little aimless? Jesse walks through the benefits of arbitrary milestones to give your financial goals some extra oomph.

Age of Money When it Just Keeps Climbing – You know Rule 4 inside and out, and since you’ve been budgeting for awhile your money is oldy moldy. So what happens when your money is really, really old? What do you do next?

The Most Radical Shift in Money Management to Ever Take Place in our Household – What happens when Jesse, who usually does the heavy lifting for managing the budget, passes the budgeting reins over to his lovely wife, Julie.

Bills are Paid…now What? – When you’ve finished budgeting for all those True Expenses, what should you do with your money next? Jesse walks you through your next steps in this episode.

Episode of Distinction

And last, but certainly not least, the inspiration for this post and our evidence of endurance…drumroll please…our 500th podcast episode.

Well, Here We Are – This is it. The Big 500. In this episode Jesse reflects on his past as a podcast pioneer, reviews YNAB Rules, and briefly toys with the idea of changing the company name (don’t worry, that was abandoned when the new acronym wouldn’t work).

So, there you go—make yourself a podcast playlist and add even more productivity (and enjoyment!) to your workout or while waiting in the car rider line.

You can hear the You Need a Budget Podcast every Monday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Soundcloud. If you like it, give us a follow and leave a review!