We hope you had a Merry Christmas and very happy holiday! If you didn't use YNAB to plan for this year's Christmas bill, that's OK, you can start now for next year! In January start saving for Christmas 2023 by putting aside one twelfth of the Christmas budget each month.   Jesse also has another exercise for you. Write a little note to yourself about what went well this Christmas, and what you want to do differently next time. Then set a reminder for that note to open back up in October 2023. You'll have forgotten by then, and you'll have plenty of time to prepare to make the next Christmas even better than the last.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse shares some of the gifts he's given his wife, Julie, over the years, and why every year from now on the gifts will be made, not bought.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse answers a grab-bag of questions from listeners, including whether it's a good idea to track 401k investments in YNAB (it's not), how to budget for early retirement, good books for learning how to to invest, and more.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

It's a fact, you do. We know this because banks LOVE credit cards, and they're incentives for using credit cards rely on the fact that many people spend more money on credit than they would otherwise. Jesse meditates on the nature of credit card fees, incentives, and the game that banks play to get people to spend on credit.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse riffs on the idea that money has different "tenses," that is, money's purpose is to be spent, and spending can happen in the past, present, or future. Debt is past spending, savings is future spending, and so on. It's an interesting idea, one that might help you better visualize the purpose of money in your own life, and how it aligns with your priorities.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

For everyone listening in the United States, Happy Thanksgiving! Jesse encourages us this week to step back and make a list of everything we are thankful for. Taking a moment to express your gratitude for the things you have and the things that are going well in your life is not only good for your soul, it's good for your budget too! We tend to spend so much of our time in the weeds of categories and transactions, that a little time looking at the big picture and being grateful can help us get back in touch with our priorities. Is what you have enough, is it sufficient?   As Jesse says, you really can't be too grateful!   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

Jesse shares results from a recent survey of YNABers asking: "what's the biggest thing you've saved for with YNAB?" Vacations, cars, houses, college... there are some big line items indeed!   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com

YNAB'er Allison asks: of all the metrics in the YNAB software, which is the most important one to track? To which Jesse answers... none of them! Jesse prefers to track net worth over time, which is not captured in YNAB since it's a calculation of the value of what you own minus what you owe. As Jesse explains, though, if you are working the Four Rules well, then you will create more opportunties to save and invest money and pay off debt, all of which will increase your net worth.    Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com  

Once you've started working the Four Rules, you start to realize that most of your money is kind of... spoken for. You need to pay the rent, the utlities, insurance, and so on. When you get through the list of non-negotiables, there's often just a few hundred dollars each month to play around with in the budget, and those dollars are where the real gains are made. Like David Bach's "latte factor," the small optional expenses we accumulate without budgeting properly can add up to big savings over a surprisingly short amount of time.   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com  

Killian, a YNAB 4 user, asks about Rule Four and the "age of money" metric. How long should you age your money before you can relax a bit and not budget so stringently?   Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: askjesse@ynab.com   Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com