Budget Nerds

Ben and Ernie share their different strategies for applying Rule Four -- aging your money -- and specifically budgeting for the month ahead. Ben budgets for the next month in real time, allocating paychecks to categories in the next month on the calendar. Ernie, on the other hand, uses a holding category to park dollars that will be applied to the next month, and waits until the beginning of the month to actually allocate thoses dollars. They debate the pros and cons to each approach, and discuss some hybrid approaches that might be the best of both worlds!   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ben and Ernie discuss YNAB's Four Rules, and whether they can be applied to other areas of life outside the budget. As it turns out, yes they can! Whether it's Ernie's favorite pasttime (lawncare) or Ben's devotion to good systems, the Four Rules tap into some universal principles of effective resource management that can be applied to a wide range of things in life.   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ben and Ernie return to their nerdy roots and talk memos today, all about that little field in the transactions next to the category and balance. Turns out, the memo field can be used in many clever and creative ways to add more utility and depth to your budget, whether it's tracking important purchase information such as serial numbers, or tracking how many times you bought gifts or spent time with friends and family. Using memos can help your budget tell a more complete story of how you spend your money and whether that aligns with your priorities.   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

YNAB is not like other budgeting methods. Rule Four is "age your money" and it encourages folks to spend last month's earnings on this month's expenses, thereby breaking the paycheck to paycheck cycle in which so many find themselves stuck. Many YNAB'ers work diligently toward getting a month ahead of their expenses, budgeting the dollars they currently have in the bank account for expenses due in the next calendar month. But what about emergency funds?   Many budgeting methods encourage the idea of an emergency fund, a pile of money that is only touched to handle unexpected expenses not accounted for in the budget. A wise (or as Ben would say, prudent) thing to have! In a perfect world, however, YNAB'ers would not need emergency funds -- they would have saved enough money for future expenses via Rule Two to handle anything that could come their way. Alas, the world is not perfect, however, and many YNAB'ers choose to incorporate an emergency fund category in their budget.   Do you have to choose between having an emergency fund or living a month ahead? Of course not! Ben reminds us that even if you choose to setup your budget for month-ahead, you can always undo it and go back to an emergency fund. Or vice versa. The dollars are still there, however you decide to allocate them.   Ernie recommends that you should take your emotions into account too. For many folks, including himself, it just feels better to have a big pile of money that you can see in one category. It offers a greater sense of security than seeing mulitple categories funded in the next month.   So, really, you can't lose. If you've been thinking about going month-ahead, go for it! There's always the undo button.   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Budgeting is pretty fun already... if you're a budget nerd. But what's even more fun than reconciling your account, or assigning that fresh pay check that just hit your account? Making a game out of it! Ben and Ernie discuss the various ways they have "gamified" YNAB, to have some fun with the process, to hit stretch goals, and to improve their spending decisions and willpower when funds in a certain category get tight.   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ben and Ernie tackle the topic of paying off debt, with a different bent than the typical personal finance podcast or blog. Where many sources focus on paying debt off at all costs, using extreme measures or simply throwing every dollar at debt, Ben and Ernie prefer a paydown approach which focuses on your priorities. What is most important in your life? Find a way to continue doing those things, while cutting back on non-essential aspects of your life to free up money for debt pay down.   Often this means deliberately paying off your debt slower than you could with a more extreme approach. And that's OK! Paying off large amounts of debt in a short time makes for great stories, but most of the time it leads to burnout and accumulating more debt. Throwing every dollar at debt can also leave you financially vulnerable, as you have no cash cushion available to handle unexpected expenses.   To that end, Ben and Ernie share their own stories about paying off debt, what they were willing to give up to pay it off faster, and what they were NOT willing to give up. Their stories demonstrate that life can still go on, even when you're paying off debt!   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ernie is hosting a live "Budget with Me" session on the Budget Nerds YouTube channel. Ernie will be sharing his actual budget and demonstrating his process for budgeting his April paychecks.   The livestream will air on May 1, 2023 at 7:00pm Eastern here: https://www.youtube.com/live/AAAgGHPlC3k?feature=share   If you missed it, you can still view the recording of the livestream on the Budget Nerds YouTube channel.   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com  

It's Ben's turn! Ben shares a whopping 84 categories from his budget on today's show, from "BMI" to "sundries" (Ben's favorite word).   Ernie will be budgeting LIVE on YouTube with his actual April paychecks, to show you his budget and his process. You can catch the livestream on May 1st at 7:00pm Eastern here: https://www.youtube.com/live/AAAgGHPlC3k?feature=share   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ever wonder what Ben and Ernie's budget looks like, in detail? Today you'll find out! Ernie shares every category in his budget -- all 60 of them -- how he uses them, and how they developed over time.   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g

Ben and Ernie discuss the rich and diverse YNAB community across the web, from subreddits to Facebook groups to YNAB-hosted seminars and workshops. There are YNAB groups for multiple languages, YNAB groups for people with disabilities, and YNAB groups for people following other financial help programs. Whoever you are and whatever your background, there's almost certainly someone else out there using YNAB!   YNAB Community Links YNAB main subreddit https://www.reddit.com/r/ynab/ YNAB (You Need a Budget) Fans! https://www.facebook.com/groups/YNABFans Friendly YNAB (You Need a Budget) Support https://www.facebook.com/groups/1401727190120850 Debt Bootcamp https://www.youneedabudget.com/debt-bootcamp/ More Money Challenge https://www.youneedabudget.com/moremoneychallenge/ #YNABCommunity (Instagram)   Share your YNAB wins with Ben and Ernie! budgetnerds@ynab.com   Follow Budget Nerds on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuIUGmbCDklkDCDm-cQqv2g