You Need A Budget (YNAB)

In today's installment of Behind the Scenes, YNAB team members share their insights about personal finance, whether it's overcoming the fear and confusion of investing, learning to push yourself to achieve things you never thought you could, or better understanding our conditioning around money and success.

It's that time of the year again, when summer is winding down and children are starting the new school year. As seasons go, starting the new school year is a time of new schedules and new challenges. It's also a great time to rethink the budget, or simply get back in touch with the budget.

Today Jesse asks the team at YNAB to share their top pieces of advice for new YNAB users... besides, you know, that you need a budget.

Life hacker, optimizer, product director at Wealthfront... he wears many hats, but his passion is the same -- upgrading life without spending a fortune! In today's episode, Jesse chats with Chris Hutchins, who shares a handful of his seemingly endless number of life hacks. Whether it's saving money on travel, getting a few more dollars out of your car lease, or negotiating for coupons, Chris has a hack for just about everything.

In today's installment of Behind the Scenes, Jesse asks employees why they applied for a position at YNAB, what the interview process is like, and whether the company has lived up to its reputation as the best small business place to work at (no, really, that's what Fortune said, for the second year running!). YNAB gets a lot of applications, and the hiring process is fiercely competitive, but those who have made it share their thoughts and experiences.

In today's Money Story, Jesse chats with a YNAB employee, the gifted artist and animator Tristan Henry-Wilson, whose work YNAB users may have seen on the YNAB website and the YNAB Youtube channel, among others. Tristan may be an exceptionally talented artist, but he didn't come into his art career easily. After receiving some unexpected financial aid, he attended Ringling College of Art and Design and earned a degree in illustration.

Experienced YNAB'ers understand that budgeting is an active, ongoing process that requires frequently engagement with your budget. Ideally, both partners in a relationship are fully engaged in the budget, but the budgeting process can take many forms. In today's Behind the Scenes episode, Jesse chats with YNAB employees about budgeting with a partner, and the many ways couples learn to navigate the routine.

Award winning author and personal finance journalist Cameron Huddleston joins the show to discuss the uncomfortable realities of managing parents' finances through end of life care and after their death. From wills, power of attorney documents, to simply knowing where your parents have all their bank accounts, Cameron offers some practical advice on what things you need to look out for when helping your older family members manage their finances.

Jesse interviewed every employee at YNAB, asking them about a wide range of topics -- how they heard about YNAB, what they are working on in their roles, and their money struggles and successes. In today's Behind the Scenes episode, YNAB insiders answer the question: what's the budget doing for you lately?

Travis Hornsby is passionate about student debt, especially helping people with lots of it find smart, effective pathways to pay it off. After a career as a bond trader, he turned his attention to building a service to help college graduates with large student debt loads navigate their way through the maze of repayment options, forgiveness programs, and tax complications that come with student loans.

Jesse interviewed every employee at YNAB, asking them about a wide range of topics -- how they heard about YNAB, what they are working on in their roles, and their money struggles and successes. Today, you'll hear from a selection of YNAB employees discussing their debt struggles, how they came into debt, and how they have used the Four Rules to pay it off.

Jesse invites the author behind one of his favorite books, Atomic Habits, to join the podcast and talk about what he learned about setting good habits, breaking bad ones, and developing environments and systems conducive to productive habits. As James says, the things you do and accomplish in life are essentially lagged indicators of your habits. So building good habits slowly, methodically, and thoughtfully can result in big rewards down the road.

Are you a college student, or about to go to college? It's an exciting time of your life, but it can also be a very expensive time of your life too. It's possible to keep your spending under control, and have a lot of fun, but you're going to need a budget.

Artist and tax professional Hannah Cole has a burning passion -- seeing art get made. And one thing she hates to see is artists being held back by money problems. After establishing herself as an artist in New York City, Hannah landed a job working for a design agency. There she learned she had a talent for communicating with both the creatives and management. Hannah went on to become a tax professional and open a tax service specializing in helping artists, creatives, and freelancers.

Veteran YNAB'ers have a saying for what happens when you follow the four rules, budget, and have no money left over. They call it being "YNAB broke," and it's a badge of honor!