YNAB is well known for the Four Rules, or what many YNAB'ers are now calling the Four Habits, which describe the process of gaining control of your money and learning to spend with joy rather than shame or regret. The Four Rules are:

1. Give every dollar a job
2. Embrace your true expenses
3. Roll with the punches
4. Age your money

In today's episode, Ben and Ernie discuss a concept that is implicit in the rules, but perhaps should be it's own rule -- find the money first! Findng the money first means that when you want something that is not in your plan, you need to find the money somewhere else in the plan, that is, re-allocate money from one category to cover your new purchase. This action makes it clear that you are making a tradeoff -- in order to get one thing, you must give up another thing. It may seem arbitrary, but it's an important move! All too often, people will buy something they want without finding the money first, which sets of a cycle of anxiety and fear over whether they can afford it, or whether they will be able to pay off the credit card bill when it comes due. At the very least, spending before you find the money distances you from your money and your priorities, because it obscures the tradeoff.

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In today's episode, Ben shares a story about swimming at the YMCA. One of Ben's favorite forms of exercise is swimming laps at his local YMCA, and while it's a great solitary form of exercise, sometimes you can't help but notice how your pace compares to others in the pool. One day Ben started swimming laps only to notice an older lady absolutely hauling in another lane. Which was... discouraging, to say the least. However, as she was exiting the pool Ben noticed she was wearing swim fins, and her blazing performance began to make sense.

This woman had a huge advantage, but it was hidden under the water. In the waves and froth of the water, Ben couldn't see it. It's a good analogy for financial circumstances. For the most part, we only see the outward indicators of other people's financial life -- the things they can afford to buy, the places they can afford to live -- and even those obversations can be greatly skewed if those people are buying things with debt! It's important to realize that other people have different advantages in life, and those can significantly influence their financial circumstances. So Ben urges you not to compare yourself to others, because you don't know what advantages they've had, and you can't see their full financial picture from your standpoint. As the saying goes, comparison is the thief of joy!

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Ben and Ernie respond to a recent survey reported by Jill Schlesinger on CBS Morning about American's 2024 financial resolutions. The top responses: save more money (41%), pay down debt (38%), and spend less (30%). BORING! Ben rants about why "spending less money" is not a good financial plan, and Ernie highlights the importance of putting a why behind goals like paying down debt. There's nothing wrong with paying down debt, of course, but to be successful, and to to truly practice the YNAB habits, there needs to be a reason why you want to pay down the debt. Maybe it's to fund a vacation that you haven't been able to take before, maybe it's to buy something big for your favorite hobby, or maybe it's to fund a charitable cause. As Ben explains, your spending is part of the way you express yourself in the world, so you need to be clear with your priorities and values.

To that end, Ben and Ernie share some of the most interesting financial goals and resolutions sent in by fellow budget nerds. From buying a forever violin, to founding a college endowment, to traveling the US in a custom-built bus, there are very creative and meaningul responses!

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In today's episode, Ben and Ernie discuss what to do with cold, hard cash money. For many YNAB'ers debit and credit card spending fits nicely into the YNAB paradigm, since YNAB can interface directly with financial institutions and pull online banking data. Cash transactions, on the other hand, can create a stumbling block since they exist outside the easily trackable, traceable online banking system. Some decide to just not track cash at all. Cash is money, however, and it probably should be part of your spending plan, so Ben and Ernie recommend tracking it in YNAB. It's not that hard!

There are essentially two ways to track cash in YNAB: in a "cash" category, or in a cash account (there's a special cash account type you can select in YNAB). Ben and Ernie break down the pros and cons to each approach.

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The short answer is yes. But why? Ben and Ernie dig into the reasons why giving every dollar a job is essential to creating a stress-free life around money. As Ben explains, the point of YNAB is to ruthlessly root out self-delusion, and be honest about both what you want your money to do for you and what tradeoffs you will have to make to accomplish that.

When you leave money in the Ready to Assign category, you are putting off making decsions about tradeoffs, and thus obfuscating the real purpose of that money. It's even the same with cash buffers in checking accounts or emergency funds held outside YNAB -- these wads of cash actually obscure what your goal with the money is, because it's unclear how much of it is allocated to each job. That money can create a false sense of security, when you assume that the amount is big enough to handle any emergency that could arise. What if the water heater, the fence, and the roof need to be replaced in one year? The totals can really add up, and leaving cash in an amorphous blob in a checking or savings account does not give you clarity on what and how much it can cover.

So, to truly follow YNAB's Four Rules is to, first, give every dollar a job, and start making tradeoffs. Understanding your tradeoffs helps you get clarity on what you really want your money to do for you!

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Rule Two of YNAB's Four Rules is "embrace your true expenses." True expenses are expenses that may not be regular, but are a normal part of life: new tires, HVAC repairs, emergency doctor visits. Sometimes they are expected -- every car and house will need repairs eventually -- and sometimes they are unexpected, like a trip to the emergency room. All the same, we usually end up cursing them when we have to pay up!

In today's episode, Ben and Ernie invite you to change your thinking about true expenses, especially unexpected expenses. With a shift in mindset, unexpected expenses can be a wonderful expression of the things your value. Need a costly tree removal in your backyard? Perhaps that's the price of giving your kids a safe place to play outside. Frustrated about an expensive birthday party? Maybe it's something your spouse really values. As Ernie points out, embracing your unexpected expenses can be an exercise in thinking outside yourself and your own desires.

So, the next time you get hit with an unexpected expense... take a deep breath, then consider how you could not only accept it without anger, but even love it.

Ben's blog post: 

https://www.ynab.com/blog/how-to-embrace-your-true-expenses

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Ben and Ernie invite Kath Younger, Registered Dietitian and popular nutrition and wellness blogger, onto the show to discuss how her health journey led her to seek financial health and wellness. Kath started her blog katheats.com in 2007 to record her experiences exploring healthy foods and healthier eating habits, and has now expanded to cover natural beauty products as well as lifestyle topics like fitness and motherhood. In 2016, Kath began using YNAB and started improving her financial health. Today she is a bona fide budget nerd!

In today's episode Kath breaks down her financial plan in detail, including her groups and categories (the structure of which was inspired by Ramit Sethi), how she manages checking and savings accounts, how she and her husband share spending and planning responsibilities, and much more!

You can follow Kath at the links below:

Blog: https://www.katheats.com/

Kath's YNAB categories: https://www.katheats.com/budget

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katheats/

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Behind every rule, there's a habit. In today's episode, Ben and Ernie explore YNAB's Four Rules, but in the context of the habits they build. After all, budgeting well is not so much about following (or breaking) hard rules, but rather consistently following certain habits, to help you plan and make better tradeoffs with your money.

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Through 80 episodes (and counting!), passionate YNAB'ers have been sharing their personal finance wins, big and small, with Ben and Ernie. Whether it's paying off debt, handling an emergency expense, or simply feeling more relaxed and at peace about money, we cherish each win and love to put a spotlight on them all. In today's episode, Ben and Ernie catch up on their backlog of YNAB wins with a mega episode of stories from YNAB'ers across the globe and from all walks of life.

Ben and Ernie classified today's wins into five categories, including:

• Clarity
• Giving
• Priorities
• Peace of mind
• Options

Here's to many more YNAB wins in 2024. Happy New Year!

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What if... saving money wasn't actually a thing? Crazy, right?! Well, if you subscribe to YNAB's philosophy -- the Four Rules -- then money is properly understand as a spending tool. The whole point of money, and your budget, is to plan how to spend your money. Savings is really just money that you plan to spend later, whether it's three days later at the grocery, three months later for an oil change you know you need to get, or thirty years later when you retire from the workforce!

Ben and Ernie explore this idea, prompted by a blog post Ben wrote back in September. Saving money is a bummer for a lot of people, and perhaps the reason is because they were thinking about it all wrong!

There's No Such Thing as Saving Money (Blog Post) by Ben Barlowe:

https://www.ynab.com/blog/no-such-thing-as-savings

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Ben and Ernie went live on YouTube on November 29, 2023 to answer questions, share their budgets, and nerd out about YNAB. This bonus episode is a rebroadcast of the YouTube live, which you can find by following the link to the YouTube channel below.

Link to Q&A on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/live/BR8-jcK-9xA?si=Ied1f-fgnHTjF9G8

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