Early in 2003 Julie and I (Jesse) were married. Some people say when you’re newlyweds you live on love. While it’s true that we were (and still are) in love, we also needed food, and shelter, and textbooks for school…
So that “living on love” idea is really only half true. With both of us going to school full time, I knew we would need to watch our money. I began developing a system to help us track our expenses. What was a simple expense recorder evolved into something quite useful. I saw needs as they came, and adjusted the system accordingly. As we used this rather unique approach to budgeting, we realized we had plenty of money (by our standards) and were even able to save a substantial portion for when Julie would stay home to be a full-time mom. Living this way, and seeing how absolutely invaluable it was, we naturally talked about it with our friends and acquaintances. They all expressed an interest in “needing a budget.”
With a new baby in the family and a bit of spare time on my hands during the summer break I started doing a bit of research about what types of budgeting programs were already out there. We certainly didn’t want to be duplicating an idea that was already established. As I tried the various systems I realized one thing: They were all basically the same. You would enter your income and projected expenses – a static budget. We used a living budget and I saw that our system was uniquely powerful. This realization helped me find the motivation to begin developing our budget into something that could be used by anyone. The system works. I use it every day (well, a few times per week).
Currently, Julie is extremely busy taking care of our three little kids (5 years/3 years/1 year, with another due in weeks!). I’m a graduate of the Masters of Accountancy program at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and a former Certified Public Accountant. I stay busy attempting to promote this site, helping others get a hold of their finances (mainly through my blog), hanging out with my kids, gardening, and playing golf.
We are dedicated to providing you with top-notch service – something we’re seeing less and less of these days. Even if you don’t purchase YNAB, please learn all you can from the principles taught throughout this site. They will change your life forever.
Get out of debt.
Save for a rainy day.
Live on less than you earn.
Jesse Mecham
