18min
Whether we are single, in a relationship, or have a family, making ends meet can often be difficult. Jesse Mecham has created You Need a Budget, a method based on four easy rules, for everyone who has tried and failed to improve their financial situation. His advice helps us to honestly and accurately analyse our current finances, draw up a budget for each expense, and take control of our money.
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Analysis and key concepts
01.
You Need a Budget is a project that started with a couple of young students, who were entering the workforce for the first time, and trying to find their way in the world
02.
Before analysing our financial situation, we need to ask ourselves what we want our money to do for us
03.
Forecasting and budgeting are not the same thing
04.
Rule number one: give every dollar a job
05.
Spending wisely does not mean depriving ourselves of everything we love
06.
Credit cards are not the enemy, but they must be used wisely
07.
Rule number two: accepting our real expenses
08.
Rule number two allows us to get rid of our ‘emergency funds’
09.
Rule number three: roll with the punches
10.
Rule number four: letting our money age
11.
Borrowing is not an option: we have to find another way to achieve our goals
12.
It is important to teach children about budgeting
13.
Quotes
14.
Take-home message
Jesse Mecham first became interested in budgeting and economics in 2004, when he was just 22 years old. At the time, he and his wife Julie were planning to start a family, and were eager to begin a new chapter in their lives, but Mecham still had to finish his studies. Julie had already graduated and had just started her first job as a social worker, which paid a very low hourly wage. They began to worry about how they would be able to pay for a nice flat, a car, and above all, how they could afford to start a family and have Julie stay at home with the baby.
So, Jesse developed a tracking system for their expenses on an Excel sheet, writing down all their daily income and outgoings. After a few months, the couple realised that the system was working, and that they were able to make it to the end of the month quite easily and without making too many sacrifices. Jesse realised that his model could also help many other people, so he decided to sell it online, and teach people how to achieve their objectives by using a budget strategy. Years later, that same idea led to the creation of a company called You Need a Budget.
You'll have 7 days free, and if you're not satisfied after 30 days, you can get your money back.
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The author
Jesse Mecham has always been interested in understanding how to better manage his finances, and developed a family budgeting system at a very young age, which he later decided to sell on the Internet. Since then, his technique has helped many people discover a new approach to family and personal finances, which moves away from the concept of living paycheck-to-paycheck. Today, Mecham is CEO of software and education company, You Need a Budget, which is also the name of his first book.
Edition
Publishing house:
Harper Business
Year:
2017
Pages:
224
ISBN:
978-0062567581