The YNAB Podcast
705 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1K ratingsA weekly dose of just the right medicine to help you get out of debt, save more money, and beat the paycheck to paycheck cycle.
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Episodes
What's the Alternative?
April 22, 2024 06:00 - 8 minutes - 8.08 MBJesse reviews the Four Rules and takes issue with those who say, "yeah must be nice to have extra money to make a plan with... everything I make is spoken for." It's true, there are some people who have a legitimate income problem. But this argument often becomes an excuse to not actually make plans for your money, to not try to follow the rules and start to get ahead on your expenses. After all, what's the alternative? Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] ...
Your Biggest Single Expense
April 15, 2024 06:00 - 6 minutes - 7.05 MBYour biggest single expense is one you probably don't think about much... unless you're American and it's April 15th. You may think it's housing, or maybe education, or raising kids, but all those costs are dwarfed by the elephant on your income statement: taxes. We are taxed in hundreds of ways, some obvious like income taxes and sales tax, others more insidious like fuel tax, air travel tax, liquor tax, etc, etc. Jesse points this out to demonstrate something important -- you can be desens...
Let's Cut Spending!
April 08, 2024 06:00 - 6 minutes - 6.5 MBLet's cut spending! And then... what exactly? The all too common advice that you need to "cut spending" implies that your level of consumption is simply too high. That may or may not be the case, but in Jesse's experience and the thousands upon thousands of people YNAB has helped to regain control over their money, "spending less" is rarely the problem. Most people don't have a spending too much problem, they have a spending on the wrong things problem. For that reason, you'll never hear Jes...
Ask Jesse: Perfect YNAB, Tithing Confusion, and More Credit Card Comments
April 01, 2024 06:00 - 12 minutes - 12 MBJesse answers another round of questions from YNAB listeners. Today someone asks whether there is such a thing as "perfect YNAB" use and if good enough use is OK (yes!). Another YNAB'er is confused on how to calculate tithes for business income, and, as always, there are some questions and comments about credit card rewards. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on socia...
Gaming the Credit Card System... Maybe
March 25, 2024 06:00 - 5 minutes - 5.54 MBJesse answers a question from a listener who argues that becuase he carries enough cash to cover his credit card spending at all times, he is not riding the float and therefore is gaming the credit card companies. Jesse quotes Charlie Munger -- "show me the incentive, and I'll show you the outcome" (he actually said outcome not behavior) -- and observes that financial institutions have big incentives to encourage more spending, because spending increases their fees. So where there's an incen...
Inherent Value Doesn't Exist
March 18, 2024 06:00 - 6 minutes - 7.01 MBJesse argues that the common refrain of a thing having "inherent value" or "intrinsic value" is not actually a thing. As Jesse explains, value is a moving target, constantly shifting along with our desires and material circumstances. To a starving man, food is worth more than gold. To that same man well-fed, it can be worth little. We see this with our own money -- as our circumstances change, the categories we prioritze shift. Rule 3, roll with the punches, acknowledges the ever-shifting na...
Ask Jesse: Lavish Praise and Woodchip Gardening (Sort Of)
March 11, 2024 07:00 - 15 minutes - 15.4 MBJesse is back answering another round of questions from his inbox. Today he responds to listeners asking whether the Four Rules are really rules or rather habits, what his favorite time management tools are, and how to relate to a spouse uninterested in budgeting. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280 Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals https://www.amazon.com/Fo...
Young Creatures Just Looking to Party
March 04, 2024 07:00 - 6 minutes - 6.23 MBJesse shares a story from a YNAB'er who had a major mindset shift about money. For this person, money went from a stressful topic to envisioning it as "young creatures just looking to party." Imagining your dollars as little "you's," searching for ways to improve your life and live out your values takes away the fear and anxiety around money. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Fo...
Looking In the Mirror
February 26, 2024 07:00 - 8 minutes - 8.14 MBMirror, mirror on the wall... which category is the truest of them all? Over the last several weeks, Jesse has explored the idea that money is more than just a tool, it's a reflection of you. Your spending is a representation of your energies and your desires, and therefore a proxy for who you are. So, if you imagined the categories in your spending plan as a mirror -- what would that mirror say about you? Do you like what's in the reflection? Got a question for Jesse? Send him an emai...
Money Is Not a Tool
February 19, 2024 07:00 - 6 minutes - 6.29 MBOne of the pervasive messages about money is that "it's just a tool," and Jesse takes issue with that! When money is reduced to a mere tool, like a wrench or a screwdriver, it invites people to be more careless with it, to use it then put it in a drawer and forget about it. Hearkening back to episode #650: It's You All the Way Down, Jesse reminds us that if a dollar is the product of your energies, then a dollar is you! You aren't just a tool -- you are a human, with desires and values which...
Dire Straits, or Rolling In It, It's All the Same
February 12, 2024 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.19 MBWhether your bank account is looking bare and collecting dust, or flush with cash, the temptation is all the same: to run away from the money. The person in dire financial straits often wishes they had a bunch of money, because then they wouldn't have to worry about money. On the flipside, the person newly flush with cash is quick to forget about the money, because they feel like they have enough now. Inattention is a mistake, no matter how it happens! Send your question to Jesse: as...
Ask Jesse: How to Plan with a Reluctant Partner, and Some Successes
February 05, 2024 07:00 - 8 minutes - 8.56 MBJesse opens his inbox for another for round of Ask Jesse, where he answers emails from YNAB'ers about all things money, finance, and... well, life! In today's episode, one listener asks about how to deal with a reluctant partner who doesn't want to participate in the YNAB process. Other listeners share their successes paying off debt and gaining control of their money for the first time. Send your question to Jesse: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at w...
A Sample of Interesting, Joyful Spending
January 29, 2024 07:00 - 6 minutes - 6.26 MBBack in October 2023, Jesse asked listeners to look at their last ten transactions on YNAB and rank them on a scale from one to three, with one being spending that sucked joy from them and three being spending that sparked joy. Then he asked listeners to share their most interesting "three," the most interesting transaction that brough joy. Today, Jesse digs through the answers and discovers an interesting commonality -- the spending that sparked the most joy was spending on other people. ...
YNABers Share Their New Years Resolutions
January 22, 2024 07:00 - 7 minutes - 7.56 MBA few weeks ago, Jesse put out the call to share your New Years resolutions, as well as a guiding word for 2024 -- something to help you put your resolution into action day to day. Jesse received a number of great responses, and shares a sample of them on today's podcast. Good luck working toward your goals in 2024! Have a question for Jesse? Email him at: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media...
I Love Money
January 15, 2024 07:00 - 12 minutes - 12.4 MBJesse revisits his infamous experiment in which he essentially stopped budgeting for an entire year. The result from that experiment was that he and his family spent several thousand extra dollars that they couldn't account for, and even though the extra spending was not material to the family bottom line, it still bothered Jesse. Today, he hits on what exactly it was that bothered him. Managing money well, building a plan for spending, is virtuous, and virtue is something that you do, not s...
A Clarification on Goal Failures
January 08, 2024 07:00 - 6 minutes - 6.99 MBAnytime the word resolution comes up, there are naysayers claiming that they don't work. That goals don't work. Unfortunately a lot of people buy into that when they set a goal and fail to achieve it. Their failure leads them to believe that settings goals is a useless endeavour. Jesse offers some encouragement this year, for the goals you seek to achieve and those you fall short on. Tell Jesse about your goals for 2024! Send him an email at: [email protected] Sign up for a fre...
Goals Are Awesome
January 01, 2024 07:00 - 8 minutes - 8.04 MBAs we embrace the New Year, Jesse challenges you to pick some goals and set some resolutions. Even if you fail, you will certainly learn some things in the process of chasing a goal, and that experience is invaluable! Tell Jesse about your goals for 2024! Send him an email at: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynaboffi...
Merry Christmas from YNAB
December 25, 2023 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.2 MBJesse wishes everyone a Merry Christmas, full of meaning and joy. Hopefully this is a day you can enjoy without worrying about money, because you've dutifully saved up for it all year, but if not -- you can always start working on next year. After your Christmas celebrations are over, create a Christmas target for 2024 and start putting a little money away now. And as Jesse says, the Christmas bill is a joyous one! Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] ...
Invest In Preparedness, Not Prediction
December 18, 2023 07:00 - 9 minutes - 9.48 MBJesse ran across a quote from one of his favorite authors, Nassim Taleb. In his book Antifragile, Taleb advises "invest in preparedness, not prediction," which also neatly describes the goal of YNAB. We cannot predict the future with any certainty, so it's folly to behave as if we can with our spending habits. What we can do, however, is prepare for the future by embracing our future expenses, and even though we don't know exactly when (or how much) those future expenses will occur, we can ...
A Quote from F.W. Boreham
December 11, 2023 07:00 - 6 minutes - 6.99 MBJesse ran across a quote from author F.W. Boreham the other day that resonated strongly: "We make our decisions, and then our decisions turn around and make us." Mr. Boreham described the goal of the Four Rules in one simple and effective sentence! Working the Four Rules to create a spending plan involves making decisons -- decisions about what you value and where you want to spend your money. Those decisions stack on each other and in turn lead you to financial freedom, peace, and, ultimate...
Ask Jesse: Selling a Rental Property, Buying a Car, and Pausing Retirement to Save?
December 04, 2023 07:00 - 13 minutes - 13.2 MBJesse is back with another round of questions from his inbox, including whether or not a listener should sell her rental property, whether it's worth buying a new car to relieve the stress of sticking with an old car with problems, and if pausing retirement savings to get a month ahead on expenses is worth consideration. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social me...
Giving the Old Bird to Money
November 27, 2023 07:00 - 3 minutes - 4.03 MBJesse has been focusing on the joy of spending money lately, and one way to achieve joy is to simply give it away. In a sense, giving away money is the ultimate way to give money the bird, so to speak. It's an act of defiance, that you don't need it, and you aren't consumed by it. But mostly, it's an act of joy, to give it away freely because your spending plan is working and your needs and wants are met. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up fo...
It Has Nothing, and Everything, to Do with Spending
November 20, 2023 07:00 - 8 minutes - 8.08 MB"You need to spend less money." "Money's not everything." But what if you don't need to spend less money. And what if money is everything? In today's episode Jesse offers up the idea that money is you -- the sum product of your energies and desires -- and if that's true, then you don't need to spend less money. You need to spend more of you on you! The more you can engage with the question of "what do I want my money to do" the more joy spending can bring you, because ultimately that questio...
You Didn't Quit. To Every Season...
November 13, 2023 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5.57 MBOnce again, the holidays are nearly upon us. If your spending plan hasn't gone to, well, plan then that is OK. Seasons are everywhere in life. We see them every year and we see them over periods of many years. Some seasons you're really engaged with your spending and some seasons you're not. But you didn't quit. Whether you need a fresh start, or you're trucking along and spending with joy, this is a season. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up...
Building Habits: Four of Them, Actually
November 06, 2023 07:00 - 4 minutes - 5.38 MBAt YNAB they're called the Four Rules, but as Jesse argues, maybe they are best described as habits! The four habits of budgeting... Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
BONUS: Goodbye Mint, Hello YNAB
November 03, 2023 06:00 - 7 minutes - 8.06 MBBreaking news! On November 2, 2023 Intuit announced that it would be shutting down Mint, a popular personal finance app it acquired back in 2009. In January 2024, millions of users will be left looking for a replacement budgeting app. Intuit is directing users to its Credit Karma service, but it's unclear yet whether it will offer the budgeting and expense tracking features Mint was known for. YNAB, however, still remains! Jesse points out that YNAB may not be the right solution for ev...
Joy Is a Three
October 30, 2023 06:00 - 3 minutes - 4.48 MBJesse invites you to play a game. Look at your last ten transactions and rate them 1 to 3: 1 = negative joy (sucked joy out of your life) 2 = neutral 3 = sparks joy There's one catch! You can only rate two of those transactions as neutral. Why? Because Jesse said so. Then share your most interesting 1's and 3's with Jesse! Email him at: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB ...
It's You All the Way Down
October 23, 2023 06:00 - 8 minutes - 8.71 MBA dollar represents you. It is the product of your energies. Your labor and your brainpower creates products and services that you exchange for money, whether you work a job or run a business. Therefore, a spending plan is really a representation of YOU! It's you all the way down from your labors and thoughts to your dollars and how you choose to spend them. So spending wisely is not just about choosing the right things to buy, or saving for the future, it's about direct your energies -- you...
Ask Jesse: Airlines are Banks, Better Money Habits, and Fast Talking
October 16, 2023 06:00 - 10 minutes - 10.6 MBIn today's episode, Jesse answers questions from YNAB'ers including how to build the habit of checking YNAB before spending and how to slow down Jesse's speech patterns for UK listeners (there's an app for that!). A listener also sends in an interesting article about how airlines have essentially turned into banks via their elaborate reward points systems. Ron Lieber on the YNAB Podcast (Episode #480) Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/you-need-a-budget-ynab/id477...
Ask Jesse: Credit Card Rebels, Banks, and Emergency Funds
October 09, 2023 06:00 - 16 minutes - 16.2 MBJesse answers your questions on today's show, including how big an emergency fund does a teacher need? A YNAB'er shares a recent talk from the chairman of the Electronic Payments Coalition which reveals the (surprise!) unscrupulous motivations of credit card companies. Another YNAB'er from India asks how to setup the budget when you have income and expenses in two different currencies. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day tria...
Guilty on All Counts
October 02, 2023 06:00 - 4 minutes - 5.09 MBSpending money doesn't have to make you feel guilty! Jesse offers a pep talk to end the guilt trip, one budget at a time. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
Shift Your Spending Into High Gear
September 25, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 9.66 MBIf you think about it, there's only one thing that money can do -- be spent! The use of money is, ultimately, the spending of money. Even if you give money away, it's given to others so that they may spend it. Or if you save money, that money is being saved (and perhaps invested in hopes of getting more money in the future) so that it can be spent in the future. But it's all spending at the end of the day. In today's episode, Jesse paints a picture of spending with a budget a mind, spending ...
Ask Jesse: ...And Done!
September 18, 2023 06:00 - 18 minutes - 17.5 MBPfew! Done, finally! Jesse clears up the backlog in his Ask Jesse mailbox, answering listener questions about the nature of credit card spending in YNAB, whether YNAB'ers should still have emergency funds, and what to do when saving up for a down payment while houses continue to rise in price. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB ...
Ask Jesse: We're Getting There People!
September 11, 2023 06:00 - 13 minutes - 12.9 MBJesse continues to work through his backlog of Ask Jesse questions, including his thoughts on credit karma, the magic of 1% retirement contributions, and whether he would save cash in case of recession or pay down debt. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman https://www.amazon.com/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Management-Mortals/dp/0374159122 Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com ...
Ask Jesse: Still Catching Up
September 04, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 9.23 MBJesse is catching up on his inbox after a summer break, and answering your questions! Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
Ask Jesse: Catching Up
August 28, 2023 06:00 - 10 minutes - 10.2 MBSince Jesse has been away, the emails have been piling up! Jesse works through his backlog of Ask Jesse questions today, including a woman who has a newfound distaste for credit cards... and wrote to Jesse to tell about it! Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Sign up for a free 34-day trial of YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com Follow YNAB on social media: Facebook: @iYNAB Instagram: @youneedabudget Twitter: @ynab Tik Tok: @ynabofficial
An Experiment Made Permanent
August 21, 2023 06:00 - 7 minutes - 7.67 MBJesse is back from his summer break and ready to answer your questions and talk money! Long-time listeners of the podcast know that each year Jesse experiments with something in his financial life, whether its reconciliation intervals or category structures. This year Jesse decided to wean himself off credit cards entirely, and he provides an update on that project. So far it's looking good, and he expects that this will be a permanent change. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an emai...
When Expenses Rise: Ben Rolls With the Punches
August 14, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 9.8 MBWhat do you do when the biggest line item in your budget increases, like, a lot? You engage your Rule Two super powers and roll with the punches of course. Emotionally, however, it's not easy when you have to reallocate dollars away from categories to handle the increased expenses in another category. It's not just a math problem -- each of those dollars symbolizes intentions and plans, which now must be put on hold, or changed altogether. In Ben's case, it's renovating a bathroom badl...
Money Stress
August 07, 2023 06:00 - 6 minutes - 6.9 MBErnie is running solo today, and sharing some recent developments in his financial life that have made him rethink his budget entirely. YNAB'ers are creatures of habit, and many of us enjoy the budgets we have created and honed over the years as neat pieces of work in themselves. But as Jesse has said over and over on the podcast, the budget really exists to serve your needs and help you prioritize your spending in accordance with your values. Life is dynamic, and sometimes those needs chang...
Rules Changes: A Quick Trip Through YNAB History
July 31, 2023 06:00 - 13 minutes - 13.1 MBDid you know that YNAB's Four Rules weren't always four? And contrary to popular belief, they did not spring forth from Jesse's head fully formed! No, the Four Rules developed over years as Jesse refined and clarified the YNAB method behind the software (and originally, the spreadsheet). Ben and Ernie take a quick spin through the history of the Four Rules, going all the way back to the very first YNAB website in 2004. Budget Nerds Episode #50: A Brief History of the YNAB Rules Apple...
How to Talk to Your Partner About Budgeting
July 24, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 10 MBBen and Ernie share their personal experiences talking to their partners about budgeting and YNAB. Every family is different, and every partnership will handle communicating about money and budgeting differently, but the important thing is that you do it! Frequent, regular money conversations help everyone stay on the same page and focused on the same goals, whether one person manages all the YNAB details or each person shares equally in that task. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an...
Managing Vacation Transactions
July 17, 2023 06:00 - 6 minutes - 6.85 MBIt's peak vacation season, so Ben and Ernie are comparing notes on handling the vacation budget in the moment. One the one hand, you want vacation to be vacation -- a time to unplug, be in the present moment, engaged with your family and friends. On the other hand, waiting until the end of the trip to categorize all your transactions can be overwhelming! Ben and Ernie share their approach to managing the transaction log without going crazy or burying your face in your phone the whole trip. ...
How Often Should You Reconcile?
July 10, 2023 06:00 - 6 minutes - 6.61 MBReconcile your budget, that is! Ben and Ernie discuss their budget reconciliation habits, and make a case for why you should reconcile every day, especially if you are new to YNAB. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b8d540a6 Sign up for a free 34-day...
Leaving Margin for Life
July 03, 2023 06:00 - 7 minutes - 7.93 MBBen and Ernie share a tip for making the budget feels a little less constricting -- leave a little margin in your categories! This is not an emergency fund, Ben says, but a way to give yourself some flexibility and fun. Got a question for Jesse? Send him an email: [email protected] Follow Ben and Ernie on the Budget Nerds Podcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/budget-nerds/id1606054345 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0H1u8pqYrvz6zj6noHbkB3?si=fc181a82b...
One Easy Trick to Boost Your Retirement Savings
June 26, 2023 06:00 - 5 minutes - 6.29 MBWe all know we need to save for retirement, but it can feel a long ways away. Savings can always wait while you deal with something more urgent, it seems, until all of a sudden retirement starts staring you in the face! The most important factors in saving for retirement are starting early, and consistency, Ernie reminds us. How do you create consistency? There's an easy trick. If you're not yet, start contributing something -- anything! -- to your retirement accounts now. That amount ...
This Question Doesn't Have to Be Scary: Can I Afford This?
June 19, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 9.6 MBBen and Ernie ask a question that strikes fear into those who don't budget (and sometimes to those who do): can I afford this? At least for YNAB'ers, this question isn't about whether you have the dollars and cents in your bank account to make the purchase, it's about your emotion, how you feel about buying the thing in question versus something else. As Ben explains, it's about opportunity cost, and luckily YNAB is very good at helping you understand opportunity costs with your money. ...
A Different Take on Credit Cards
June 12, 2023 06:00 - 10 minutes - 10.2 MBBen and Ernie tackle the big credit card question (should you use them?) that Jesse has been wrestling with this year, with a slightly different take. Ben, of course, does not use credit cards as he shared with Jesse in episode #621. Ernie, on the other hand, has done it both ways, cutting up the credit card during times of his life where he was busy paying down debt, and now using it judiciously to accrue travel points that he can use on family vacations. We want to hear your YNAB sto...
Paying Off Debt the Sustainable Way
June 05, 2023 06:00 - 6 minutes - 7 MBJesse is taking a break for the summer, so Ben and Ernie (from the Budget Nerds podcast) are stepping in to guest host. Today, they talk about paying off debt... sustainably! So many personal finance resources urge people to pay off debt as soon as they can, and white knuckle their way toward financial freedom. While this can work for short periods of time, for many people paying off debt is a marathon, not a sprint, and white-knuckling has many pitfalls. For one, when you're throwing...
Rule Four Reviewed
May 29, 2023 06:00 - 9 minutes - 9.34 MBBeef is pretty good aged, but you know what's even better? Aging your money! That's Rule Four -- aging your money. Basically, increase the amount of time between when you earn the money and when you spend it. By following Rule One through Three, you can accumulate cash in your categories and pre-fund future expenses, thereby increasing your options. When you have a lot of cash available, you have options for handling unexpected expenses, taking advantages of opportunities (which requir...
Rule Three Reviewed
May 22, 2023 06:00 - 5 minutes - 5.98 MBBe like the reed... blowing in the wind. It's not a haiku, Jesse is talking about Rule Three -- rolling with the punches. Life happens, and unexpected things are going to pop up that could break the budget. When you roll with the punches however, you check the budget, find the money for the unexpected expense in another category, and fund the expense by moving money from that category. The key here is that you check the budget and find the money first! You don't simply spend the money ...