My name is Jesse Mecham, I founded YouNeedABudget.com (YNAB) in September of 2004 and have been heavily involved in the personal finance software arena ever since.  YouNeedABudget.com is focused on teaching people a new, effective way of managing their money, with software that is simple.

I developed the YNAB Methodology — built originally in spreadsheet form — because I was newly married and we were completely broke (you can read more about it here).  After about a year of using the spreadsheet, and following the Four Rules, I decided I’d try and sell the spreadsheet.

Did I have visions of helping thousands of people get out of debt, save money (and their marriage!), and reduce their stress levels?  I wish I could say I had such saintly aspirations.  In the end, it was because I wanted to make enough “side” income to pay our rent.  I had figured that if I could do that, then my wife could stay home with our soon-to-born son and be a full-time SuperMom.

As the business has developed, so has my vision.  I’ve realized that the personal finance software arena has been dominated for too long by two big players (I don’t even have to name them; you already know them).  Their software has little to do with helping people get out of debt and save more money — it seems to be more focused on forced upgrades and turning a deaf ear to a large (but largely unsatisfied) userbase.

What we’ve seen in the past few years, especially because of this Web 2.0 upswing, is quite a bit of new competition.  This is a great thing.

So what’s the point of this site?

I created it to basically monitor my competition.  Originally it was just going to be a private blog, but then I thought perhaps my peers in the industry would gain something from reading my walkthroughs of competitor software.  The way I see it, it can only help the industry as a whole.  Not all of the software directly competes with YNAB.

Am I biased? Oh absolutely!  I look at the software from my own perspective, which is heavily submerged in the Methodology I teach.  I consistently ask myself if something is easy, intuitive, and effective.  Effectiveness has two components for me:  Results and Time.  More results in an ever decreasing amount of time — that’s the goal.

Please keep my complete bias in mind as you read my walkthroughs.

Just to make sure I’m completely clear here though, I want to re-reiterate.  These walkthroughs of the competition are more for my benefit than for yours.  It helps me keep pulse on the industry, the up-and-comers, the movers and shakers, etc.  As technology evolves, how we manage our finances is evolving as well.  What we need to ensure is that it evolves in such a way that we have more control over our money, that we’re making wiser decisions and that we’re reaching our goals.

If you’d like me to do a walkthrough of your personal finance application, just shoot me a quick note!  If I get something wrong, you’ve updated your software, or you just want to chat, definitely let me know.