Local budgeting software company owner offers free workshop
Any student can experience financial woes. If you haven’t, you might be at the wrong university. For those who feel they need some help understanding how to stretch their dollars, Jesse Mecham has some answers.
Mecham will be offering a free budgeting workshop at the Provo Library on Jan. 19. As the founder of You Need A Budget, Mecham has developed a budgeting strategy based on four rules: give every dollar a job, save for a rainy day, roll with the punches, and stop living paycheck to paycheck. These principles are intended to help maximize a person’s current income and help them cut down on unnecessary spending.
Mecham developed these principles almost unintentionally. While pursuing his Master’s degree and accounting certification, he and his wife were struggling to balance their finances. He came up with some methods and applications of those methods. As he used his ideas and taught others, he soon realized that it was a product useful to people outside his circle of friends. Thus, You Need A Budget was born.
Mecham intentionally planned this workshop around New Year’s, knowing that it’s one of the major times people reconsider their budgeting techniques.
“So many people’s New Year’s resolutions have to do with tackling money issues, especially after seeing their credit card statement from Christmas,” Mecham said. “They have a much greater resolve to do something about their money woes and are more willing to make changes in their lives.”
Although most are taking a look at their bank accounts and wanting to make changes, it isn’t always easy to know what to do. Your everyday financial whiz kid might be able to dissect a bank statement and make a plan, but most of us are low on funds because we aren’t geniuses with the checkbook. That’s where Mecham’s plan comes in.
Most might be thinking, “What about the sales pitch? I don’t want to attend a 90-minute tease where they teach me nothing and ask me to buy their product.” Mecham claims this isn’t so.
“They will be surprised at how little I will sell the software. It’s basically me giving a live version of the book,” he said. “It’s me teaching the principles that we use, and the software is just one way to implement those principles. If you wanted, you could just do the program on paper.”
In other words, this isn’t just a tease to pressure people into buying a product. Mecham’s point isn’t to sell; it’s to teach something useful and let people decide if they want more.
The class will be Jan 19 at 7 p.m. It is expected to last 90 minutes, and light refreshments will be provided. For questions concerning the class, contact Anne Gordon from the You Need A Budget office at anne@YouNeedABudget.com or 801-610-9215.
