✦Money · 11 recordsGet on top of money

Three separate problems that get treated as one. This does them in order: seeing it, clearing expensive debt, then saving toward something named — because saving toward nothing in particular rarely survives a bad month.

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Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

Know where the money goes, and save some of it Month 4

One month of honest numbers, then a target with a name on it.

See it clearly Week 4

You cannot fix a number you have not looked at.

  • List every subscription and what it costsDo firstDay 3
  • Write down what actually comes in each monthDo firstDay 5
  • Cancel the three least-used subscriptionsDay 10

Save toward something specific Month 4

Named, with a number. A vague pot gets raided.

  • Decide what the saving is actually forDo firstWeek 2
  • Set up the transfer for the day after paydayWeek 3

Routines

  • Check the balanceweekly
  • Review the month's spendingweekly
✦ It comes with a note

In order

Seeing it, then clearing what is expensive, then saving. Doing these out of order is why it usually fails — saving while carrying expensive debt is paying for the privilege.

The weekly check is not for feeling bad about a purchase. It is so the monthly number is never a surprise.

✦ Questions

Get on top of money, answered.

Because saving while carrying expensive debt is paying for the privilege. Seeing the numbers, then clearing costly debt, then saving is the sequence that leaves you better off, and doing it out of order is why budgets usually fail.
So the monthly number is never a surprise. It is not for feeling bad about a purchase — a quick look at the balance costs almost nothing and removes the specific dread that makes people stop looking altogether.
Because a vague pot gets raided and a named one does not. Deciding what the money is actually for is a task in this plan rather than an assumption, since it is the part that determines whether the transfer survives a bad month.
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Debt

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