Money Foundations
A Fifteen Minute Weekly Money Review That Catches Problems
Most money problems are cheap in week one and expensive by the end of the quarter. A short weekly routine, what it checks and why fifteen minutes is enough.
6 min read
The library
15 plain-English reads on budgeting, saving, investing, debt, credit and taxes. Newest first unless you say otherwise.
EverythingBudgetingSavingInvestingDebt PayoffBankingCreditTaxesRetirementCollege SavingsPassive IncomeMoney FoundationsEveryday SpendingInsuranceSocial Security & MedicareHousing & RentingStudent LoansMoney MindsetSide IncomeCareer & SalaryFinancial IndependenceEstate PlanningFamily FinancesLife EventsSmall BusinessFraud & Consumer ProtectionHealthcare CostsTravel & RewardsCars & TransportInflation & the EconomyMoney ToolsGiving
Money MindsetGuide
Money Psychology and the Biases That Cost You the Most
The costly money mistakes are rarely about knowledge. The biases behind them, what each costs in dollars and the defaults that work around them.
10 min read
Everyday Spending
How to Stop Overspending When Willpower Keeps Failing
Overspending is a systems design flaw wearing a willpower costume. Five behavioral triggers, what each actually is, and the physical friction that stops it.
7 min read
Everyday Spending
Gift Budgeting That Survives December Without New Debt
Set the total dollar ceiling first and the recipient list second. Reversing that order is why holiday budgets blow out into high-interest credit card debt.
6 min read
Editor's pick
BudgetingGuide
What Households Actually Budget in a Survey of US Adults
We surveyed 1,000 US adults about what they plan and what they spend. The data reveals why most budgets fail and where households underestimate expenses.
5 min read
Saving
The 52 Week Savings Challenge and a Version That Works
The standard 52-week challenge saves $1,378 by loading its heaviest deposits into December. Reversing or flattening the schedule fixes the behavioral flaw.
4 min read
Everyday Spending
Holiday Spending Without the January Credit Card Regret
Average households spend over one thousand dollars in December and pay high card interest until April. Here is how to set a cash ceiling and stop borrowing for gifts.
4 min read
Budgeting
Budgeting as a Couple
Three structures: fully joint, fully separate, or proportional. Which you pick matters less than agreeing the amount above which you check with each other.
5 min read
Budgeting
Envelopes and Cash Stuffing: What the Method Is Actually Doing
The method works, and not for the reason its advocates give. Understanding the actual mechanism tells you which categories to use it on and which to leave alone.
6 min read
Budgeting
Pay Yourself First, and What the Order Actually Buys
Saving what is left over produced $2,245 across a year. Saving the same amount first produced $6,720, on identical income and identical spending habits. The mechanism is not discipline.
6 min read
Investing
Dollar-Cost Averaging vs Lump Sum
Investing all of it at once wins whenever the market rises, which is most of the time. That is a fact about averages rather than about you, and here is when averaging in is the right answer anyway.
7 min read
Saving
Automating Savings So Willpower Is Not Involved
The transfer should land the day after payday, not the day before the next one. The same $300 a month, moved on two different dates, differs by $875 over a year.
8 min read
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