How Much Should You Spend on a Car?
How much should you spend on a car? The 20/4/10 rule is a reasonable starting ceiling, but the loan term is what actually decides whether you can afford it.
5 min read
Budgeting
12 guides in this topic.
How Much House Can You Actually Afford?
Lenders approve more house than you can comfortably live with. How much house can you afford, calculated from your own budget, not the bank's maximum.
4 min read
Zero-Based Budgeting: Give Every Dollar a Job
In zero-based budgeting, income minus outflows equals zero — every dollar is assigned a job, including saving and investing, before the month starts.
4 min read
How Much Should You Spend on Rent?
The 30% rule is the standard answer and it breaks in both directions. How to work out what you can actually spend on rent from your own numbers.
5 min read
How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck
Living paycheck to paycheck is a timing problem before it is an income problem. The one structural change that breaks the cycle, and the order to do it in.
6 min read
How to Budget on an Irregular Income
Standard budgets assume a fixed monthly number. If you are freelance, on commission, or on shifts, here is a method built for an irregular income.
6 min read
Why Your Take-Home Pay Is Less Than Your Salary
Your salary and your take-home pay are different numbers, sometimes by 35%. Every deduction between them, and the two worth checking for errors.
4 min read
How to Split Bills When One Partner Earns More
Splitting everything 50/50 sounds fair and often is not. Three ways to split bills with a partner, and how to pick the one that fits your situation.
5 min read
How to Build Your First Budget Without Hating It
Most first budgets fail for the same three reasons. A method built on what you actually spend, so your first budget survives a real month.
7 min read
The 50/30/20 Rule: Where It Works and Where It Falls Apart
The 50/30/20 rule is useful as a diagnostic and misleading as a target. Where the split works, where it breaks, and how to tell which you are doing.
5 min read
Sinking Funds: The Boring Trick That Ends Surprise Expenses
Most emergencies are not emergencies — they are costs you forgot to divide by twelve. How to set up a sinking fund, and which ones you need.
6 min read
Got Your First Real Paycheck? Do These Seven Things
Your first paycheck sets defaults that quietly persist for a decade. The order to do things in, and what genuinely does not matter yet.
6 min read