Hi Reader! What is savings? It seems like a simple question. People often see savings as the money that they’ve saved in their savings account. But is that the whole story? When people have one lump of money labeled "Savings," it tends to create one of two problems: Some will look at savings as a general fund. If there's money there, it must be available, so it gets tapped for almost anything. Savings never builds up and isn’t there when you actually need it. When money is for nothing, it...
22 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader! Every budget only ever has two sides: expenses and income. In the last newsletter, we looked at how to track and manage your expenses, but what can you do about income? You may plan out your expenses knowing that a paycheck is forthcoming, but what if something happens to that paycheck? If there is a surprise, how much time do you have for bills that need to be paid? Even if you have a regular paycheck, mistakes can change your income. I once had an HR mistake unexpectedly delete...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! In the last newsletter, I introduced the four common issues with budgeting. This week we’ll look at why tracking expenses can be a great starting point and how to make it actually work for you. Often the first thing budgeters do when starting is to look back at the past month’s spending and see where the money went. It's a good place to start; after all, it's hard to change a situation if you don’t know what that situation actually is. But how do you actually start tracking without...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! People tell you to “spend less than you make; you just need to stick to a budget”. Sounds simple, right? So why is it so hard? There are four things that people try that prove extra challenging. Exploring each can help us build a system that will finally last. Tracking expenses looks backward, showing you what you spent your money on last month. This gives you information, but information alone doesn't change behavior. Knowing you overspent doesn't automatically tell you how to...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader! A little something different this week. I want to talk about a finance book I just finished, and why I think you might want to pick it up. The book is Never Worry About Money Again by Jesse Mecham, founder of YNAB, and it was just released. Full disclosure: I've used YNAB for years and already believe in its philosophy, so I came in predisposed to like it. But I made a point to read it from the point of view of someone new to financial change, and I think this is a good book to...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! It happened the other morning. I started my day the way I always do: get dressed, a little yoga, check the budget, make breakfast. But as I opened my daily phone game, my heart sank. My 280+ day streak was gone. A lonely zero stared back at me, forlorn and a little accusatory. I had forgotten to finish my game the day before. Just like that, my simple little habit was undone. Time to start over. Now, a game streak is hardly the end of the world. But it got me thinking about the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Summer is one of my favorite times of year. It’s a great time to get outside and have adventures. But summer can also be one of the sneakiest seasons for your budget. Camps, cookouts, road trips, and activities have a way of adding up fast, often before you realize you've overspent. The good news? Having fun this summer doesn't have to mean blowing your budget. A little planning goes a long way. Our state might be small, but it's packed with incredible free and low-cost adventures...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! We know that tracking spending and budgeting is the key to getting ahead, but budgeting everything you spend can feel like an endless task - expenses never seem to end! It's hard to stay motivated when every data point feels like a loss. What if you could reverse it? What if you tracked how much you didn't spend? Seeing the money you chose to keep, the amount you could have spent but didn't, or the number of times you skipped a purchase you usually make, creates a positive trend...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader! Last week, I talked about the advantages of naming your savings to help achieve your dreams. While building savings buckets for dream trips and big goals are fun, you can use that same power of naming your savings for the everyday, predictable-yet-unpredictable expenses that life keeps throwing at us. Long-term, irregular expenses can quietly derail even the best budgets. So we save for them. But how much do we save? When should we take money from savings, and for what? Subdividing...
4 months ago • 2 min read