Blog
Practical writing on tracking spending, budgeting and getting more out of your money.
Template · 8 min read
Free Monthly Budget Template for Excel: a 12-Month Planner With Planned vs Actual
A free Excel budget planner with a sheet for the plan, a sheet for what really happened and a sheet that shows the difference, for all 12 months at once. Download it, then see a filled-in January and how to read the numbers.
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Template · 8 min read
Free Expense Tracker Spreadsheet: an Income and Expense Template That Does the Maths
A free Excel file with a transaction log and a summary tab that totals income, expenses, savings rate and spending per category against your budget. Download it, then read how each column and formula works.
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Guide · 9 min read
How to Track Expenses: Five Methods, and the One That Actually Sticks
Most expense tracking fails at the data entry step. Here is what each method really costs you in effort, and how to pick one you will still be using in March.
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Technology · 7 min read
How AI Reads a Receipt in Three Seconds, and Where It Still Gets It Wrong
Photograph a receipt and a finished expense appears. Here is what happens in between, why it is harder than it looks, and the four cases where it still needs your help.
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Guide · 8 min read
The 50/30/20 Budget Rule: How It Works, and What to Do When It Does Not Fit
The most quoted budgeting rule is also the most misapplied. Here is how to split your income properly, where the awkward expenses go, and what to do when the numbers refuse to fit.
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Guide · 9 min read
Splitting Household Costs: Four Methods, and the One Rule That Makes Any of Them Work
The argument is never really about the percentage. It is about the fact that nobody wrote down who paid for what. Four splitting methods, and the record that makes them survive.
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Guide · 8 min read
How to Budget for the Expenses That Only Arrive Once a Year
Your budget is not failing in the months it fails. It is failing in every month you paid nothing towards the bills that arrive once a year.
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Guide · 9 min read
How Big Should Your Emergency Fund Be, Where Should It Sit, and How Long Will It Take?
Almost everyone agrees you should have one, and almost nobody has one. Usually not from carelessness — from not knowing the number, the account, or how long it takes. All three, with the arithmetic.
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Tips · 10 min read
Unused Subscriptions: How to Find Every One of Them, and Which to Cancel First
Cutting the grocery bill costs you a fresh decision every week. Cancelling a forgotten subscription takes ten minutes, once, and the effect runs for twelve months. The full method, with the arithmetic.
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Tips · 9 min read
Getting Out of Your Overdraft: What It Really Costs, and a Four-Step Plan
No contract, no schedule, no monthly statement calling it a loan — just a balance that starts below zero. That is exactly why the overdraft outlives every other debt in the household.
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Tips · 10 min read
Cutting Fixed Costs: The Eight Bills Where the Effort Actually Pays
Cutting the food shop means fighting the same battle 52 weeks a year. Cutting a contract is one weekend of admin that keeps paying every month afterwards. Here is the order to do it in.
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Tips · 10 min read
Paying Off Credit Card Debt: The Right Order, Not Just More Willpower
Debt is not a state of mind, it is a monthly rate. While the conversation stays at “I need to sort myself out”, the card keeps charging — which is why a 4,000 balance seems immune to everything you pay into it.
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