Ready to Assign: What It Means When It's Positive, Zero or Negative
The ready-to-assign number in an envelope budget tells you a lot. Learn what a positive, zero or negative figure means, why it happens and what to do next.
The Kemback blog
Practical guides to budgeting, saving, bills, debt and sharing money at home.
How to Check Your Balances Match After Switching Apps
After moving to a new money app, check every account balance to the cent. A step-by-step method, plus how to read a difference to find the transaction at fault.
Spending Alerts That Actually Help (and Ones That Just Nag)
Which money alerts are worth turning on, how to set thresholds that fit your budget, and how to avoid alert fatigue so the important warnings still get seen.
The 50/30/20 Rule: When It Works and When It Doesn't
How the 50/30/20 budget rule splits needs, wants and savings, worked examples at different incomes, where it breaks down, and how to adjust it to fit your life.
Assets vs Liabilities: A Plain Guide for Household Finances
What counts as an asset, what counts as a liability, and the grey areas in between, with worked examples so you can sort your own accounts with confidence.
Where Does My Money Go? How to Find Your Top Spending Categories
A step-by-step way to find where your money goes: gather three months of transactions, clean the categories, rank them, and focus on the few that matter.
Annual vs Monthly Subscriptions: Which Actually Saves Money?
How to tell whether paying yearly for a subscription really saves money, with a simple break-even test, worked examples, and how to budget for annual renewals.
How Much Should You Spend on Groceries? Set Your Own Number
Instead of a generic figure, find a grocery budget that fits your household: measure what you spend now, compare with a benchmark and choose a realistic target.
True Expenses: Budgeting for Car Repairs, Gifts and Annual Fees
True expenses are costs that aren't monthly but always arrive. Learn how to find yours, work out monthly amounts, and fund them so they stop wrecking budgets.
How to Find and Use Your Old Mint Transactions Export
Downloaded your Mint history before it closed? Here's where the file usually hides, what its columns mean, how to clean it safely and how to import it.
Category Budgets vs Envelope Budgets: Which Fits You?
How category budgets and envelope budgets differ, the same month run both ways with real numbers, and how to decide which style suits your income and habits.
What Net Worth Is and How to Calculate Yours in an Hour
Net worth is what you own minus what you owe. Learn what to count, how to value a home, car and retirement accounts, and work through a full example yourself.