Why Your Bills Keep Going Up, and How to Notice Early
The common reasons bills and subscriptions creep up, from expiring promotions to quiet price rises, and a simple routine for spotting increases early.
The Kemback blog
Practical guides to budgeting, saving, bills, debt and sharing money at home.
Tracking Net Worth Monthly: Why It Motivates and How to Do It
A monthly net worth check turns slow progress into something you can see. A simple routine, a year of example numbers, and how to read the ups and downs.
Safe to Spend: How to Know What's Really Available After Bills
Your bank balance isn't what you can spend. Learn how to work out a safe-to-spend number after bills, savings and a buffer, with a step-by-step worked example.
Spreadsheet to Budgeting App: How to Know When It's Time to Move
Spreadsheets are a great way to start budgeting. Here are signs you've outgrown yours, the reasons to stay, and how to move your data without losing anything.
A Household Money Meeting: A Simple Monthly Routine That Works
How to run a 30-minute monthly money meeting at home: a five-part agenda, what to prepare, a worked example and tips for keeping it short, calm and useful.
A Financial Year-End Checklist for Households
A practical year-end money checklist: review spending and net worth, check accounts and subscriptions, gather tax records, update goals and plan next year.
How to Find Every Subscription You're Paying For
A step-by-step way to track down every subscription and recurring charge on your cards and accounts, add up the yearly cost, and decide which ones to keep.
QIF, QFX, OFX and CSV: The Bank File Formats Explained
What QIF, QFX, OFX and CSV files are, what each one actually contains, which to choose when your bank offers several, and how to avoid duplicate transactions.
Moving From Quicken to a Cloud App Without Losing Your History
A step-by-step plan for leaving Quicken desktop for a cloud app: decide what history to keep, clean up first, import, verify every balance and run in parallel.
Paying Yourself First: How to Automate Your Savings
Paying yourself first means saving before you spend. Learn how to pick an amount, time transfers to payday, split direct deposit and avoid overdrafts.
Balance Transfers: When They Help and When They Hurt
How 0% balance transfer cards work, what the transfer fee really costs, and a worked example showing when a transfer saves money and when it backfires.
Money After a Pay Cut or Job Loss: The First 30 Days
A calm, step-by-step plan for the first 30 days after a job loss or pay cut: protect essentials, work out your runway and cut costs in the right order.