Kevin Allen 🥉

Joint bills account, auto transfer per paycheck, one 15 minute weekly check in.

Honestly I spun myself into knots trying to meal-plan for every craving and still watched the bill creep to 450 a month, which felt ridiculous for one person. Prices are dumb right now and the first month hurts because you buy staples, but once that was done my simple fix was a weekly cap and a tiny rotation. I set 80–90 dollars per week in a mid-cost city and stick to a cart like eggs, chicken thighs or tofu, rice or pasta, beans, frozen veg, a leafy green, fruit, yogurt, and one treat, and I end up around 320–360 a month. If I track on my phone calculator as I shop and skip "just in case" items, I land on budget and waste less. Rule of thumb that kept me sane is two proteins and two carbs, two veggies, one snack, and coffee per week, then eat leftovers for lunch.

The simplest way with irregular income is to turn it into a steady paycheck and let a buffer absorb the swings. Add up your required monthly bills and essentials to get your monthly nut, then set a conservative salary that you can hit in lean months, like the average of your worst three months or about 80 percent of your 12 month average. Funnel all client payments into an income holding account, keep a regular checking account for bills, and have a separate savings for taxes plus an emergency fund. If you hate multiple accounts, at least keep taxes separate, and use bank sub-savings buckets for emergency and irregular bills if your bank supports it. On every deposit, pay the buckets first. Move 30 to 35 percent to the Tax account right away, then 10 percent to the Emergency fund until you hit 3 to 6 months of expenses, and 5 to 10 percent to an Irregulars bucket for things like insurance premiums, software renewals, car repairs, and annual fees. Leave the rest in the holding account as your buffer. Set an automatic transfer from holding to checking on the 1st of the month or on the 1st and 15th for the fixed salary you chose. In good months the buffer grows toward 1 to 3 months of your salary. In lean months the buffer covers your paycheck so the bills still get paid on time. For US taxes, make estimated payments from the Tax account four times a year, typically by April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, and adjust the tax percentage if you have large deductions or a high state rate. Track business expenses and pay them from the holding account before calculating taxes, since your tax is on profit, not gross. Do a 10 minute weekly check to clear new deposits, confirm the automatic transfers, and glance at bucket balances, and do a short quarterly review to tweak the salary and percentages if your average changes.

Rates look cute until the bank traps your cash for a week with transfer holds while daycare and car repairs hit at once. HYSA can slash rates without warning, and CDs love to auto-renew if you blink, which is how you end up begging customer service between naps and meetings. Check ACH transfer speed both directions, daily transfer limits, and whether they do instant internal moves to your checking. Make sure it is actually FDIC or NCUA insured under your ownership type, and that joint coverage is set right if you are sharing. Practical tip: keep a small buffer in checking and set calendar reminders for CD maturity so you do not get rolled into a worse rate.