FOUNDATION · VOLUME 1 OF 3 · FOUNDATIONSSpending shelf
Expense Tracking & Awareness
The first book to read on spending. It explains why people spend the way they do, how to sort every expense into fixed, variable and irregular, how to read your categories against real household data, where hidden costs sit, how to separate needs from wants, and how to point your spending at what you value most.
Chapters6
Reading time35 min
Worked examples16
Updated2026-10-01
What you will be able to do
- Name the triggers and mental shortcuts behind your own unplanned spending, and put a pause between an urge and a purchase.
- Sort your spending into fixed, variable and irregular costs, find your essential floor, and set up sinking funds for irregular bills.
- Compare your spending categories with national household data and run a 30-minute monthly review.
- Find forgotten subscriptions, idle cash, invisible fees and convenience costs, and see what each costs over time.
- Decide quickly whether a purchase is a need or a want, and rank your spending by the priorities you care about most.
Contents
6 CHAPTERS · ABOUT 35 MIN- 01Why You Spend the Way You Do The emotional triggers behind unplanned spending, four mental shortcuts that raise what people pay, and a simple pause and two-week log that make your own pattern visible.6 min3 computed
- 02Fixed, Variable and Irregular Expenses How to sort every expense into three groups, what your essential floor says about your emergency fund, how sinking funds tame irregular bills, and why one cut to a fixed cost keeps paying every month.6 min3 computed
- 03Where the Money Goes: Reading Your Spending by Category How a typical household's spending splits across categories, four questions to ask of each of yours, five patterns worth spotting, and a 30-minute monthly review that keeps your numbers current.6 min2 computed
- 04Finding the Costs You Never See Where forgotten subscriptions, idle cash, invisible investment fees, convenience premiums and waste hide, what each can cost over the years, and a two-hour routine to find them all.6 min4 computed
- 05Needs, Wants and the Space Between Three layers of genuine need and their inflated versions, why wants dress up as needs, five questions that settle most purchases, and how the distinction plays out in transport, housing and food.6 min2 computed
- 06Spending on What Matters to You How to find your real priorities from evidence, what research says about spending that brings lasting satisfaction, how to rank and fund priorities, and how to see the trade-off behind every yes.6 min2 computed
CALCULATORS USED IN THIS BOOK