Guides

Practical guides on budgeting, forecasting, and managing money when your income doesn’t arrive on a schedule.

• Guide
  How to Budget an Irregular Income
  Why paycheck-based budgeting rules don’t hold up when your income doesn’t, and the shift that actually works: budgeting against your floor, not your average.
• Guide
  Budget Rules for Irregular Income: 3/3/3, 50/30/20, $27.40, and 3-6-9
  What each named budgeting rule actually says, and why every one of them assumes a paycheck that irregular income doesn’t have.
• Guide
  Minimum Viable Income: How Much Do You Actually Need to Live On?
  Is $30,000 a year or $3,000 a month livable? It depends on your rent and your household. Here’s how to calculate your own number instead of guessing from a headline.
• Guide
  How to Organize Household Finances With an Irregular Income
  When one partner’s income is irregular and the other’s isn’t (or neither is), the usual split-it-evenly advice stops working. Here’s how to structure it instead.