Blog

Notes on saving, spending, and the friction in between.

Most personal-finance advice fails because it asks for the wrong kind of decision at the wrong moment. We write about what actually changes behavior — and what doesn't.

2026-06-02·3 min read·Numbers

What "high-yield" actually means right now

High-yield savings accounts are everywhere. Here's what the term actually means, what to look for, and what most people miss in the fine print.

Read →
2026-05-26·2 min read·Behavioral

The Sunday-night budget trap

Planning your week's spending on Sunday night feels productive. It just doesn't survive contact with Tuesday. Here's why, and what works instead.

Read →
2026-05-19·4 min read·Product

Why budgeting apps don't work for most people

Mint had 25 million users at its peak. It still got shut down. Every budgeting app since assumes the same thing, and most quietly fail the same way.

Read →
2026-05-12·4 min read·Behavioral

Why microsaving works (and "just save more" doesn't)

Most households have a few hundred dollars in savings. The advice they keep getting is "save more." It's not a willpower problem — it's the wrong question, asked at the wrong moment.

Read →
2026-05-05·2 min read·Numbers

The real math of $5 a day.

$5 a day is $1,825 in a year. At 4% interest for seven years, it's about $14,500. Not a lecture about lattes, a piece about noticing once a day.

Read →
2026-04-21·3 min read·Built in public

Why we put a quit button in a savings app

Most apps treat leaving as a failure and design the exit accordingly. We went the other way. Here's the thinking behind Miser's Quit Companion.

Read →
2026-04-10·3 min read·Numbers

What an emergency fund actually has to cover

The advice is always "save 3 to 6 months of expenses." Here's what that actually means, and why starting with $500 is better guidance for most people.

Read →
2026-03-25·3 min read·Behavioral

Most of your spending isn't a choice. It's a loop.

The hardest spending to cut isn't the splurge, it's the purchase you make on autopilot. Here's why those patterns run so deep, and what actually interrupts one.

Read →