Pay yourself on paydayEveryday life

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Pay yourself on payday

A short book about saving whatever is left at the end of the month, which is usually nothing

18 chapters12,245 wordsAbout 56 minFirst edition

What's inside

·Before you startThis is a short book and you can read it in two or three sittings. It's about one habit. You mean to save. Each month you plan to see how things go and…2 min
1The twenty-seventhIt's the twenty-seventh of October. You're paid on the last working day of the month, so there are four days to go. You open your banking app on the bus…3 min
2Why leftovers seem sensibleIf you've failed to save for years, you may have decided that you're hopeless with money. I don't think you are. The leftover plan is what almost…2 min
3"I'll save what's left"The arithmetic on the first of the month was correct. Your income less your fixed costs left eight hundred and fifty pounds, and eight hundred and fifty…4 min
4"This month was unusual"Ask anyone on the leftover plan why they didn't save this month and they'll have a good answer. There were the tyres. Last month it was the MOT, and the…3 min
5"I'll start when I earn more"If the money runs out every month, the natural conclusion is that there isn't enough of it. With a bit more coming in, there'd be slack, and saving would…3 min
6"I can't afford to save"This is sometimes true, and I'll begin with the people for whom it is. If your income doesn't cover rent, energy, food, travel to work and the other…3 min
7"It's hardly worth it for that amount"I've just suggested a transfer of twenty-five or fifty pounds a month, and you may have winced. Articles about money talk about saving a fifth of your…3 min
8"I'd only dip into it"Perhaps you've tried something like this before. One January you moved a decent sum into savings, feeling virtuous, and by March you'd moved most of it…3 min
9"I just need more discipline"Most people explain their failure to save as a failure of character. They think savers are disciplined people who feel the same pull towards the coat and…3 min
10What the leftover plan costsThe costs have come up one at a time. Here they are together. Most of this chapter is my own reckoning, and the sums in it are illustrations. Every shock…3 min
11"But I've got debts"Many readers will be holding a credit card balance, an overdraft or a loan while reading a book about saving. It's reasonable to ask whether saving makes…3 min
12Setting up the transferThis chapter is the practical centre of the book. It describes a single piece of administration that takes about twenty minutes. You do it once, and after…3 min
13Living on what's leftThe phrase "what's left" now means something new. Under the old plan it was whatever remained on the twenty-seventh, and that was nothing. Now it's what…4 min
14The decisionThis chapter asks you to decide something. It comes late because at the start it would have sounded like "you should save more", which you've known for…3 min
15Irregular pay, partners and months it goes wrongThe method is simple. Some situations aren't, and I should be plain about them. If your income is irregular. Freelancers, people on commission, people on…5 min
16The twenty-seventh againHere's a scene from about a year later. It's an example of how things might go, and I'm not promising it. It's the twenty-seventh of October, and you're…2 min
·NotesThis book gives general information. It isn't financial advice, and it's no substitute for a regulated adviser or a debt adviser who knows your situation.…5 min

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