Where Did My Money Go?

DESCRIPTION

You earn a decent income. You are not reckless. And yet the month always ends before the money does — and if someone asked you to account for the difference, you could not.

That is not a character flaw. It is a missing map.

Money rarely disappears in one dramatic event. It leaks. A subscription you forgot. A delivery fee. A minimum payment that feels responsible and quietly costs you nineteen years.

This is a working book, not a reading one. Fifteen short chapters, each ending in a single task with a time attached. Then a ninety-day plan that puts them in order. Under twelve hours of work in total.

Every number is shown with its assumptions, so you can check the arithmetic yourself. And it covers what most money books skip: irregular income, a partner who is not on board, falling off for three months, and what to do if you genuinely cannot pay.

No get-rich promises. No mindset slogans. Just a sequence you can finish.

Start with Chapter 1. It takes forty-five minutes.

WHO IS IT FOR?

This is for you if:

• You have a reasonable income and nothing to show for it

• You have tried budgeting before and abandoned it by week two

• You pay your minimums every month and the balance never moves

• You have been meaning to start investing for three years

• You would rather not open your banking app

• You want a plan with tasks and an order, not a philosophy

Not for you if you want to get rich quickly, you want stock-picking strategy, or you already budget and invest consistently. And if you are in genuine crisis — behind on rent, unable to buy food — what you need first is a person, not a book.

WHAT'S INSIDE

15 chapters, each ending in one task with a time attached.

13 charts. What a minimum payment really costs. What ten years of starting earlier is worth. Where the debt snowball and avalanche actually differ — and by how little.

12 worksheets. Budget, debt snapshot, savings goals, sinking funds, spending log, retirement calculator, net worth tracker, monthly review.

Plus a plain-English glossary, the whole system on one page, and a 90-day checklist with tick boxes.

Part One — Find the Leaks. The six invisible drains. The seven-day experiment that shows you your real spending. The money beliefs running underneath it.

Part Two — Stop the Bleeding. A budget built from what you actually spend. Where the hidden $100–$250 a month is sitting. The emergency fund, and three questions that decide when to use it.

Part Three — Crush the Debt. What nineteen years of minimums costs on $5,000, and what one extra $100 a month does to that. Snowball versus avalanche, worked through — with a surprising answer. And your options if you genuinely cannot pay.

Part Four — Build Your Foundation. Three savings buckets, automated. How to find your one best income opportunity. The insurance you need, the insurance you are wasting money on.

Part Five — Build Real Wealth. Why ten years of starting earlier beats twenty years of contributing. What a 1.7% fee costs over thirty years. What to do when the market falls. Your retirement number, in under an hour.

THE 90-DAY PLAN

Days 1–30 — Find the leaks

• Week 1: Money audit — three months of statements (2 hrs)

• Week 2: Subscription sweep (45 min) · Three phone calls (45 min)

• Week 3: Build the budget (30 min) · Set up automatic transfers (20 min)

• Week 4: Meal plan system (20 min)

By day 30: you know where it goes, you have recovered $100–$250 a month, and every dollar has a job.

Days 31–60 — Crush debt, build the fund

• Week 5: Debt snapshot (1 hr) · Choose your method, find your debt-free date (30 min)

• Week 6: Open and fund the emergency account (30 min)

• Week 7: Close your protection gaps (1 hr)

• Week 8: Review month one (30 min)

By day 60: a date on the wall, and a balance that did not exist two months ago.

Days 61–90 — Save and invest

• Week 9: Name your goals, open a pot for each (1 hr)

• Week 10: Capture the full employer match (1 hr)

• Week 11: First income growth action

• Week 12: Review and project forward (1 hr)

By day 90: saving automatically, investing monthly, debt on a schedule with an end date.

When it goes wrong — and it will — the plan does not break because you missed a week. It breaks when you decide that missing a week means starting over. Pick up at the row you left.