Lessons

Why the order matters more than the effort

What it is

Take the same handful of sensible actions. Do them in a different order and you get a completely different result.

Why it matters

Money leaks in a fixed direction. A claim on your income with no ceiling swallows any raise. With no savings, an ordinary shock becomes a debt at the worst rate on offer that day. Dear debt grows faster than any saving. Fix these out of order and the effort pours into a bucket with no bottom.

The method

Put a ceiling on what leaves before you try to save. Get a small buffer in place before you attack debt. Clear the steepest rate first, never the smallest balance. Then raise the rate. If the month is already running at a loss, the rate has to move before any of the rest is possible.

Example

Weeks three to six of any honest attempt look like nothing is happening. Nothing is meant to be. That is what a bucket filling looks like from outside.