Most overspending isn't a math problem. Either saving waits for whatever is left at the end of the month, spending is about how you look to others, or prices feel unreal. Each book below fixes 1 of those.
Find your fix in 1 tap
Fix 1 · I Will Teach You to Be Rich · Ramit Sethi
Sethi's system moves money to savings and investments on payday, before you can spend it. Then you spend what is left without guilt. No daily willpower, no tracking every coffee.
Automate your finances
Try it today
Set 1 automatic transfer to savings for the day after payday. Any amount counts.
Best if: You plan to save what is left, and nothing is left.
Which chapters to readGet the book
Fix 2 · The Psychology of Money · Morgan Housel
Housel points out that spending to show others you have money is the fastest way to have less of it. Real wealth is invisible: the purchase you skipped and the money still sitting there.
Wealth is what you don't see
Try it today
Before your next buy over a day's pay, ask: who am I buying this for? Wait 48 hours if the answer is other people.
Best if: You spend on things that look good more than things you use.
Which chapters to readGet the book
Fix 3 · Your Money or Your Life · Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez
The book asks you to work out your real hourly wage: pay minus work costs, divided by every hour work takes, commute included. Then every price becomes hours of your life, which makes small buys feel real.
Your real hourly wage
Try it today
Work out your real hourly wage, roughly. Write the hours next to your 3 biggest buys this month.
Best if: Small buys add up and you never notice them.
Which chapters to readGet the bookTry 1 today · tap it when done
All 3 done. Now keep the 1 that worked best for 30 days.
Reader results
Testing opens with the first readers.
Start your 30-day test below. On day 30 you tell us if it worked, and this panel shows which fix readers kept.
Pick 1 fix. Tap each day you did it. Saved on this device.
Day 30: did it work?
Automate saving on payday so it happens first (I Will Teach You to Be Rich), stop buying to impress others (The Psychology of Money), and price purchases in hours of your life (Your Money or Your Life).
I Will Teach You to Be Rich if you never manage to save, The Psychology of Money if you buy to keep up, and Your Money or Your Life if small buys add up.
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