Good careers. Two kids.
Still asking, “Where did it all go?”
Alex, 41, runs operations at a supply company. Jordan, 38, is a school counselor. Emma is eight; Leo just started kindergarten. They bought a home in 2022, contribute to retirement, and pay their cards in full. From the outside, they’re doing fine.
But camp costs more than after-school care. The car needed brakes. The roof has one more winter in it. And they’d really like a family vacation that doesn’t follow them home on a credit card.
Butter puts today’s trade-offs next to tomorrow’s goals, so their Sunday money check-in ends with a decision—not another spreadsheet.
It wasn’t just the coffee.
Compare July and August with a school month: summer care jumps, then shoes and backpacks arrive. The brake repair is a one-off. Dining and shopping are the adjustable parts—not a reason to abandon the whole plan.
Some costs are fixed. Some choices aren’t.
Care, insurance and utilities anchor the month. Use the categories to find repeatable savings in takeout and shopping, while leaving room for birthdays and family time.
“Are we actually getting ahead?”
Their net worth includes a house and retirement accounts. That’s progress, but it isn’t all spendable. The cash-cushion figure includes the roof and trip funds too; only the dedicated emergency account is truly unassigned.
One household. Different buckets.
Payroll checking handles the week. Separate savings accounts protect emergencies, the roof and the trip. Goal balances are views of those same accounts, not additional assets. Card balances are current spending, paid in full each month.
They’re funding more than one future.
Alex’s 401(k) and Jordan’s 403(b) receive $2,230 a month including employer contributions. Emma and Leo’s 529s get $200 each. The roof will come from cash savings, so retirement can keep compounding.
Let the cards help pay for the trip.
Check the travel credit before booking. Their trip fund still covers the full budget: credits and rewards are a bonus, never a reason to buy more. Both cards are paid in full.
Two W-2s. Two kids. One shared checklist.
The payroll forms are in. Jordan still needs the annual childcare statement. These fictional returns show gradually rising salaries; the numbers illustrate the dashboard and are not tax advice or a tax calculation.
Keep the mortgage. Plan for the roof.
They bought in 2022 for $465,000. Their estimate is now $515,000, but that equity won’t pay the roofer without borrowing. A $12,000 roof fund, built separately from emergency savings, is the next milestone.
“Who’s taking care of that?”
Alex owns the roof quotes. Jordan owns the childcare paperwork. Review alerts together, assign a person, and leave a note so neither partner has to keep the entire plan in their head.
How we're doing
The whole household, whoever is picked above. Peer numbers are US benchmarks, so treat them as a rough yardstick, not a grade.
Be proud of this
Real talk
Retirement outlook
Us vs. other families
| Measure | Us | Typical family | Verdict |
|---|
Budgets ·
Spending counts live from this month's transactions. Tap a budget to see everything in it. Use Edit to change the amount.
Money in vs. money out
Take-home deposits against real spending, by month. Transfers, investing and loan payments are left out. Click a month to explore it below.
Bills & recurring
What's due soon and what recurring money looks like each month.
Needs a category
Last 60 days. Venmo and Zelle always land here, plus anything the nightly pass couldn't place. Pick one and it sticks; stores get remembered for next time.
Where it went
Click a category to filter merchants and transactions. The red tick marks the prior period.
Top merchants
Recurring charges
Goals
Progress comes from the linked accounts' synced balances.
Investing & savings
Everything invested, what goes in each paycheck, and every stock you hold. Hand-typed balances get an estimate that adds contributions since their last update.
By account
Going in automatically
Holdings
Combined across accounts by ticker.
| Ticker | Held in | Value | Unrealized | Realized | Unit cost | Weight | News |
|---|
Card perks
See every benefit across the calendar year. Statement credits fill in when they post; mark other perks as you use them.
Transactions
Historical tax returns
Fictional joint returns for Alex and Jordan. The person picker includes joint returns in full.
Amounts reported on return copies, not confirmation of payment or refund receipt. Kept separate from current-year cash flow. For an amended return, the net federal result reflects the original overpayment less the amendment balance.
Loading historical returns…
Taxes ·
Follows the Everyone / Alex / Jordan picker above. Totals come from categories, so they're only as good as the tagging. A starting point for your preparer, not tax advice.
| What | So far | Items | Why it matters |
|---|
Forms to collect
From the Tax Documents table in Notion. Tick them off as they arrive.
357 West Shore Drive
Values come from the Home notes in Notion. Equity is value minus what's left on the mortgage.
What this house would cost us today
Monthly principal and interest on a 30-year loan at today's rate. Property tax and insurance are the same either way, so they're left out.
| Price | Loan | Per month | vs. ours |
|---|
Heads up
Drag a card to move it along. Open one for the details, prompts to paste into Instinct, an AI or your assistant, and notes between you and Jordan.
Categories
Accounts
Balances with a 120-day trend. Debt gets its own column so it doesn't hide.