The words we use
Plain definitions for the ideas behind the app.
- Rich Life
- Your ideal life, where your money, relationships, and time work beautifully together. Specific and vivid — not "do what I want when I want."
- MFC Intro; IWT Ch 9
- Conscious Spending Plan
- Four numbers as a share of take-home pay — fixed costs, investments, savings, and guilt-free spending. A budget looks backward; this looks forward.
- IWT Ch 4; MFC Ch 7
- Guilt-free spending
- Money you spend on anything you want, with zero guilt, because everything important is already handled.
- IWT Ch 4
- Money Dials
- The categories you love spending on (Yes Dials, turned all the way up) and the ones you don't (Less Dials, turned down).
- MFC Ch 4
- Invisible scripts
- Beliefs about money you picked up growing up — like "the stock market is gambling" — that quietly drive your decisions.
- IWT Open Letter; MFC Ch 2
- Money Types
- Avoider, Optimizer, Worrier, or Dreamer — how you tend to act around money.
- MFC Ch 2
- Automatic Money Flow
- Paychecks land in one checking account, then money moves automatically to investments, savings, and bills — no willpower required.
- IWT Ch 5
- Money inbox
- The one checking account every paycheck lands in. For couples, a joint account.
- IWT Ch 2; MFC Ch 9
- Ladder of Personal Finance
- The order to put money to work: 401(k) match, high-interest debt, emergency fund, Roth IRA, max 401(k), HSA, then taxable investing.
- IWT Ch 3
- 85 Percent Solution
- Getting 85% of the way there beats a perfect plan you never start.
- IWT Intro; MFC Ch 7
- Red Alert
- Spending more than 100% of take-home, fixed costs over 65%, or any credit card debt. Fix these first.
- MFC Ch 7
- Worry-free number
- A small amount you never think twice about spending. Purchases under it never show up in a review.
- MFC Ch 8
- Phantom costs
- The hidden costs of owning something — repairs, maintenance, insurance, furnishing. For a house, plan on 50% on top of the mortgage.
- MFC Ch 8, Ch 13
- Big Wins
- The five to ten decisions — housing, cars, automation, fees, debt — that matter far more than lattes.
- IWT Intro
- CARE
- The Monthly Money Meeting rhythm: Compliment, Accountability, Rich Life moment, End with "I love you."
- MFC Ch 10
- Pay the difference
- Agree on a reasonable baseline; whoever wants the upgrade pays the rest from their own guilt-free money.
- MFC Ch 9
- Open issues
- A running list of unresolved money decisions, each with an owner and a date.
- MFC Ch 10