learnfinancewithNIL Money, Planned · session 2 of 13 · 25 min
Three Accounts, One Job Each
- Set up accounts so each one has exactly one job.
- Move the tax share the day a payment lands, before anything else.
- Set a reserve target from what a real month costs you.
One account doing every job is how NIL money disappears. A few accounts, each with one job, is how it stays.
| Account | Its job | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Holding | Every NIL payment lands here first | Pay yourself from it once a month |
| Tax reserve | The share you will owe on each payment | Moves in the day money lands; never spent on anything else |
| Spending | Your monthly pay to yourself | Bills, life, fun. The only account you spend from |
| Emergency reserve | A few months of costs, set aside | Touched only for a real emergency, then refilled |
The tax reserve is the one athletes skip. It is also the one that hurts most when it is missing.
A Ⓛ4,000.00 payment lands in the holding account. What moves first?
Pick your answer first, then open it.
The tax share, into the tax reserve, the same day.
✓ Right. Tax is owed on the whole payment whether or not you set it aside. Moving it first means it cannot be spent by accident.
Rent, since it is due this week.
Rent comes out of spending, from your monthly pay. Paying it straight from a lump is how the lump stops being a plan.
Nothing until the end of the month.
By the end of the month the tax share has usually been spent. The move works because it happens on the day.
Your monthly costs are Ⓛ1,800.00. You want a three-month emergency reserve. What is the target?
Work it out, then check
Ⓛ1,800.00 times three is Ⓛ5,400.00. Three months is this example’s choice. Some people plan for more. The number that matters is the one you write down and fund.
This week
Open the accounts you have. Give each one a single job, in writing. If one account has two jobs, that is the one to split this week.
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