Dollars & Decisions https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/ Household money decisions taken one at a time — spending, saving, debt and the first steps of investing, with the arithmetic shown rather than asserted. en Where a household’s money actually goes, and why three categories dominatehttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/where-a-households-money-actually-goes-and-why-three-categories-dominate/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/where-a-households-money-actually-goes-and-why-three-categories-dominate/Tue, 25 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSpendingPranav KulkarniHousing, transport and food usually claim most of what a household spends, which is why savings attempted elsewhere rarely move the total very far. Cost per use is the number that decides whether something was expensivehttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/cost-per-use-is-the-number-that-decides-whether-something-was-expensive/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/cost-per-use-is-the-number-that-decides-whether-something-was-expensive/Fri, 21 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSpendingRosa IglesiasPrice is what you hand over once; cost per use is what a purchase actually charges you over its life, and the two regularly point in opposite directions. A subscription renews by silence, and that changes the whole calculationhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/a-subscription-renews-by-silence-and-that-changes-the-whole-calculation/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/a-subscription-renews-by-silence-and-that-changes-the-whole-calculation/Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSpendingAditya RamaswamyRecurring payments continue unless a decision is made to stop them, which is a different arrangement from one that requires a decision to continue. A budget is a forecast, and forecasts are supposed to be wronghttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/a-budget-is-a-forecast-and-forecasts-are-supposed-to-be-wrong/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/a-budget-is-a-forecast-and-forecasts-are-supposed-to-be-wrong/Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSpendingAditya RamaswamyMost household budgets collapse because they are treated as promises about the future rather than estimates that get corrected as evidence comes in. Lifestyle inflation is a ratchet, which is exactly what makes it expensivehttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/lifestyle-inflation-is-a-ratchet-which-is-exactly-what-makes-it-expensive/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/spending/lifestyle-inflation-is-a-ratchet-which-is-exactly-what-makes-it-expensive/Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSpendingRosa IglesiasSpending rises easily when income rises and comes down only with effort, so each increase quietly converts into a commitment the next shock has to be absorbed around. An emergency fund is insurance you underwrite yourselfhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/an-emergency-fund-is-insurance-you-underwrite-yourself/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/an-emergency-fund-is-insurance-you-underwrite-yourself/Sat, 08 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMTSavingRosa IglesiasThe purpose of a cash buffer is not growth but the conversion of an unpredictable shock into a survivable one, and that purpose is what determines its size. In the early years the amount saved does more work than the rate earnedhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/in-the-early-years-the-amount-saved-does-more-work-than-the-rate-earned/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/in-the-early-years-the-amount-saved-does-more-work-than-the-rate-earned/Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTSavingAditya RamaswamyReturns act on a balance, so when the balance is small the return is small too — which puts the contribution in charge for longer than most people expect. A savings goal without a date attached is not yet arithmetichttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/a-savings-goal-without-a-date-attached-is-not-yet-arithmetic/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/a-savings-goal-without-a-date-attached-is-not-yet-arithmetic/Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTSavingAditya RamaswamyAdding a deadline to a target converts a vague intention into a monthly figure, and that figure is what makes the plan either credible or obviously impossible. Inflation is the reason cash needs a job descriptionhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/inflation-is-the-reason-cash-needs-a-job-description/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/inflation-is-the-reason-cash-needs-a-job-description/Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTSavingPranav KulkarniA cash balance does not change, but what it buys does, so the useful question is not how much it earns but what it is being held to do. Access and return are two separate questions about the same moneyhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/access-and-return-are-two-separate-questions-about-the-same-money/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/saving/access-and-return-are-two-separate-questions-about-the-same-money/Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTSavingAditya RamaswamyHow quickly money can be reached and what it earns are traded against each other, which is why one pot cannot sensibly do two different jobs. A minimum payment is calculated to move the balance slowlyhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/a-minimum-payment-is-calculated-to-move-the-balance-slowly/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/a-minimum-payment-is-calculated-to-move-the-balance-slowly/Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTDebtAarav SinhaThe smallest permitted payment is set to cover the interest and a thin slice of the principal, which is why a balance repaid that way takes years to disappear. The two orders of clearing debts optimise different thingshttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/the-two-orders-of-clearing-debts-optimise-different-things/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/the-two-orders-of-clearing-debts-optimise-different-things/Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTDebtAditya RamaswamyPaying the most expensive debt first minimises interest; paying the smallest first produces completed accounts sooner, and the choice between them is not purely arithmetic. Stretching a loan lowers the payment and raises the totalhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/stretching-a-loan-lowers-the-payment-and-raises-the-total/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/stretching-a-loan-lowers-the-payment-and-raises-the-total/Sun, 19 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTDebtRosa IglesiasTerm length moves the monthly figure and the amount eventually handed over in opposite directions, because interest is charged for as long as the balance exists. Secured and unsecured borrowing are different products, not different priceshttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/secured-and-unsecured-borrowing-are-different-products-not-different-prices/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/secured-and-unsecured-borrowing-are-different-products-not-different-prices/Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTDebtHarsh VardhanAttaching an asset to a loan changes what the lender loses if you stop paying, and that single difference explains the rate, the term and the consequence. Clearing a debt returns a known number, and that is what makes the choice hardhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/clearing-a-debt-returns-a-known-number-and-that-is-what-makes-the-choice-hard/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/debt/clearing-a-debt-returns-a-known-number-and-that-is-what-makes-the-choice-hard/Mon, 13 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTDebtAditya RamaswamyMoney used to reduce borrowing earns a return equal to the rate avoided, with no uncertainty attached, which is the awkward benchmark any alternative has to beat. Compound growth rewards time more steeply than it rewards ratehttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/compound-growth-rewards-time-more-steeply-than-it-rewards-rate/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/compound-growth-rewards-time-more-steeply-than-it-rewards-rate/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMTInvesting BasicsHarsh VardhanGrowth applied to growth is a multiplication problem, so the number of years enters the sum as an exponent while the rate only enters as a base. An index fund follows a rule rather than making a forecasthttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/an-index-fund-follows-a-rule-rather-than-making-a-forecast/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/an-index-fund-follows-a-rule-rather-than-making-a-forecast/Tue, 30 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMTInvesting BasicsAditya RamaswamyTracking an index means holding what the index defines, in the proportions it specifies, which removes judgement from the process and most of the cost with it. Charges are deducted whether or not anything was earnedhttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/charges-are-deducted-whether-or-not-anything-was-earned/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/charges-are-deducted-whether-or-not-anything-was-earned/Sun, 28 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMTInvesting BasicsPranav KulkarniA percentage taken every year is a certainty in a process made of estimates, and over a long horizon it compounds against the balance exactly as growth compounds for it. Diversification removes one kind of risk and leaves another standinghttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/diversification-removes-one-kind-of-risk-and-leaves-another-standing/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/diversification-removes-one-kind-of-risk-and-leaves-another-standing/Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMTInvesting BasicsRosa IglesiasSpreading money across many holdings reduces the damage any single one can do, but it cannot reduce the risk that all of them fall together. A fall and its recovery are not the same sizehttps://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/a-fall-and-its-recovery-are-not-the-same-size/https://dollarsanddecisions.shop/investing/a-fall-and-its-recovery-are-not-the-same-size/Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMTInvesting BasicsAditya RamaswamyPercentages are taken from different bases on the way down and the way back, so returning to the starting point always requires a larger rise than the fall that preceded it.