From "Where The Heck Is My Money Going?" to $3K Saved: Taylor's Budget Story
In The Stack | Q1 2025
"I was making $68,000 and still had $47 in savings. Make it make sense."
That's Taylor. And honestly? That's most people before they actually sit down and look at their money.
You think you're doing fine. Bills are (mostly) getting paid. You're not drowning. But you also can't figure out why you feel broke when you're making decent money.
Taylor tried the apps. Tried the spreadsheets. Even tried that cash envelope thing from TikTok. Nothing stuck because nothing made sense for their actual life.
Here's what changed when we stopped guessing and actually built a system.
The Real Numbers: What We Found
Taylor sent me their info, thinking they had it mostly figured out. They knew the big bills—rent, car, utilities. Cool.
But when we pulled the last 90 days of transactions? Different story.
The Bills They Remembered:
Rent: $1,350
Car payment: $420
Utilities: $180 +/-
Groceries: "I think like $400?"
The Stuff They Forgot About:
Seven streaming services they didn't even watch ($97/month)
Gym membership from six months ago they never canceled ($45)
That meal kit box they kept meaning to pause ($72)
DoorDash habit averaging $220/month (way more than they thought)
Random subscriptions they didn't remember signing up for ($86)
Add it up? $520 a month disappearing into stuff they either didn't use or didn't even know they had.
And savings? $127. For the whole year.
The issue wasn't discipline. The issue was they were managing money in their head instead of in an actual system.
What We Actually Did
This is how Making The Math, Math works.
Step 1: Sort Your Money Into Three Buckets
I don't do the 50/30/20 rule or any of that because it doesn't work for real life. We use three buckets:
Essentials — Rent, car, insurance, groceries, bills. The stuff that HAS to get paid or your life stops working.
Extras — The things that make life not miserable. Eating out, subscriptions you actually use, Target runs, coffee. This is where people feel guilty, but you're allowed to enjoy your money.
Enhancements — Savings, debt payoff, future goals. The stuff that moves you forward.
For Taylor? Essentials were fine. Extras were out of control. Enhancements didn't exist.
Step 2: Build Accounts That Do The Work For You
We set up three accounts:
Essentials account for bills (boring, predictable, exactly how we want it)
Extras account for spending money (guilt-free because it's already planned)
Enhancements account (HYSA) for savings and goals (out of sight, earning interest) Ally is amazing for this!
Paycheck hits → money splits automatically. No thinking. No transfers you "forget" to do. Need more insight about this? Check out this YouTube.
Step 3: Cut What's Not Working
Taylor canceled $214 in subscriptions they weren't using. We used a combination of Rocket Money and go ole printing statements and calling them people. Kept Netflix because they actually watch it. Set up a sinking fund for the random stuff so they could plan ahead instead of panic-swiping their card. We knew the utility of where her money went and the utilization of it.
Within a week, Taylor had:
Full budget breakdown
Video walkthrough explaining how it all works
Two weeks to ask questions while they got it set up
What Actually Changed
Taylor didn't become a different person. They just finally had a system.
90 days later:
$3,200 saved in a high-yield account
$1,500 credit card debt paid off
$520/month freed up from cutting the stuff that wasn't working
Bills are automated so they're not scrambling every month (start one at a time, and build it up)
But the real win? They stopped avoiding their bank account.
They booked a weekend trip without guilt. Started talking about money with their partner without it turning into a fight. Actually knew where their money was for the first time in years.
The Thing Nobody Tells You
Most people don't have a spending problem. They have a visibility problem.
You can't manage what you can't see. You also more than likely build your money plan (or your budget) off of what you guess or think you do - feelings vs the facts of where you are with your money and how it moves.
And you definitely can't stick to a budget that was built for someone else's life.
Taylor's budget doesn't look like mine. It doesn't look like the finance guy on YouTube. It looks like Taylor's life—with their goals, their priorities, their reality.
That's why it works.
If You're Reading This And Thinking "That's Me"
Look, I get it. I’ve been there and shared some of my money fumbles, so here at B+B we will never shame you about your stacks. You're making money. You're trying. But something's not adding up, and you can't figure out what. My four eyes can look not only at the numbers, but get in the nitty gritty about what you can do about the means you have now (not what you’re screenshotting).
You're not bad with money. You just don't have a system yet.
Making The Math, Math (Budget Done For You) is where we build your budget from scratch. I review your numbers, show you what's actually happening, and deliver a plan that fits your life—not a template.
Budget Analysis Lite is if you already have a budget but it's not working. I review what you've got and tell you what needs to change.
Both start with getting real about the numbers. No shame. No judgment. Just clarity.
Not ready yet? Cool. Keep reading. Keep learning. When you're done guessing, I'll be here
About In The Stack
This is part of In The Stack—real client stories, real numbers, real results.
Every quarter, I'm sharing what actually happens when people stop doing this alone. No fluff. No fake screenshots. Just honest stories about what changes when you finally get support. Helping you with your dash - where you are currently and building a sound roadmap to where you want to be with your future money.
Want to know more about The Brands + Bands?
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