Ask HN: How do you manage your financials?

I think the entire concept of living within a targeted amount changes once you marry and have kids. but , you did a nice work there in shelving profits.. Public transportation is a boon for major cities

Mint and/or Personal Capital to monitor transactions and balances. Capital One Money Market for Emergency Fund and Capital One Checking for checking. M1 Finance for taxable and tax-advantaged market accounts. Amazon Prime Credit Card (through Chase).

My approach started with Dave Ramsey, but has evolved a little based on "I will teach you to be rich" and some others. In general, I see my finances as a funnel - income comes in and flows to fixed expenses, then to retirement savings and kids education, then to short term savings.

* Tell incoming money where to go, don't live paycheck to paycheck. Doing this better is probably an area I could improve.

* Ensure a 1000 emergency fund in a savings account if you have none already. This is "lost my job" money.

* Ensure income > expenses. So much could be said about this, but it's simple math in the end. You won't get ahead if expenses > income. If this is not the case, focus first on income (ask for raise, look for second or better job, do side gigs), then on expenses (cut spending, get out of vehicle/credit card debt).

* Periodically review spending and see how you can spend less or increase income. I do much of my own car work (~3k this year) and work on some side gigs.

* Don't go into debt except for house. Pay credit card off each cycle. It is there ONLY to get the 1-10% reduction in spending via cash-back rewards. I don't personally feel chasing reward cards is worth it, just pick one that does cash back with minimal fuss. For us this was Amazon Prime's chase card.

* Ensure 3-6 months expenses in an emergency fund (Capital One Money Market). Example, if you average spending 3000/mo, you need 9000-18000. Now you have that long to look for a new job or float a huge emergency, etc.

* As long as that is maxed out, put as much as possible each month in tax-advantaged accounts. Max out IRAs/401ks/education savings/health savings/etc. Max out matched retirement accounts (401k, etc) first. Lest I sound rich, I'm not where I can do this every month yet.

* For IRA, use M1 because it's fee-free. Research a simple blend of ETFs in proportions relative to your risk profile. If you have a while before retirement, something like %90 Stock (VT,VTI), 10% Bonds (BND)

* Save any remaining in taxable stock account at M1 for short term savings (car/vacation/large projects/etc). Research a simple blend of ETFs in a lower-risk config. (ie 10% stocks, 90% bonds)

I couldn't recommend a yearly budget higher. I have a "Banking" spreadsheet and a "Budgeting" spreadsheet that work together.

"Banking" tracks current assets/loans/etc as a current picture as well as predicting saving/interest/tax/return rates and giving an estimated assets at age X.

"Budgeting" tracks how much money is earned/spent in various categories and if it's on track for the years estimates. It also keeps track of expected yearly savings/spending and I sometimes adjust based on my habits/needs/desires.

I at some point every Sunday (either when I wake up or go to sleep usually) spend an hour a week updating all my accounts/spending. It's a great habit I've built over about 5 years now and it's really empowering. It's not about tracking every last dollar but more about knowing generally where your spending is going and if you're okay with those choices. It doesn't have to be set in stone either, but it means that increased spending is a deliberate choice you have to consider and weigh the value of.

It's a bit manual but I find rolling your own is really the only way to get everything you want. No software will cut it for sufficiently complex categorization (for example, I know exactly how much I spend on toilet paper because I break it out separately in a household paper category with paper towels and tissues), and building it yourself in code is probably a waste of time. Sheets/Excel really shine here.

For reference, I have about 15 or so accounts I check between credit cards, banks, investment accounts, Venmo, etc.

Do you do any sort of financial planning for retirement? What you've got going for yourselves seems like it's working for you, but curious to know hat would happen if the "tech salary" were to stop.

You forgot bitcoin. Lots of bitcoin on the side. That way you can retire in peace.