Set aside about 45–60 minutes. Start with the three questions in the worksheet below. Open the sample tables whenever you need them.
Meet Sam and see the starting numbers
You are helping Sam map a month and choose one feasible change. You do not need to pretend these are your circumstances. October — fictional practice month.
Opening checking: $1,100.00. Opening savings: $740.00, including $540.00 already reserved for irregular bills. Opening balances are not this month’s income.
All transaction amounts shown are settled and complete for this fictional month. There are no credit-card balances, cash purchases outside this sheet, interest, fees, refunds, or other income in the case.
Two take-home payments of $1,300 are available on the 5th and 20th. No overtime or hoped-for income is included.
The $1,100 opening checking balance came from an earlier month; it is existing cash, not October income.
Opening savings is $740: $540 already earmarked for the five irregular costs and $200 in emergency savings. This existing balance is not new income.
A $100 checking buffer is Sam’s chosen practice target. It is an assumption for this case, not a universal target.
Sample spending, income, and bill dates
Fictional transactions · all amounts in USD
ID / date
Account
Description
In / out
Type
T01 2026-10-01
checking
Rent
-$900.00
expense
T02 2026-10-03
checking
Phone
-$45.00
expense
T03 2026-10-04
checking
Groceries
-$90.00
expense
T04 2026-10-05
checking
Take-home pay
$1,300.00
income
T05 2026-10-06
checking
Move money to own savings
-$320.00
own-account transfer · X01
T06 2026-10-06
savings
Money received from own checking
$320.00
own-account transfer · X01
T07 2026-10-07
checking
Transport
-$60.00
expense
T08 2026-10-09
checking
Utilities
-$100.00
expense
T09 2026-10-11
checking
Groceries
-$90.00
expense
T10 2026-10-12
checking
Internet
-$55.00
expense
T11 2026-10-13
checking
Eating out
-$60.00
expense
T12 2026-10-14
checking
Household supplies
-$60.00
expense
T13 2026-10-17
checking
Transport
-$60.00
expense
T14 2026-10-18
checking
Groceries
-$90.00
expense
T15 2026-10-20
checking
Take-home pay
$1,300.00
income
T16 2026-10-21
checking
Move money to own savings
-$320.00
own-account transfer · X02
T17 2026-10-21
savings
Money received from own checking
$320.00
own-account transfer · X02
T18 2026-10-22
checking
Hobby supplies
-$100.00
expense
T19 2026-10-25
checking
Groceries
-$90.00
expense
T20 2026-10-27
checking
Personal essentials
-$60.00
expense
T21 2026-10-29
checking
Entertainment
-$100.00
expense
Bills and due dates
2026-10-01: Rent — $900.00
2026-10-03: Phone — $45.00
2026-10-09: Utilities — $100.00
2026-10-12: Internet — $55.00
Each $320 movement contains $150 for known irregular bills and $170 for emergency savings. Allocate the $300 monthly irregular contribution once to Bills and the $340 monthly emergency contribution once to Future you. Do not add the two savings receipts to pay or treat both sides of each transfer as spending.
Sample bills to save for
Subtract what you already saved from the bill. Divide what is still needed by the number of times you can save before it is due. Already saved enough? You need $0 more. No saving dates left? Write down the amount missing and change the timing, cost, or funding plan. Do not divide by zero.
Count only deposits whose money will be usable before payment must be sent. The month contains two eligible deposits: October 6 and October 21.
How much is already saved for each bill
Bill / deadline
Cost
Already saved
Deposits left
Required each
Six-month insurance bill 2026-12-30Deposit dates2026-10-06, 2026-10-21, 2026-11-06, 2026-11-23, 2026-12-07, 2026-12-21
Fully funded: a $900 bill with $900 reserved needs $0, even with no deposits left. Unfunded deadline: a $900 bill with $300 reserved and no deposits left has a $600 shortfall; a monthly deposit cannot meet a deadline that has already arrived.
Try the worksheet, one part at a time
Start with the filled-in examples, complete the blanks, then reveal the explanation for each step. Your answers are not uploaded or saved to an account. Download them whenever you like, or choose to keep a draft in this browser.
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1. Decide what each row means
Use the transaction sheet to classify these records. A matching transfer pair shows the same money in two accounts.
2. Add up the month
Count both paychecks, the actual purchases, and the savings movements separately. Existing balances are not income.
3. Finish an irregular-bill calculation
Use the opening fund amounts. Work out what is still missing before dividing by deposits left.
4. Give each income dollar one job
This starting allocation matches the supplied month. Put known irregular-bill contributions inside Bills, and emergency saving inside Future you.
5. Check the dates, then choose one change
A balanced month can still run short before payday. Use the opening checking balance and the first three purchases.
See the finished example and its explanationsCompleted example · fictional teaching data
A month you can work through
See how each decision connects to evidence. For your own project, use truthful experience or clearly labeled practice data.
BillsUSD 1,400.00
Everyday lifeUSD 600.00
Future youUSD 340.00
FreedomUSD 260.00
The month balances, but the first payday arrives after a tight stretch.
Practice project using fictional sample data. Sam receives $2,600 in take-home pay on the 5th and 20th. My starting buckets are Bills $1,400, Everyday life $600, Future you $340, and Freedom $260; they total $2,600. Bills includes $300 for five irregular costs. For the $600 insurance bill, $300 is already reserved, so ($600 − $300) ÷ 6 usable deposits = $50 per deposit, or $100 across this month’s two deposits. Own-account savings transfers total $640 and are not new income or purchases. The timing problem is October 4: after rent, phone, and groceries, checking is $65 before the first paycheck. I would cut one $100 entertainment purchase to $65 and keep $35 in checking for the following cycle. That revised plan assigns $375 to Future you, including the $35 checking buffer increase, and $225 to Freedom. I would verify paycheck availability and next month’s actual bill dates before repeating it.
Balances are different from income
The opening $1,100 checking balance lets Sam pay early bills. It is not part of October’s $2,600 earnings. Checking ends at $1,100 because October’s income exactly covers $1,960 of purchases and $640 moved to savings.
A transfer has two records and one purpose
Checking decreases $640 and savings increases $640. The transfer itself does not reduce total cash across both accounts. The plan still assigns that money a job: $300 for irregular bills and $340 for emergencies.
Already saved means a smaller remaining gap
The $600 insurance bill already has $300 reserved. Six $50 deposits finish it. Each deposit is counted in Bills now; when the eventual bill is paid from that fund, do not treat it as a second claim on the same month’s income.
Bring your work back to Week 1
Describe the spending groups, one bill-timing problem, how much to save for a future bill, and one change that would help. Label sample numbers as practice. Then use the Week 1 checklist to review and submit your summary.