Field notes on money, habits & systems

Build the small systems that run your day.

Evidence-led guides to budgeting, cutting subscription waste, and building habits that stick. Every price is checked against the vendor; every statistic links to its primary source.

● Updated August 2026 | independent, sources cited inline

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Best budgeting apps 2026

YNAB, PocketGuard, Rocket Money and spreadsheets, with verified pricing.

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Best habit tracker apps 2026

Streaks, Habitify, Habitica, Loop and Patterns, plus what makes tracking stick.

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Best budget spreadsheet templates

Free Vertex42 vs $99/yr Tiller vs one-time templates.

Head-to-head comparisons

Spend control

SpendCull vs Rocket Money vs PocketGuard

Which finds subscriptions, which cancels them, which needs a bank login.

Spreadsheets

Vertex42 vs Tiller vs sheetfolk

Free-and-manual vs automatic-sync vs one-time paid.

Habits

Patterns vs Streaks vs Habitify

Platform, pricing model, and how strict the streak is.

Guides & explainers

Guide

Cancel forgotten subscriptions

A free 30-minute checklist from your own statements.

Guide

Stop overspending in the moment

Friction tactics backed by the PNAS 'one sec' study.

Guide

Build a habit that sticks

What the 66-day UCL research actually says.

Guide

Choose a budgeting method

50/30/20 vs zero-based vs plan-vs-actual.

Explainer

What is zero-based budgeting?

Give every dollar a job, with a worked example.

Safety

Is it safe to link your bank?

Read-only aggregators and your right to revoke access.