Guides

What’s safe to spend until payday

A number for the rest of this week — not a lifestyle lecture.

Safe to spend is not “what you deserve.” It is cash on hand minus bills that hit before the next payday, minus a small holdback so an autopay cannot flip the account.

The Leak Report estimates this from ranges you type. It is not a bank feed. If rent is due before payday, that bill is protected first — it does not count as spending money.

If you skipped the balance question, there is no honest dollar. Rule: housing and anything already due stay locked. Food, transport to work, and medicine can move. Everything else waits.

If the number is $0, that is information. Use Help this month and the calendar. Do not borrow a lifestyle from a payday product to make the number prettier.

Recalculate when a paycheck lands or a bill moves. The number dies on payday — on purpose.