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Free plannerMost helpful for Savers

FUNDS Framework

Split your take-home pay into five funds: Fixed, Unexpected, Needs, Desires, and Stash. Plus the banks that make the setup easy.

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Why separate funds work

Researchers recruited 146 families of construction workers in rural India, each paid 670 rupees, in cash, every Saturday. For fourteen weeks, a social worker came on payday and sealed the agreed savings in an envelope with the date on the front. Half the families got one envelope. The other half got the same amount split between two envelopes.

One envelope: once it was opened, the savings went, and those households saved 241 rupees. Two envelopes: the first was opened and the second stayed sealed, and those households saved 414 rupees.

Same money, split before anyone needed it. That's what the five funds do.

Breaking two seals reads as failing twice. In the researchers' words, spending from two accounts “may lead to two signals of failure, leading to greater guilt than spending the same amount of money from one account.”

Five funds. Every dollar has a job.

Fixed, Unexpected, Needs, Desires, and Stash. Here's one way to split $3,500 of take home pay, which is also where the planner below starts.

One way to split $3,500 of take home pay.
  • FixedRent, utilities, insurance, the subscriptions you actually use$1,75050%
  • NeedsGroceries, gas, the everyday stuff$52515%
  • DesiresRestaurants, concerts, your actual life$52515%
  • UnexpectedThe safety net$35010%
  • Stash$175 soon, $175 someday$35010%

Illustrative split. Shaded funds are the two you spend from. Your percentages will be different, and that’s the point.

Build your FUNDS

Step 1

Start with the life you want

Write down the life you want your money to pay for, then split it into two lists: the next 12 months and the next 36. Give each goal a price and a date. The price divided by the months in between is what it needs each month, like a $1,200 trip twelve months away at $100 a month. Those goals become Stash Soon below. The worksheet has both lists.

Step 2

Get your real number

Your real number (monthly take-home)

Use the deposits that actually landed, averaged over your last 3 months. Not your salary and not what the offer letter said. Sorting 3 months of transactions by hand is a lot, so the AI sorting prompt can do the first pass.

Step 3

Build the new plan

F · Fixed bills each month

Bills that don't come monthly, per year

Go find the bills that don't come monthly, like car registration or insurance that bills twice a year. Add them up for the year and the planner divides by 12, so the April bill is a line item instead of an emergency. Fixed comes to $1,750.

N · Needs

Don't guess this one. Take your 90-day average for groceries, gas, pet, pharmacy and household, and add 10%.

S · Stash Soon

S · Stash Someday

Soon gets what your goals from Step 1 need each month. Someday starts at the same amount as Soon. If your goals need more than the plan can hold, push a goal date out before you shrink Someday.

Already saving for retirement at work? That comes out before your paycheck lands, so count it first and only add what's missing. No Soon goals yet? Start Someday at 5% of your take-home ().

U · Unexpected

Keep filling Unexpected until it holds 3 to 9 months of Fixed and Needs, which is $6,825 to $20,475 on your numbers. Aim closer to 3 if you live at home, there's a second income in the house, or your kind of job is easy to find again. Aim closer to 9 if yours is the only income, your pay moves, or a job like yours takes a long time to land. Once it's full, its share moves to Stash.

D · Desires

Start Desires at what you've actually been spending on your life. It's the fund people cut first, and the reason their plans die by week three.

Step 4

Make the whole plan land on zero

Your split

FundNew
Fixed$1,75050%
Unexpected$35010%
Needs$52515%
Desires$52515%
StashSoon $175 · Someday $175$35010%

Your plan lands on zero. Every dollar has a job.

The planner starts on an example split of $3,500. Your percentages will be different, and that's the point. What matters is that the money is separated, and that works at any percentage.

Save your results

Want it on paper? Print the worksheet. Paid more than once a month? Map your bills to your paydays.

Decide it once

With the five funds running, that $120 is simply what's left in Desires, and you can answer the text before your pattern gets a vote.

A text from your roommate: “Want to order takeout?” Your Desires fund shows $120 left on Thursday. Takeout is $25. You reply: “I'm in! Get me the pad thai.”

That answer took ten seconds because the number was already there when the text arrived.

Pick your version

You don't have to build the biggest one on the first Sunday. Start wherever you can actually start, and move up once the one you're on stops feeling new. Your ticks stay in this browser.

Three versions of the same setup.
Paycheck
FixedCheckingThe paycheck lands here, and the bills leave on autopay.

automatic, the day after

  • NeedsChecking + debit cardGroceries, gas, the everyday stuff
  • DesiresChecking + debit cardYour actual life
  • UnexpectedHigh-yield savingsAt a different bank
  • StashHigh-yield savings + investingSoon saved, someday invested
Who moves the money
Your bank
How often you touch it
Monthly at first, then every six months
Credit card
One fund, paid in full

Every version gives Desires its own number and keeps Unexpected two steps away.

The dashed box means optional: use your work plan if you have one, and build Stash later if you don't.

Only one card? Keep Desires in a bucket or a second account and move the money onto the card before you spend it.

Your checklist

The full setup: six accounts and transfers that run the day after payday.

When this stops feeling new, move up to the fully automated version.

Write your borrowing rule now

Decide it tonight, in a calm room, because you won't decide it well three days before payday. Here's the one we recommend:

  • Needs and Desires can borrow from each other, and nothing else can, because both are this month's money.
  • Fixed and Unexpected stay off limits for anything you chose.
  • If Needs and Desires are both empty, Desires waits until payday. Only something you didn't choose that has a deadline comes out of Unexpected.
  • One purchase that's both, like groceries with a candle in the cart? Pay with the Needs card and move the Desires part from Desires to Needs the same day. Spenders split it at the register instead.

The first three months

Expect some of it to be off. Your Needs number is going to be wrong the first month, and a fund you were sure about may come up short of the life you actually live.

Treat it as data. Adjust once, at the end of the month, then leave it alone until the end of the next one. Give it three months before you judge it. When a fund runs dry, use your borrowing rule instead of improvising.

What you check before you spend.

Every time something costs money

Something costs money.

Did you choose it?

A flat tire is a no. A trip is a yes.

If no:

Unexpected pays for it.

That's its whole job.

If yes:

Is there enough left in its fund?

Count anything already on the card.

If yes:

Do it.

Spend it from that fund.

If no:

Can the other everyday fund cover it?

Needs to Desires, or Desires to Needs

If yes:

Move the money.

Needs and Desires can borrow from each other, and nothing else can.

If no:

Not this month.

Fixed and Unexpected don’t pay for things you chose.

Add your Money Type's adjustment

The funds work the same way for every Money Type, but each type trips in a different place, so each one gets one adjustment. Do it today, while the setup is still fresh. Not sure of your type? Take the free quiz.

Where each type trips, and the one adjustment.

Step 9: One adjustment for your type

  • Saver

    Where it trips
    Treats Desires as optional
    The one adjustment
    Spend all of Desires, and put Stash to work.

  • Spender

    Where it trips
    The decision happens before the number
    The one adjustment
    Speed bumps. Unexpected and Stash out of sight, and the card out of your phone and your shopping apps.

  • Scrambler

    Where it trips
    Nothing has an order
    The one adjustment
    Dates. Write down every due date, then check them against the Step 7 transfers.

  • Strategist

    Where it trips
    Too much attention on money that’s already handled
    The one adjustment
    Give Stash a line for a bigger goal, set a date to revisit the percentages, and leave them alone in between.

Pick yours for the full adjustment:

Pick your type to see its adjustment.

Where to Open Your Five Funds

Banks change what they offer all the time, so this list has a date on it. Last checked September 29, 2026. Confirm the details with the bank before you open anything.

Where each fund lives, and how the money moves.

Set it up once

PaycheckYour take home pay, not your salary
FixedCheckingThe paycheck lands here, and rent, phone, insurance, and minimums leave on autopay.

automatic, the day after payday

  • NeedsChecking + debit cardGroceries, gas, the everyday stuff
  • DesiresChecking + debit cardYour actual life. One card? Move it over first.
  • UnexpectedHigh-yield savingsAt a different bank, two steps away
  • StashHigh-yield savings + investingHalf soon in savings. Half someday in a work plan, Roth IRA, or investing account.

Shaded funds are the two you spend from. Best is a card for each. With one card, move Desires money over first.

A credit card gets one fund, and its statement autopays in full from that fund’s account.

If payroll can split your deposit, or you want a simpler start, see the three setup versions on this page.

What each fund needs

  • Fixed

    a checking account. Your paycheck lands here and your bills autopay from it.

  • Needs

    a checking account with its own debit card.

  • Desires

    a checking account with its own debit card. If your bank only gives you one card, keep Desires in a second account or bucket and move the money onto the card before every Desires purchase.

  • Unexpected

    a high-yield savings account at a different bank, so it's two steps away instead of one tap.

  • Stash

    Soon: high-yield savings, apart from Unexpected, with a named bucket for each goal. Someday: your retirement plan at work, then a Roth IRA, then a regular investing account.

Since you'll have six accounts, look for no monthly fees or minimum balances, free transfers between your own accounts, accounts you can rename, and insured deposits (FDIC at a bank or NCUA at a credit union).

Checking for Needs and Desires

  • Ally Bank

    Ally Bank: the best fit.

    Up to three Spending Accounts, each with its own debit card, and no monthly fee. Ally’s spending buckets can also pull card purchases from a bucket you assign to a store, but if a purchase is bigger than the bucket, Ally covers it from your other money. Two separate accounts keep the Desires number honest.

  • Capital One

    Capital One 360: works if you move the money first.

    You can open up to three 360 Checking accounts, but one debit card covers all of them. No monthly fees or minimums. Keep the card on Needs and move Desires money over before a Desires purchase.

  • SoFi

    SoFi: works if you move the money first.

    Your card spends from the main balance, and you can create up to 20 Vaults. Keep Needs in the main balance, Desires in a Vault, and move the money out of the Vault before a Desires purchase.

  • Chase

    Chase: watch the fees.

    Total Checking charges $15 a month per account unless you meet a waiver, such as $500 in electronic deposits or a $1,500 daily balance. Only one account gets your paycheck, so with several accounts the fees add up.

  • ChimeDiscover

    Not a fit right now:

    Chime allows one checking account per person, and Discover isn't opening new accounts.

High-yield savings for Unexpected and Stash

  • Ally Bank

    Ally Bank:

    up to 30 savings buckets in one account, so each goal gets its own name and number.

  • Capital One

    Capital One 360 Performance Savings:

    accounts you can nickname, one per goal.

  • SoFi

    SoFi:

    up to 20 Vaults, one per goal.

Rates change often, so compare the current rate before you open one.

Your next step

Same numbers, different first step

Two people can get this exact result and need totally different first steps. Your Money Type tells you which one is yours.

Find my Money TypeFree, about 2 minutes
Already know yours?

Plan with Fifecta? Ask your numbers in Claude

How It Works

  1. 01

    Find your real number: the take-home pay that actually landed, averaged over your last 3 months, or the lowest month if your pay moves. Paid every two weeks? Build on a month with two paychecks.

  2. 02

    Set Fixed from your real bills plus yearly bills divided by 12, Needs from your 90-day average plus 10%, Stash Soon from your goals, Someday at the same amount, Unexpected toward 3 to 9 months of Fixed and Needs, and Desires from what you actually spend. Then make it land on zero.

  3. 03

    Open an account for each fund, name it for its job, and set the transfers for the day after payday, so the money moves before you start making decisions with it.

Diagram: one paycheck splits into five FUNDS buckets. Fixed: rent, bills, insurance. Unexpected: your emergency fund. Needs: groceries, gas, copays. Desires: guilt-free fun money. Stash: investing and goals.

How one paycheck splits into the five funds.

The 4 Money Types

The Math Is the Same. Your First Step Isn't.

Spenders, Savers, Scramblers, and Strategists each need a different first fix. The free quiz tells you which type you are, so you know what to do with this number.

Find My Money Type

Common questions

Give each fund its own account, and give Needs and Desires each their own debit card, so a purchase can only come out of the fund it belongs to. Fixed bills autopay from the account your paycheck lands in. If your bank gives you one card for several accounts, keep the card on Needs and move Desires money onto it before every Desires purchase. The bank list on this page shows which banks make this easy.

Take the lowest of your last 3 months of take-home pay and build the plan on that. Set your payday transfers from that low month, and at the end of each good month, move the extra yourself, to Unexpected and Stash, or to the debt if you carry high-interest debt. If nobody takes taxes out of your pay, set the taxes aside before you split anything.

Soon is anything you're saving for on purpose in the next 3 years, like a trip, a car, or a down payment. It sits in high-yield savings, apart from Unexpected, with a named bucket for each goal. Someday is retirement and investing, money you won't touch for a long time, so it gets invested instead of saved. Someday starts at the same amount as Soon and keeps at least half of Stash.

If you carry high-interest debt, like a credit card balance, first fill Unexpected to $1,000 or one month of expenses, whichever is greater. Then put enough into your plan at work to get any employer match, and send the rest of Unexpected's share to the debt on top of the minimum. Hold Stash Soon and Someday at zero until the debt is paid off, except for the match.

Cut in this order. Desires first, keeping the two or three things you'd actually miss. Then Fixed, where one phone call can lower a bill for every month after it. Needs goes last: change how you shop first, then lower the number once a month of receipts shows it working. If it's still negative, the gap usually comes down to income or rent, so start Unexpected and Stash smaller until it closes.

Pick a method you both agree is fair. Proportional: each partner pays shared bills by their share of household income. 50/50: each pays half, which works best when incomes are close. Fully combined: all income goes to one joint account, with set personal spending for each of you. Check in monthly for the first 3 months and adjust if it stops feeling fair.

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