Money

Earn more. Keep more. Pay less tax. Grow it.

30 guides in four tracks. Each one is a mechanism with the arithmetic shown, the 2026 figures taken from the agency that publishes them, and no recommendation. Where a number is an assumption, the page says so on the same line.

1Earn more9 guides

Side income, freelancing, renting and selling — what the money actually looks like after the forms, the tax and the hours.

How side hustle income is taxed: the forms and the 15.3%6 min Quarterly estimated taxes: the 2026 dates and the safe harbor5 min What to charge as a freelancer: matching a $60,000 salary6 min Gig driving taxes: the 72.5-cent mileage deduction in 20265 min Renting out a room: the 14-day rule and what you can deduct5 min Selling online: when a hobby becomes a business for the IRS5 min Passive income, measured: what $100,000 actually pays while you sleep6 min Side hustle to LLC: what changes on the tax return5 min Four questions before you sell your time5 min

2Keep more8 guides

Emergency funds, debt, budgets and the price of things — the arithmetic of holding on to what came in.

Where to keep an emergency fund: savings, T-bills, money market5 min Credit card interest: $5,000 at the minimum costs $8,8875 min Pay off debt or invest? The interest-rate rule5 min The 50/30/20 budget on $3,000 a month: where it breaks5 min Sinking funds: the $1,200 surprise as $100 a month4 min Buying a car: total cost, and the 2025–2028 interest deduction5 min Inflation and your savings: the real return on 4%4 min The subscription audit: $14.99 a month over ten years4 min

3Pay less tax8 guides

The 2026 numbers and the mechanisms behind them: brackets, deductions, accounts and the rules that decide what a dollar of income is worth after tax.

2026 tax brackets: marginal vs effective, worked on $70,0005 min Standard deduction 2026: $16,100 single, $32,200 joint5 min The 401(k) match: 2026 limits and the arithmetic5 min Roth vs traditional in 2026: tax now or later6 min The HSA in 2026: $4,400 single, $8,750 family, taxed zero times5 min Long-term capital gains 2026: the 0% rate up to $49,4505 min Tax-loss harvesting and the wash-sale rule, in one trade5 min Tips, overtime, car interest, seniors: the 2025–2028 deductions5 min

4Grow it5 guides

Savings rate, costs, timing and the rules of thumb — the handful of numbers that decide what a decade of saving becomes.

Net worth: how to calculate it in ten minutes4 min The savings rate is the number: 10%, 20%, 30% over 30 years5 min Expense ratios: 0.03% vs 1% on $100,000 over 30 years4 min Dollar-cost averaging vs lump sum: what the arithmetic says5 min The rule of 72 and four other rules of thumb, checked5 min

How these are written

The 2026 numbers, dated

Contribution limits, brackets, thresholds and rates are the tax-year 2026 figures published by the IRS and the Social Security Administration, each linked from the guide that uses it with the date it was last checked.

One worked example each

Every guide carries a calculation done on the page — $5,000 at 24%, $10,000 of side income, $100,000 at three fee levels — with every assumption stated so it can be changed.

Mechanism, not advice

The guides explain how a rule works and what it costs. They do not say what to do, because that depends on facts about the reader that this site does not have.