Money Basics
Seven lessons, in order, no prior knowledge needed: what to do with each paycheck, where to keep your money, your first emergency fund, how credit card interest actually works, good debt versus bad, what moves a credit score, and why compound growth rewards starting early.
About this course
This course is a sequence. Work through the lessons in order; each one builds on the last. You can skip around, but the order is intentional, and the math compounds in the order written.
This is Start here, the first stop on the path. How to learn here explains what comes after it, and the guides cover the moments that do not wait.
Lessons in order.
What to fund first with each paycheck
Every paycheck creates the same question. Which account gets the next dollar? Retirement match? Pay off the credit card? Roth IRA? There is a defensible order, and once you know it, the decision stops being decided one paycheck at a time.
Checking vs. savings: the right setup
Most people use these wrong. Here's the simple structure that maximizes your interest while keeping your daily money easy to access.
Emergency fund: the unsexy thing that saves you
Cash set aside for surprises is what keeps a job loss or medical bill from becoming a financial catastrophe. Build it before you invest aggressively.
How interest on a credit card actually compounds
The reason credit card debt is uniquely dangerous is not the interest rate. Auto loans can be high-rate too. The reason is how the interest is calculated, every day, on a balance that almost no one fully understands.
Good debt vs. bad debt
Not all debt is equal. Here's the simple framework for thinking about which debts to attack first and which can wait.
Credit scores explained: what actually moves the number
Your credit score quietly determines what loans you qualify for and at what rate. Here's what actually moves it, and the myths that don't.
Compound growth: why early money is worth so much more
Compounding is interest earning interest on itself. Over decades, it is the single most powerful force in personal finance.
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