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Learn by modelling your own decisions

Personal finance from zero, through 18 connected calculations.

Begin with the money entering and leaving each month. Build resilience, understand debt and compounding, then use those foundations for housing and retirement scenarios.

Start the path

The personal finance loop

Cash flow → resilience → debt → growth → long-term choices

  1. Use current figures to understand where you stand.
  2. Separate controllable inputs from uncertain future assumptions.
  3. Calculate a transparent base case.
  4. Change one assumption and compare the result.
  5. Explain the trade-off before acting.

The Personal Finance from Zero spine

18 calculator lessons in dependency order

Progress is available to free members and is also retained locally when you are signed out.

Step 1

Control monthly cash flow

Build a workable budget, measure saving and compare it with a simple allocation framework.

Before starting: Comfort with addition, subtraction and percentages.
  1. Step 1 · Lesson 1Monthly budgetCompare monthly take-home income with spending and calculate the amount left to save or repay debt.
  2. Step 1 · Lesson 2Savings rateMeasure the share of take-home income retained as savings during a month.
  3. Step 1 · Lesson 350/30/20 budgetSplit monthly take-home income into illustrative needs, wants and savings or debt-payment amounts.
Step 3

Understand and reduce debt

Measure payment pressure, estimate payoff time and test the value of extra principal payments.

Before starting: Understand monthly cash flow and annual percentage rates.
  1. Step 3 · Lesson 1Debt-to-income ratioCompare required monthly debt payments with gross monthly income.
  2. Step 3 · Lesson 2Loan payoff timeEstimate the time and total interest required to repay a fixed-rate balance with fixed monthly payments.
  3. Step 3 · Lesson 3Extra debt paymentCompare a normal repayment schedule with the same debt after adding a fixed extra monthly payment.
Step 4

Make compounding visible

Compare lump-sum growth, regular contributions, fee drag and smoothed annual performance.

Before starting: Understand percentages, time periods and the difference between deposits and returns.
  1. Step 4 · Lesson 1Compound savings growthProject how a lump-sum saving could grow through annual compound returns.
  2. Step 4 · Lesson 2Monthly savings growthProject an initial balance plus equal end-of-month contributions at a constant annual return.
  3. Step 4 · Lesson 3Investment fee impactCompare projected compound growth before and after an annual percentage fee.
  4. Step 4 · Lesson 4Investment CAGRCalculate the constant annual growth rate connecting a starting investment to an ending value.
Step 5

Test a housing decision

Connect down payment, borrowed principal, income limits and monthly mortgage payments.

Before starting: Understand debt payments and compound interest.
  1. Step 5 · Lesson 1Home down paymentConvert a home price and down-payment percentage into cash required and mortgage principal.
  2. Step 5 · Lesson 2Mortgage paymentEstimate monthly principal and interest for a fixed-rate repayment mortgage.
  3. Step 5 · Lesson 3Home affordability by paymentEstimate a mortgage principal from gross income, a selected housing ratio, rate and term.
Step 6

Build a retirement model

Turn spending into a target, calculate required saving and translate assets back into income.

Before starting: Understand regular contributions, compounding, fees and uncertainty.
  1. Step 6 · Lesson 1Retirement savings targetEstimate a portfolio target from annual retirement spending and a selected withdrawal rate.
  2. Step 6 · Lesson 2Required retirement contributionEstimate the equal monthly contribution required to reach a target after allowing current savings to grow.
  3. Step 6 · Lesson 3Retirement withdrawal incomeTranslate a portfolio balance and selected annual withdrawal rate into annual and monthly income.

Clear answers

Learning personal finance with calculators

Do I need financial experience?

No. Step 1 starts with monthly income and expenses, and every later stage states what you should understand first.

How is progress saved?

Progress is saved locally for everyone. A free member account can synchronise completed lessons across devices.

Does the path recommend specific investments or loans?

No. It teaches the mathematical relationships used to compare scenarios; it does not recommend a security, lender or financial product.