✨ Launch sale — 25% off individual products with code LAUNCH25 through Nov 15 · 🎁 First 25 customers get a FREE bonus product (any one individual product)
The 90-Day Money Reset Planner is a printable workbook that walks you through three months of getting your money under control. It moves in three phases — stabilize (days 1–30), gain control (days 31–60), and build momentum (days 61–90) — so you always know what to focus on right now.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — the workbook is fillable, so you can type directly on your phone or tablet, or print it if you prefer writing by hand
About 30 minutes for your first setup session, then 15 minutes a week
Getting started
Write your name and start date on the cover page. This is day 1 of your 90 days.
Set your direction — tap each box on the page and type your top 3 money priorities. For each one, the page asks for a specific target (an amount, like "$500 saved"), a date you'll hit it by, and one first action you can do this week.
Build your baseline (pages 5–11). To move through the pages, swipe up on your phone or scroll down on a computer. (Text too small? Pinch two fingers apart on the screen to zoom in.) Work through each page in order: your money snapshot, income sources, master bill list, subscription check, debt list, credit profile, and savings goals. On each page, tap a box and type. Use real numbers from your accounts — no guessing. To get them, open your bank's app or look at your latest bank statement, and type the numbers exactly as they appear there.
Fill in Month 1's plan and budget. The page lists spending categories down the side; tap the box next to each one and type the amount you expect for this month. ("Assign every dollar a job" just means plan the whole paycheck on paper: income at the top, then housing, utilities, food, debt minimums, savings, and fun money.)
Schedule your weekly check-in. Pick a day and time you'll actually keep — Sunday evening works well for most people. Then make it official: open your phone's Calendar or Reminders app, create a reminder for that day and time called "Money check-in," and set it to repeat every week, so your phone reminds you and you never have to remember on your own.
How to use it week to week
Each week takes about 15 minutes. Open that week's check-in page (scroll or swipe forward until you find the page labeled with this week's number) and:
- Check your account balances (open your bank's app, or look at your latest statement) and look at the next 7 days of bills
- Update your spending totals
- Choose one money move — a single action small enough to finish (cancel one subscription, move $25 to savings, call about one bill)
- Write down one win, even a small one
At the end of each month, complete the month review page: what worked, what didn't, and one thing to change next month.
Tips
Fill it in on your phone or print it out. The PDF is fillable — tap any field to type straight into it, no printer needed. If you prefer paper, print it and use a pencil or erasable pen. Plans change when life changes — that's normal, not failure.
Don't skip the baseline pages. The whole system works better when it starts from honest numbers.
One money move beats ten intentions. The weekly check-in asks for exactly one action. Keep it small enough that you can't talk yourself out of it.
Celebrate the wins on paper. Writing down progress is what keeps you going in month two when the novelty wears off.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This planner is educational and organizational — it isn't financial, legal, or tax advice.
Couples Money Planner
What this is
The Couples Money Planner is a shared system for budgeting, dreaming, and building your financial future together. Its heart is a simple monthly ritual — the money date — plus worksheets for your joint budget, shared goals, bill splitting, and guided conversation prompts that make money talks easier.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — the worksheets are fillable, so you can type right on your phone or tablet, or print two copies if you prefer pen and paper (or share one screen)
Both partners, in the same room, with coffee or takeout — this is a team meeting, not a trial
About 30 minutes for your first money date
Getting started
Read "How to Use This Planner" together (page 2 — to get there, swipe up on your phone or scroll down on a computer; the pages follow one after another). If you're filling it in together on one phone, tap each box to type; if you printed two copies, one pen each works fine. Agree on the ground rules: no blame, no scorekeeping, both partners see everything, disagreements get a 24-hour pause.
Pick a standing money date — the 1st, the 15th, payday, whatever you'll actually keep. Put it on the calendar like any important appointment: open your phone's Calendar app, create an event on that day called "Money date," and set it to repeat every month so it's always there waiting for you.
Hold your first money date. Review last month for 10 minutes, plan this month's joint budget together for 15 minutes, spend 5 minutes on your shared goals, and end with exactly one agreed action (automate a transfer, cancel a subscription, start a sinking fund).
Choose your bill-split method on the Bill Split Worksheet (scroll or swipe to the page with that title). "Choose" here just means decide together, then write it down in the space provided: 50/50 (split every shared bill in half), proportional to income (whoever earns more pays more — if one of you earns 60% of the household income, they pay 60% of the shared bills), or the hybrid sweet spot (some bills split evenly, others proportional). There's no single right answer — only what feels fair to both of you.
How to use it month to month
Keep the money date every month. Each time: fill in the Monthly Review — tap each box (or use your pen) to write your wins, challenges, and next month's focus. Update the Joint Budget with real numbers: go down each line and type or write what you actually spent next to what you planned. Add your progress on the Shared Goals Tracker: shade in the progress bar with a pen if you printed it, or type the new amount saved if you're on your phone. Pick 2–3 conversation prompts to talk through. Sign the review as a team — it's a small thing that makes the commitment feel real.
Tips
The budget is a plan, not a prison. Adjust it when life happens; a budget you can change is one you'll keep.
Start money dates with wins. Even small ones. It sets the tone before you look at what needs fixing.
Agree on a discuss-first number. Pick a purchase amount (say $100) above which you always check in with each other — no surprises, no permission slips.
Fund shared goals monthly, even with $25. Watching the progress box fill in is half the motivation.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
Small change. Big dreams. ✨
Paycheck Budget Planner
What this is
The Paycheck Budget Planner is a 17-page fillable planner for people whose monthly budgets keep failing — because money doesn't arrive once a month, it arrives one paycheck at a time, and every bill has its own due date. Instead of one big monthly plan, you make one small plan per paycheck: what this check must cover, what the household needs until the next check, what goes to debt and savings, and what is left to enjoy. Inside: a pay-rhythm finder, a bill-to-paycheck map, a fully filled-in example (meet Jordan), four blank plan pages, the buffer habit, a method for irregular income, and a five-minute check-in. When every check has a plan, the month takes care of itself.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there. The four plan pages (Part 4) are made to be printed again and again — one fresh page per paycheck.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — the planner is fillable, so you can type right on your phone, or print the plan pages and work in pencil
Your last few pay stubs (a pay stub is the slip or screen that shows what you earned and what landed in your account) — to find your rhythm and your usual check amount
Your bill list with due dates — from statements, your bank's app, or each company's app or website
About 20 minutes, once, to build your bill map — after that, about 10 minutes per payday
Getting started
Find your pay rhythm first (Part 1, page 2). A pay rhythm is simply how often a check lands. There are four common ones — and two of them sound alike but behave very differently:
- Weekly — 52 checks a year, same weekday. Four months a year hold a fifth payday.
- Every two weeks (biweekly) — 26 checks a year, every 14 days. The calendar dates drift all year, and two months a year hold a third payday.
- Twice a month — 24 checks a year, on fixed dates like the 1st and the 15th. Bigger checks than biweekly from the same salary.
- Monthly — 12 checks a year. This planner still helps: split the check on paper into two halves and plan the second half before you spend the first.
Watch the trap on page 2: on $44,200 a year of take-home pay, a biweekly check is $44,200 ÷ 26 = $1,700, while a twice-a-month check is $44,200 ÷ 24 = about $1,842. Budget as though two biweekly checks were your whole month, and two full checks a year arrive with no job to do. Now fill in the "Your rhythm, in writing" fields on page 2: how you're paid, your usual payday, your usual take-home check, and which months hold an extra check this year.
☐ Done when… your rhythm, payday, and usual check amount are written on page 2.
Sketch the payday calendar (Part 1, page 3). Once a month, fill in the calendar page: write the day numbers in the top corner of each box, circle your paydays (or mark them with a $), and jot each bill's short name and amount on its due date. Star the two biggest bills of the month. Ten minutes here prevents almost every "I forgot that was due" moment.
☐ Done when… this month's paydays are circled and every bill sits on its due date.
Map your bills to paychecks
Build your Bill Map (Part 2, pages 4–5). This is the one-time setup the whole system stands on. On the worksheet on page 5, tap each field and type one row per bill: the bill's name, its amount, its due date, and — in the last column — which paycheck pays it: 1, 2, 3, or 4, or "split."
- List every fixed bill: rent, utilities, phone, internet, insurance, subscriptions, loan payments, and every minimum debt payment. For amounts that change (like the electric bill), use the average of the last three months.
- Assign by the rule: a bill belongs to the last check that lands BEFORE its due date. A bill due on the 18th is paid by the check that arrived on the 15th — not the one coming on the 29th.
- Split the big ones: for any bill bigger than half a check — rent is the classic — set aside half from each check into a separate savings pocket or envelope. When the due date comes, the full amount is already sitting there.
- Add up each check's total in the fields at the bottom. If one check carries far more than the other, move a due date if the company allows it (many do, free, once), or split another bill.
☐ Done when… every bill has a row, every row names its check (or "split"), and each check's total is written at the bottom.
Read Jordan's filled-in example before writing your own (Part 3, pages 7–9). Jordan, 29, is a dental hygienist paid every two weeks — two checks of about $1,700, about $3,400 a month, $24,100 of debt with $710 a month in minimums, and a $400 starter emergency fund. Pages 7–9 show Jordan's short bill map (rent of $980 split — $490 held from each check) and both paycheck plans written out line by line, ending with every dollar of the $3,400 assigned: $2,083 of bills and minimums, $480 of groceries and gas, $360 extra to the smallest debt, $220 to savings, $257 of guilt-free fun money. Copy the pattern with your own numbers — the shape stays the same, only your amounts change.
☐ Done when… you have seen how a finished plan page looks, top to bottom, before writing yours.
Write your paycheck plans
Plan each check with the five steps (Part 3, page 6), on the plan pages (Part 4, pages 10–13). Every paycheck gets the same five steps, in the same order — the order is the whole secret. Use one plan page per check (biweekly readers use Plans 1–2 each month, 3 in extra-check months; weekly readers use all four):
Write the check amount at the top. This is the only number you start with.
Subtract this check's bills — the ones your Bill Map assigned to this check. Watch the "Left" column shrink; that column is your steering wheel.
Fund life until the next check — groceries, gas, household basics, only until the next payday, not for a whole month. Two weeks of groceries is a much easier number to hold in your head.
Send something to goals — an extra payment toward your smallest debt (or your current target), then savings. Even $25 counts.
Enjoy the rest on purpose. Whatever remains is fun money, guilt-free, because every job above it is done. Aim for "Left to allocate" at the bottom to reach $0 — every dollar assigned a job.
If the remainder is $0 this check, that is information, not failure — the check-in below shows how to adjust.
☐ Done when… your current check has a finished plan page and nothing is left unassigned.
The buffer, extra paychecks, and uneven income
Build the one-paycheck cushion (Part 5, page 14). A buffer is one full paycheck's worth of money that lives in your checking account and is never part of this week's plan — bills can clear a day early or a check land a day late, and nothing bounces, because you are spending last check's money. Build it after your starter emergency fund (about $1,000) is in place. Jordan's cushion goal is $1,700 — one check.
☐ Done when… your cushion goal amount is chosen and your savings line is pointed at it.
Give extra paychecks a job (Part 5, page 14). Paid every two weeks? Twice a year, a month holds three checks — but your bills were already covered by the two planned ones. Paid weekly? Four months a year hold a fifth check. Run an extra check through the same five steps with nothing in the bills section: fund life until the next check, then let goals be the main event. Jordan's extra check sends $1,000 to debt and $300 to savings in a single payday.
☐ Done when… you have written an extra-check plan for the next one on your calendar — before it lands.
If every check is different, plan on your floor (Part 6, page 15). Hourly shifts, tips, commissions, gig work — if no two checks match, find your floor: the smallest recent check that still felt normal (not the disaster week). Build your bill map and plans to fit inside the floor. Then write your windfall rules now, while you are calm: anything above the floor gets split by percentages you choose today — a simple starter split is 50% to debt or savings goals, 30% to savings or catching up, 20% to enjoy. In a genuinely bad month, essentials and minimums come first, extra payments pause, and the cushion covers the gap. That is what it is for.
☐ Done when… your floor number and your split percentages are written on page 15.
Do the five-minute check-in (Part 7, page 16). Once per cycle, before you write the next plan: which bill surprised you, and is it on the Bill Map now? Which check felt tighter? Did groceries and gas match real life — adjust the plan, not your honesty. Write down the progress you can see (extra debt paid, savings added, cushion growing), and choose exactly one tweak for next cycle. The whole system also fits on one page — page 17 recaps the five steps on one line each.
☐ Done when… the check-in page is filled in and your one tweak is chosen.
Tips
Plan on payday, while the check is fresh. Ten minutes with the plan page open beats a month of mental math.
Split rent from day one. It is the single move that ends the first-of-the-month scramble for biweekly households.
Never rob a bill to fund fun. The five steps put fun money last but never skip it — a plan with zero enjoyment is a plan that gets abandoned by week three.
Update the Bill Map only when a bill changes. A new amount, a new due date, a subscription gone — two minutes keeps the map true all year.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This planner teaches a general method for organizing household cash flow. It is educational, not financial advice.
Debt & credit
Debt Snowball Tracker
What this is
The Debt Snowball Tracker is a spreadsheet that builds your complete debt payoff plan automatically. You enter your debts once, and it calculates exactly what to pay each month — minimums on everything, then every spare dollar aimed at one target debt until it's gone, then the next. Watching balances fall month after month is the whole point.
Snowball or avalanche? An honest word
This tracker is built on the snowball method: extra money goes to your smallest balance first. The other well-known method is the avalanche: extra money goes to your highest interest rate first. Here is the honest trade-off: Avalanche wins on math if you finish it; snowball can win in practice if its early wins keep you from quitting. The avalanche charges you the least interest; the snowball closes your first account sooner, and that quick win is what keeps many people going. One rule never changes: both methods require minimum payments on every debt. We chose the snowball for this tracker because a plan you finish beats a perfect plan you quit — but the choice is yours, and now you know what each one costs and what it buys.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Get the free Google Sheets app
You'll need a free Google account. Don't have one yet? Create a Google account — it only takes a couple of minutes.
Step 4: If you can look but you can't type (the View-Only trap)
Sometimes a spreadsheet opens so you can see everything, but nothing happens when you tap a cell to type. That means you're looking at a view-only copy — you don't have your own working copy yet. This is the most common spreadsheet hiccup there is, and it's fixable.
On a computer (Google Sheets): click File → Make a copy, name it whatever you like, and click Make a copy again. Your own copy opens, and now you can type.
In the Google Sheets phone app: close the file, find it in the app's file list, tap the More (⋮) icon next to the file's name, and tap Make a copy. Open that copy — now you can type.
In Excel: if a yellow bar appears across the top of the file, tap Enable Editing. If the bar is red, tap File → Edit Anyway. Both bars just mean Excel is being careful with a file that came from the internet — once you tap, you can type.
About saving: Google Sheets saves itself as you type — look for the words "Saved to Drive" near the top. There's no Save button, and you don't need one. In Excel, save the file once under your own name (File → Save As) and it will keep your changes from there.
Want more detailed help with Google Sheets and Drive?
If you get stuck on the tech side, these official pages go deeper:
A free Google account (open the file in Google Sheets on your phone or computer), or Microsoft Excel / a similar spreadsheet app — the Excel app is free too: Excel for Android or Excel for iPhone On a computer, Excel also runs free in your web browser: go to office.com, sign in with a free Microsoft account (or create one), and click Excel. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, the full Excel program may already be on your computer — check your Start menu (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac).
Your latest statements or account portals for every debt
About 20 minutes for first-time setup
Getting started
Open the "Start Here" tab. A spreadsheet is made of pages called tabs — look at the bottom of the screen for the labeled strips and tap the one that says "Start Here." Now read the quick-start steps and the color key on that page. The page is a grid of boxes, and each box is called a cell — you tap a cell to type in it. Yellow cells with blue text are yours to type in; black text is calculated for you automatically. Don't type over the black cells — typing there breaks the automatic math. There's also an EXAMPLE tab — a whole tracker already filled in with sample debts — so you can see what a finished setup looks like before you type anything. Do your real work in the tabs below, and leave the example as your picture to copy.
Go to the "Debt Setup" tab (tap "Debt Setup" at the bottom of the screen). First, delete the example debt that comes with the tracker: (a) tap the number at the far left of that line — one line across is called a row, and tapping its number selects the whole row; (b) then tap the three dots (⋮) at the top of the screen and choose "Delete row." Now type in each of your real debts, one debt per row: (a) tap the first empty yellow cell under the "Name" heading and type the debt's name (like "Visa card"); (b) tap the next yellow cell in that same row and type its current balance — the total you owe right now; (c) keep moving across the row, typing the APR (the interest rate, shown on your statement, like 24.99) and the minimum payment (the smallest amount the bill asks for each month). Then find the labeled boxes on this same page for your extra monthly amount — any extra money you can reliably add each month (even $25 counts) — and your plan start month, and type those in too.
Open the "Snowball Plan" tab. This is your payoff schedule — it shows which debt gets the extra payment first (smallest balance), and your projected debt-free date. You don't type anything on this page; it's all worked out for you. Read it through once so you trust the plan.
Check the "Dashboard" tab. A dashboard is just a summary page — this one shows your starting snapshot: your total debt, and how much you've paid down so far. Nothing to type here either; it updates on its own.
How to use it month to month
New month? Archive last month first. Duplicate the "Monthly Tracker" tab so last month's record stays frozen: on a computer, right-click the tab's name and choose Duplicate; in the phone app, tap the small arrow on the tab's name and choose Duplicate sheet. Rename the copy with the month (like "October"), then keep logging in the original "Monthly Tracker" tab.
On the "Debt Setup" tab, update each debt's current balance once a month, after your new statements arrive ("post" just means the new statement shows up). Find the debt's row, tap its yellow balance cell, and type the new, lower balance from your statement.
On the "Monthly Tracker" tab, write down what really happened: tap the yellow cell for this month and type what you actually paid, next to what the plan called for, and jot a short note about anything unusual (like "paid extra from overtime").
Glance at the Dashboard to see your paid-down progress bar move. That's your motivation fuel.
Tips
The snowball pays the smallest balance first — not the highest interest rate. Quick wins keep you going; that's the psychology that makes this method work.
Never skip a minimum payment to make a bigger payment elsewhere. One missed due date can undo months of progress.
Only edit yellow cells. If a number looks wrong, check your inputs on Debt Setup before touching anything else.
Raise your extra payment when you can. Even an extra $20 a month shortens the plan. To try it: go to the Debt Setup tab, tap your extra-amount box, type a bigger number, then switch to the Snowball Plan tab and watch your debt-free date move closer.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This tool is for educational planning, not financial advice.
Snowball Tracker App
Watch the full walkthrough (2:15)
What this is
The Snowball Tracker app is the Debt Snowball Tracker as a simple app that lives in your phone's browser — no spreadsheet, no tiny boxes to hunt for. It walks you through your debts one simple question at a time, with a big Next button on every screen, and builds your payoff plan: smallest balance first, with every freed payment rolling into the next debt.
You open it at penniesintodreams.com/tools. This guide takes you from your purchase email to your finished plan, one step at a time.
Step 1: Find your license key
When you buy the Debt Snowball Tracker on Gumroad, your license key arrives by email with your receipt.
It's also saved in your Gumroad Library — just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it.
Keep your key private, like a password. It's yours alone, and it's what unlocks the app.
The first screen says "Unlock your Snowball Tracker." That's the right place.
Step 3: Unlock with your key
Under License key, tap the empty box and type — or paste — your key exactly as it appears in your receipt.
Tap Unlock →.
The key is checked once, and then this device remembers you — you won't need the key again on this phone or browser.
One thing that surprises people: the box always starts empty, on purpose. That's the app being careful, not broken.
Key not accepted? Copy it straight from your receipt email instead of typing it — one wrong character is all it takes. The app will tell you: "That key didn't check out. Copy it exactly from your receipt and try again."
Step 4: Put it on your home screen (optional, but nice)
The app can live on your home screen just like any other app:
Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up).
Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
Tap Add — done.
On a computer: just bookmark the page (Ctrl+D on Windows, Cmd+D on Mac) so you can find it again in one click.
Step 5: Answer one question at a time
After you unlock, you'll see Your money tools. Tap Open Snowball Tracker →.
Tap + Add your first debt. For each debt, the app asks four questions, one per screen:
- "What's this debt called?" — use a name you'll recognize, like Store Card, Car Loan, or Medical Bill.
- "How much do you owe on it?" — your current balance, from your latest statement or banking app.
- "What's the minimum payment?" — the smallest amount you have to pay each month to stay current.
- "What's the interest rate?" — also called the APR. Don't know it? Tap I don't know — skip this one and the app will plan with 0% for now.
Tap Next → after each answer, and Save this debt ✓ at the end.
Your list appears under Your debts. Tap + Add another debt for each debt you have — and tap any debt in the list to fix a number.
When the list looks right, tap Build my payoff plan →.
One last question: "How much extra can you put toward debt each month?" Tap one of the ready-made amounts — $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $125 — or type your own. Even $5 or $10 speeds things up — and $0 is a fine answer too.
Tap See my payoff plan →. Your payoff plan shows your debts in payoff order, smallest first — the first one is marked "Attack this one first" — plus the month you could be debt-free. The plan itself is simple: pay the minimum on everything, every month, and throw every extra dollar at debt #1 until it's gone. When it is, its whole payment rolls into the next one. That's the snowball growing.
Step 6: Coming back later
Just open the app again — from your home-screen icon, or by visiting penniesintodreams.com/tools. No key needed on the same device.
Your answers save on your device only. In the app's own words: "Your numbers stay on this device — saved on this phone or computer only, and never sent anywhere."
That also means your plan lives on that one phone or browser. If you switch phones or clear your browser's data, just unlock again with your key and re-enter your debts.
Step 7: Keep your key safe
Never share your license key — it's tied to your purchase, like a receipt and a key in one.
If a purchase is refunded, its key stops working.
Lost your key? It's in your Gumroad receipt email and your Gumroad Library, any time you need it.
Notion Debt Snowball Tracker
What this is
The Notion Debt Snowball Tracker brings the debt snowball method into Notion: a debts database where you list every balance, and the template organizes your payoff order — smallest balance first — so you always know exactly which debt gets your extra payment this month.
Snowball or avalanche? An honest word
This tracker is built on the snowball method: extra money goes to your smallest balance first. The other well-known method is the avalanche: extra money goes to your highest interest rate first. Here is the honest trade-off: Avalanche wins on math if you finish it; snowball can win in practice if its early wins keep you from quitting. The avalanche charges you the least interest; the snowball closes your first account sooner, and that quick win is what keeps many people going. One rule never changes: both methods require minimum payments on every debt. We chose the snowball for this tracker because a plan you finish beats a perfect plan you quit — but the choice is yours, and now you know what each one costs and what it buys.
Starting from zero
New to this kind of thing? No problem — this section walks you through it one tap at a time. Already have a Notion account? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Find your template link
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows your purchase on screen — for this product, what you get is a link to your template (there's no file to download).
Gumroad also emails you a receipt with that same link in it, so you can always find it again in your email.
Don't tap the link just yet — do Step 2 first. The order matters!
Tip: you can always find this purchase — and its template link — again in your Gumroad library. Just sign in with the email address you used when you bought it.
Step 2: Make your free Notion account (do this first!)
Go to Notion's sign-up page and create a free account. You can sign up with your email address, or with a Google or Apple account if you have one.
Rather use your phone? You can sign up in the free Notion app instead: Notion for Android or Notion for iPhone. On a computer, you don't need to download anything — Notion runs in your web browser at notion.com (just sign in). Prefer an app? There's an optional free desktop app at notion.com/desktop.
Follow the steps on screen until you land in your own Notion workspace — an empty page with your name on it. That means you're in.
Step 3: Copy the template into your account
Now open the template link from your Gumroad purchase (that's Step 1 above).
Make sure you're signed in to the Notion account you just made.
Tap or click Duplicate in the top right corner. (Using the phone app? Tap the three dots (•••) at the top right first, then tap Duplicate — "Getting started" below shows it step by step.) The whole template copies into your account — now it's yours, and you can change anything in it.
Want more detailed help with Notion?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A free Notion account (sign up at notion.so — the free plan is plenty)
The template link from your purchase
Your latest statements for every debt, and about 15 minutes
Getting started
Open the template link in your browser while logged into Notion. (Your browser is the app you use to visit websites — Chrome, Safari, or Edge. A template is a ready-made page you copy and then make your own.) Tap the link in your Gumroad receipt email; if Notion asks you to sign in, use the account you made in "Starting from zero" above.
Click "Duplicate" (top right) to copy the tracker into your own workspace — duplicate just means "make a copy," and your workspace is your private home base inside Notion where all your pages live. On the phone app, tap the three dots (•••) at the top right first, then tap "Duplicate." Your copy lands in the Private section of your sidebar (the list of pages down the left side of Notion) — if you don't see it right away, look there, under your own name.
Replace the example debts with your real ones. The debts live in a database — Notion's word for a smart table, where each line is one debt. Tap an example debt's name to open it, then tap each detail and type over it with your real numbers: creditor name (who you owe), current balance (the total you owe right now), APR (the interest rate on your statement), and minimum payment (the smallest amount the bill asks for each month). One debt per line. To add another debt, tap the + New button at the bottom of the table. Too many example debts? Open the extra one, tap the three dots (•••), and tap "Delete."
Decide your extra payment — the amount beyond minimums you can reliably put toward debt each month — and type it into the extra payment space on the tracker's main page, so your plan is written down, not just in your head. Even a small amount works; consistency matters more than size.
How to use it month to month
Pay minimums on every debt, then throw your full extra payment at the smallest balance. When a debt hits zero, celebrate — then roll its old minimum plus your extra payment into the next-smallest debt. That's the snowball: your payment grows as debts disappear. To update balances each month: open the tracker, tap a debt's name to open it, tap its balance, and type the new (lower) balance from your latest statement. Do that for every debt, and watch the list shrink.
Tips
Smallest balance first, always. Not the highest interest rate — quick wins keep you motivated, and motivation is what finishes payoff plans.
Never skip a minimum to make a bigger snowball payment. One missed due date can undo months of progress.
Update balances on the same day each month, right after statements post, so your progress is always honest.
When you get extra money (tax refund, bonus, side gig payout), the snowball target debt is the best place for it — one lump can knock months off your plan.
See a block that says "No access"? That's normal — a few pieces of a shared template don't copy over. It isn't broken, and nothing is missing that you need. Just delete those blocks.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This tool is for educational planning, not financial advice.
Credit Builder Playbook
What this is
The Credit Builder Playbook is a 90-day workbook for understanding your credit reports, protecting every due date, lowering expensive card balances, and building credit the boring, reliable way. It includes worksheets, a dispute letter template, and checklists — no gimmicks, no score guarantees, just clear actions.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
About an hour for the first week's setup, then 5–10 minutes weekly
Credit facts that matter
Before you start, five facts that keep this workbook honest:
A report is not a score. Your credit report is the record — your accounts, balances, and payment history. A score is a number that a scoring model calculates from that record at one moment. There is no single universal score: yours can be different depending on the model (FICO or VantageScore), the credit company, and the day.
Checking your own credit never hurts it. Looking at your own report or score is a "soft" check, and it has no effect on your score. Only a lender's check when you apply for credit (a "hard" inquiry) can nudge a score — and only a little, for a short time.
FICO's percentages are general education, not point promises. For the general population, FICO weighs payment history at 35%, amounts owed at 30%, length of credit history at 15%, new credit at 10%, and credit mix at 10%. That does not mean any single action adds a set number of points to your score — the weights vary from person to person.
Utilization has no magic 30% cliff. Utilization is your balance divided by your credit limit. Lower is generally better than higher — 30% is not a pass/fail line. And a score uses the balance reported at that moment — a snapshot, not your whole month — so a high balance can count even if you pay it off right after it is reported.
Disputes go to both places, with copies. If something is wrong, dispute it with the credit company that issued the report and with the business that supplied the information (called the furnisher). Send copies, never originals, and keep a dated copy and proof of delivery for yourself. The credit company generally has 30 days from the day it receives your dispute to investigate it.
Getting started
Step 1: The 7-day quick start (page 2), in three chunks
To reach page 2, swipe up on your phone or scroll down on a computer — the pages follow one after another as you scroll. Work through the three chunks below in order. Each chunk ends with a check line, so you know when it's done.
Chunk 1 — Get your three reports
Open your web browser — the app you use to visit websites, like Chrome or Safari.
Type AnnualCreditReport.com into the address bar at the very top, and follow the steps on screen. ("Pull" just means go get them.)
Answer the questions proving it's you, then view and save one report from each of the three credit companies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Mark anything that looks wrong as you read — in the workbook, tap the box next to it and type a note. The audit in Step 2 below helps you decide what to do with each mark.
☐ Done when… all three reports are saved, and anything that looks wrong is marked.
Chunk 2 — List your accounts and protect every due date
List every open account in the workbook, with its balance and due date — take these from your statements or your bank's app.
Set up autopay or a reminder for every minimum payment, so no due date can slip past you. Autopay means your bank pays the bill automatically each month. (Step 4 below walks through the setup in detail.)
☐ Done when… every open account is written down with its balance and due date, and every minimum has autopay or a reminder guarding it.
Chunk 3 — Do the utilization math and pick your goal
Calculate your card utilization — that's just your balance divided by your credit limit, shown as a percent. Example: a $300 balance on a $1,000 limit is 30%. Lower is better.
Write one behavior-based 90-day target — a goal about what you'll do, not about a score number. Use this model: "Pay every minimum on time, and put $50 extra toward Card A each month."
☐ Done when… you have a utilization percent for each card, and one written goal with a dollar amount in it.
Step 2: Do the report audit (pages 4–5). An audit is just a careful check. Go through each report one line at a time — personal info, every account, negative items (things that hurt your score), and inquiries (times someone checked your credit) — and mark anything wrong, duplicated (listed twice), or unfamiliar. To mark something in this workbook, tap the box for it and type your note; if you printed the pages, circle it with a pen.
Step 3: Fill in the credit file inventory (page 6). Turn each problem into an action: verify (make sure it's real), dispute (officially report it as wrong), pay down, or monitor (keep an eye on it).
Step 4: Set up your payment system (page 8). Map every due date — write each bill's due date in the space for it, so they're all in one place. Turn on autopay for at least the minimum wherever your bank balance reliably covers it (in your bank or card app: open the card, look for "Payments," then "Autopay," and pick "minimum payment"). For bills you'll pay by hand, set two reminders for each one: open your phone's Calendar or Reminders app, create a reminder a few days before the due date and another on the due date itself, and name it after the bill (like "Visa payment due").
How to use it week to week
Pick one day each week for the weekly check-in tracker (page 14 — scroll or swipe to find it, then tap each box and type): confirm due dates are covered (check that each upcoming bill has autopay on or a payment planned), log your focus payment (write the extra amount you paid this week), and note your total card balance. That's it — five minutes, not daily score-watching. Once a month, recalculate your utilization (balance ÷ limit, as a percent, for each card) and review any dispute responses (the letters or emails back from the credit companies about errors you reported).
Tips
Only dispute what's actually inaccurate. Disputes are for errors, not for negative history you wish would disappear. Accurate late payments generally can't be erased on demand.
You don't need to carry a balance to build credit. Paying the statement balance in full and on time builds history without interest charges.
Pull reports from AnnualCreditReport.com only. Type the address carefully — look-alike sites may try to sell you subscriptions.
Freeze your credit files (page 17) if you're not actively applying for anything. A freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name; you can lift it when you need to apply. To set one up, go to each credit company's freeze page — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — you need all three — and follow the steps on each page. It's free, and you'll get a PIN or password for lifting the freeze later — keep it somewhere safe.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This guide is educational — not legal, tax, lending, or individualized financial advice.
Saving & challenges
Holiday Savings Challenge
What this is
The Holiday Savings Challenge helps you save $1,000 for the holidays in 8 weeks — with zero holiday debt. Weekly savings targets ramp up gently ($50 in week 1 up to $175 in weeks 6–7, then ease to $150 in week 8), plus a gift budget planner and 5 holiday spending rules to keep you on track.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — the tracker is fillable, so you can check off days and type in amounts right on your phone, or print it if you prefer pen and paper
A separate savings spot — a savings account, an envelope, whatever keeps the money out of your spending flow
A start date exactly 8 weeks before the holidays
About 20 minutes to read the rules and fill in your gift budget planner
Getting started
Pick your start date and write it on the first tracker page. Count back 8 weeks from when you'll do most of your holiday shopping.
Decide where the money goes. Open a savings account, label an envelope, or pick a spot in your budgeting app — the key is that saved money doesn't mix with spending money.
Fill in the Gift Budget Planner (page 7 — swipe up on your phone or scroll down on a computer to reach it; the pages follow one after another) before you shop: tap each box and type one person per line, a gift idea for them, and the most you'll spend. Every dollar gets a name before you spend it.
Read the 5 holiday spending rules on the last page (keep scrolling to the very end) — and tape them to your fridge like the planner suggests. (Want just that page on paper? Use the Print steps in "Starting from zero" above, and choose only the last page.)
How to use it week to week
Each week, hit that week's savings target and check off each day you save: in the daily check-in boxes, tap a day's small square box to put a check mark in it (if you printed the page, tick it with a pen). At week's end, tap the boxes at the end of that week's section and type your saved amount and your running total (everything you've saved so far, added up). If you fall short one week, don't try to double up and burn out — just get back on target the next week. Log every gift purchase in the Gift Budget Planner the same day you buy it: find that person's line and type what you actually spent in the box next to their name.
Tips
Start on time. The targets assume a full 8 weeks — starting late means bigger weekly amounts.
Use the 48-hour rule. Write down every gift idea, wait two days, then buy. Half the list won't survive, and that's the point.
Cash envelopes work. For in-person shopping, put each category's budget in its own envelope. Empty envelope means you're done.
If actual spending creeps past budget on one person, rebalance from another row in the gift planner instead of blowing the total.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
Small change. Big dreams. ✨
Year-Round Savings Challenges
What this is
Year-Round Savings Challenges is an 18-page fillable workbook with three friendly savings games — small amounts, a chart you can see filling up, and a day circled at the end. The 52-Week Challenge builds to $1,378 over a year. $500 in 30 Days saves exactly $500 in one focused month. The No-Spend Weekend is a 3-day reset you can repeat every month. Each challenge has its own chart pages and its own certificate of achievement at the finish. Page 3 shows each chart filled in for a real first week, so you can copy the rhythm before you start.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there. Many people print just their current challenge's chart pages and hang them up.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — the workbook is fillable, so you can tick boxes and type amounts right on your phone, or print the charts if you prefer pen and paper
A savings spot that is not your everyday spending money — a separate savings account, a labeled envelope, anywhere future-you can't casually spend it
A start date — this week beats someday
About 15 minutes to read the example page and set up your first challenge
Getting started
Pick your challenge (page 2). There is no wrong door — all three end at money in your savings. Choose by your situation: want one big win this year? The 52-Week Challenge. Need momentum fast? $500 in 30 Days. Money leaks out on weekends? The No-Spend Weekend. Tap the fields on page 2 and type your name, the challenge you are starting with, and your start date.
☐ Done when… page 2 has your name, one challenge, and a start date written in.
Study the filled-in example (page 3). "See It Filled In" shows the start of each chart the way a real first week looks — the first three weeks of the 52-Week Challenge ($1, then $2, then $3; $6 total) and the first five days of $500 in 30 Days ($10, $15, $8, $20, $12; $65 total). Copy its style on your own chart: save the amount, tick the box, write the date. The page also teaches the three habits that make every challenge work: move the money the same day you tick the box, keep the chart where you will see it, and if you miss a day — catch up in pieces, swap in an easier day, or extend the finish line.
☐ Done when… you can say the three habits back without looking.
Challenge 1: The 52-Week Challenge (pages 4–9)
Save the same number of dollars as the week: $1 in week 1, $2 in week 2, all the way to $52 in week 52. Finish with $1,378 — without ever saving more than $52 in a single week.
Choose your version first (page 4). The classic chart (pages 5–6) starts tiny and grows. The reverse chart (pages 7–8) starts at $52 and coasts down to $1 — pick reverse if your income is stronger now than later (seasonal work, school schedules, holidays). Same $1,378 total either way. Pick one version and stick with its chart; switching mid-year is allowed exactly once.
Fill in the setup fields on page 4: your start date, what you are saving for, and where the money will live.
Pick your savings day — payday works beautifully — and move the money that same day, before life spends it for you.
Each week, work one row of your chart: move that week's amount, tap the Done box (or tick it with a pen if you printed), and write the date. The chart prints each week's amount and your running total for you — week 26 reaches $351 on the classic chart, and week 52 lands on $1,378. Jot anything you want to remember in "Notes to myself" at the bottom.
Falling behind is not failing. Split a big week across two paydays, or swap two weeks on the chart. Cross out, adjust, continue — the only way to fail this challenge is to stop entirely.
☐ Done when… your version is chosen, page 4 is filled in, and week 1's money has moved with its box ticked and dated.
Challenge 2: $500 in 30 Days (pages 10–12)
One focused month. Every day has its own amount — some gentle ($5, $6, $8), some bigger ($28, $30) — and the 30 amounts are already set and add up to exactly $500. No math homework, just tick and save.
Fill in the setup fields on page 10: your start date, what this $500 is for, and where the money will live.
Each day, work the chart on page 11: move the day's amount into your savings spot, tap the Done box (or tick it), and write the date. The chart keeps the running total — day 30 lands on exactly $500.
You do not have to go in order. If today is tight, pick a small day from later in the chart and tick that one instead. All 30 boxes ticked = $500, in any order you like.
A big day can be split: half today, half on payday. Tick the box when the full amount has moved.
Tell one person you are doing this. A month is short; a witness makes it shorter. And if you skip a day, the challenge simply ends one day later — it ends when the chart is full, not when the calendar says so.
☐ Done when… page 10 is filled in and day 1's box is ticked with its money moved.
Challenge 3: The No-Spend Weekend (pages 13–17)
From Friday evening to Sunday night: spend $0 beyond true essentials. Not a punishment — a flashlight. One weekend shows you exactly where your money wanders off to.
Learn what counts (page 13).Essentials (allowed): medicine, bills that come due this weekend, gas or a bus pass to get to work, and food basics if the cupboard is truly empty. Everything else waits: eating out, delivery, shopping, streaming rentals, coffee runs, and "but it was on sale." If it can wait until Monday, it waits.
Run the Friday prep checklist on page 13 before Friday evening: plan three meals from the pantry and freezer; top up fuel, medicine, pet food, and diapers; write down three free things to do; tell family and friends and invite them into the free plans; move cards and shopping apps out of easy reach; and decide in advance where the money you save will go.
Fill in a weekend card as you go (pages 14–15 — two copies are included). Tap the fields and type the weekend's dates and where the saved money will go. For each part of each day — morning, midday, afternoon, evening — write what you did instead, free. At the bottom, note your hardest moment and how you got through it. The card is reusable: fill it in on your phone and clear it next month, or print a fresh copy each time.
Slipping is data, not failure. Spent $6 on Saturday? Write it on the card, note what triggered it, and finish the weekend. A $6 slip inside a $0 weekend still beats a normal weekend by a mile.
Close the loop on Sunday night (page 16). Fill in the finish page while it is fresh: the total you did not spend, where that money went, the moment you almost spent and what you did instead, and what you learned about your spending. Then log the weekend in the repeat log on the same page — one weekend a month is all it takes, and the "saved" column grows all year.
☐ Done when… the prep checklist is finished before Friday, one card is filled in across the weekend, and the finish page is completed on Sunday night.
Fill in your certificate
Each challenge ends with a certificate of achievement — page 9 for the 52-Week Challenge, page 12 for $500 in 30 Days, page 17 for the No-Spend Weekend. When you finish:
Tap the name field and type your name (or print the page and write it in).
Fill in the finish date and the amount saved — $1,378, $500, or your weekend's real total.
Hang it up or photograph it. You did a hard thing on purpose; let the proof where you can see it.
☐ Done when… your certificate is filled in and on display.
Tips
Move the money the same day you tick the box. Tomorrow-you is not more disciplined than today-you — the same-day move is what makes the chart honest.
Keep the chart visible. Fridge, bathroom mirror, or the first page of this file on your phone. Out of sight is out of mind.
Run challenges back to back, or side by side. Plenty of readers repeat the No-Spend Weekend monthly while the 52-week chart ticks along in the background.
A finished challenge is proof, not an ending. Page 18 ("You Did It. Now Keep the Streak Warm.") helps you pick what comes next while the streak is warm.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
Small change. Big dreams. ✨
Color-In Progress Charts
What this is
Color-In Progress Charts is a pack of 10 printable charts that turn a money goal into something you can see filling up. Every time you pay or save, you color one block — and watching the chart fill is what keeps you going. The 10 charts are: Debt Payoff, Savings Goal, Emergency Fund — $1,000, Credit Card Payoff, Car Payoff, Student Loan Payoff, Mortgage Extra-Payment, the $500 Savings Challenge, the 52-Week Savings Challenge, and the No-Spend Month Tracker. Each chart has a few fillable fields at the top (a field is a box made for typing in) for your goal's name, amount, and dates — the rest is pure coloring. Page 2 shows a filled-in example, so you can see exactly how a chart looks in progress before you start your own.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always use the downloaded file itself.
The fields at the top are fillable — tap one and type your goal's name, amount, and start date right on your phone. Everything else on each chart is made to be printed and colored by hand. (Printed a blank chart already? A pen works just as well for the top fields.) Typed your goal in? Prove it saved: tap Share → "Save a copy" to save the filled-in copy, then close the file, re-open that copy, and check your words are still there.
Printing: open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. Choose letter-size paper, and print one chart first as a test before printing more. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there. Detailed print tips are in "Getting started" below.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
Found us through the free sample? The free sample in our Gumroad shop is this pack's Emergency Fund chart — one chart, free. This guide covers the full pack of 10 the same way.
What you need
A printer and letter-size paper (the standard 8.5 × 11 inch size) — a home printer or your library's
Crayons, markers, or colored pencils
A spot to hang your chart where you'll see it every day — the fridge door works beautifully
A goal with a real number on it (a balance from a statement, or a savings target)
About 10 minutes to fill in and hang your first chart
Getting started
Look at the filled-in example first (page 2). This is Alex's car loan: a $4,000 goal split into 80 blocks of $50, with 43 blocks colored and $2,150 paid so far. Your charts start blank — this page just shows you how good "in progress" looks, and how the numbers at the top are filled in. Copy its style: name the goal, write the amount, write what each block is worth, add your start date.
☐ Done when… you can explain, in your own words, what one block on Alex's chart is worth and why.
Pick your first chart. One chart, one goal. Most people start with the debt that bugs them most, or with the Emergency Fund — $1,000 chart, because a $1,000 cushion turns a crisis into an inconvenience. The chart list is on the cover (page 1); every chart works the same way once you know one.
☐ Done when… you have chosen one chart and one real goal amount for it.
Fill in the fields at the top — on your phone, or after printing. Tap each field on the chart and type: the goal's name, the goal amount, what each block is worth, and your start date (some charts add a target date or a "finished" date to fill in later). No phone handy? Print the chart blank and write the same things in by hand — the lines are in the same places.
☐ Done when… the top of your chart shows a name, an amount, a per-block value, and a start date.
Price each block. One block is worth your goal divided by the number of blocks (divided by means split into equal parts — if math makes you nervous, your phone's calculator does this in two taps: type the goal amount, tap ÷, type the block count, tap =). Each chart tells you its block count right on the page:
Debt Payoff (page 3): divide your debt by 100 — or pick your own chunk and color one block per chunk paid.
Savings Goal (page 4): 20 stripes — goal ÷ 20. The side of the chart marks 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% as you climb.
Emergency Fund — $1,000 (page 5): already priced — 40 blocks of $25. Stars mark each $250 milestone.
Credit Card Payoff (page 6): 50 blocks — balance ÷ 50. Minimum payments keep the lights on; extra payments color blocks.
Mortgage Extra-Payment (page 9): 100 blocks — your extra-payment goal ÷ 100. This chart tracks extra principal only (principal is the loan balance itself; this means only the money beyond your regular payment).
$500 Savings Challenge (page 10): already priced — ten $10 blocks, eight $25 blocks, and four $50 blocks add up to $500. Save the amount, color the block, mix and match in any order.
52-Week Savings Challenge (page 11): already priced — Week 1 is $1, Week 2 is $2, all the way to Week 52 at $52. Total saved: $1,378. Too steep at the end? The page also shows the reverse: start at $52 and drop $1 each week — same $1,378 total, and December gets easier.
No-Spend Month Tracker (page 12): no math at all — color a day whenever you spend $0 beyond true essentials (bills, groceries, gas). No judgment — just data.
☐ Done when… "Each block =" is filled in on your chart (or your chart is one of the pre-priced ones).
Print it for the best coloring results. Open the chart's page and print with these settings: letter-size paper, and scale 100% — look for "Actual size" or "100%" in the print box and avoid "Fit to page," which can shrink the chart (these charts are drawn to fill the whole page, so full size is the right size here). Print one chart first as a test page, check it, then print the rest. Print single-sided (one side of the paper only), so marker ink never bleeds through onto a chart on the back. Color or black-and-white printing both work — the blocks are outlines waiting for your color. Using markers? They give the boldest blocks; if yours bleed through thin paper, slip a spare sheet behind the page while you color, or switch to colored pencils.
☐ Done when… your chart is printed at full size, with your goal filled in at the top.
Hang it where you'll see it, and color as you go. Fridge door, bathroom mirror, inside a cabinet you open daily — visibility is the whole trick. Every time money moves toward the goal, color one block the same day. Paid $50 extra on the car? Color a block before bed.
☐ Done when… your chart is hanging up and your first block is colored.
Tips
One chart at a time, one goal per chart. Two debts? Print the chart twice — a fresh page per goal keeps each finish line clear.
Take a photo of each finished chart before you recycle it (page 13 suggests this too) — future you will want the proof.
Finished a chart? Start the next one. Momentum loves company: an emergency fund chart pairs well with a credit card chart running beside it.
Keep going with free companions: the last page points to the free One-Page Money Snapshot in our Gumroad shop — your whole money picture on one page — and The Sunday Money Note, our free weekly tip at penniesintodreams.com.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
For education and organization only — not financial advice.
Work & selling
Freelancer Income Tracker
What this is
The Freelancer Income Tracker is a spreadsheet built for irregular income: it logs every invoice, tracks who's paid and who hasn't, keeps your client details in one place, sets aside money for taxes automatically, and shows your true monthly take-home after expenses. No more tax-season panic.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Get the free Google Sheets app
You'll need a free Google account. Don't have one yet? Create a Google account — it only takes a couple of minutes.
Step 4: If you can look but you can't type (the View-Only trap)
Sometimes a spreadsheet opens so you can see everything, but nothing happens when you tap a cell to type. That means you're looking at a view-only copy — you don't have your own working copy yet. This is the most common spreadsheet hiccup there is, and it's fixable.
On a computer (Google Sheets): click File → Make a copy, name it whatever you like, and click Make a copy again. Your own copy opens, and now you can type.
In the Google Sheets phone app: close the file, find it in the app's file list, tap the More (⋮) icon next to the file's name, and tap Make a copy. Open that copy — now you can type.
In Excel: if a yellow bar appears across the top of the file, tap Enable Editing. If the bar is red, tap File → Edit Anyway. Both bars just mean Excel is being careful with a file that came from the internet — once you tap, you can type.
About saving: Google Sheets saves itself as you type — look for the words "Saved to Drive" near the top. There's no Save button, and you don't need one. In Excel, save the file once under your own name (File → Save As) and it will keep your changes from there.
Want more detailed help with Google Sheets and Drive?
If you get stuck on the tech side, these official pages go deeper:
A free Google account (open the file in Google Sheets), or Microsoft Excel — the Excel app is free too: Excel for Android or Excel for iPhone On a computer, Excel also runs free in your web browser: go to office.com, sign in with a free Microsoft account (or create one), and click Excel. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, the full Excel program may already be on your computer — check your Start menu (Windows) or Applications folder (Mac).
Your client list and any outstanding invoices
About 20 minutes for first-time setup
Getting started
Open the "Start Here" tab and read the how-to-use steps. (New to spreadsheets? A spreadsheet is made of pages called tabs — look at the bottom of the screen for the labeled strips and tap the one that says "Start Here." The page itself is a grid of boxes called cells — tap any cell to type in it.) There's also an EXAMPLE tab with sample invoices already filled in, so you can see what a finished tracker looks like — do your real work in the tabs below, and leave the example as your picture to copy.
Go to the "Income Log" tab (tap "Income Log" at the bottom of the screen). First, delete the example lines that come with the tracker: (a) tap the number at the far left of a line — one line across is called a row, and tapping its number selects the whole row; (b) tap the three dots (⋮) at the top of the screen and choose "Delete row." Repeat for each example row. Then enter every invoice, one invoice per row: tap the first empty yellow cell in the row and type, then move across the row filling in each box — the date, the client, the project, the amount you billed, how much they've paid so far, the date they paid, and the status (type Paid, Pending, or Overdue). Add outstanding invoices (ones nobody has paid yet) first — those are the ones that matter most.
Fill in the "Client List" tab. One client per row, same as before: tap each yellow cell across the row and type the client's name, contact info (email or phone), your rate, and their payment terms — how long they take to pay, like "Net 15" (payment due 15 days after the invoice) or "50% upfront." This becomes your quick reference when quoting new work.
Check the "Tax Set-Aside" tab. You don't type anything on this page — it automatically pulls (copies) your monthly income from the Income Log and calculates 25–30% to set aside for taxes. Move that money to a separate account as it comes in — future you will be grateful.
How to use it week to week
Log every new invoice the day you send it: open the Income Log tab and type it in on a fresh row, just like in setup. When a payment arrives, find that invoice's row, tap its status cell, and change the word to Paid (and fill in the amount paid and date paid boxes). Once a month, open the Monthly Summary tab (tap "Monthly Summary" at the bottom) to see income, expenses, profit, tax set-aside, and your actual take-home side by side — that page fills itself in; there's nothing to type. Chase overdue invoices weekly — the Status column (the up-and-down line of boxes labeled "Status") makes the late payers impossible to miss. Starting a new month? Archive the old month first: duplicate the "Income Log" tab (on a computer, right-click the tab's name and choose Duplicate; in the phone app, tap the small arrow on the tab's name and choose Duplicate sheet), rename the copy with the month, and keep logging new invoices in the original tab so your Monthly Summary keeps adding everything up.
Tips
Set aside taxes with every payment, not at tax time. 25–30% off the top, every time money lands. The spreadsheet does the math; you just move the money.
Use the Client List when quoting. Knowing each client's rate and terms at a glance stops you from undercharging repeat work.
The Overdue status is your to-do list. Once a week, look down the Status column for the word Overdue and follow up on every one. Want the spreadsheet to group them for you? That's called filtering: on a computer, click the top cell of the Status column, then click Data → Create a filter, then click the little arrow that appears and choose "Overdue." On the phone app, tap the three dots (⋮), then "Create a filter," then tap the arrow at the top of the Status column.
Log expenses too. The Monthly Summary's profit and take-home numbers only mean something if expenses are in there.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This tool is for educational planning, not tax or financial advice.
The Flipper's Playbook
What this is
The Flipper's Playbook is the exact local-selling method Michael uses himself: small batches, honest listings, prices taken from real sold listings, and safety rules that never bend. It comes as two files that work as a pair:
The playbook — a 17-page fillable PDF (a form you can type into) with 10 sections, worksheets to fill in as you go, copy-and-paste buyer message templates in English and Spanish, and a 30-day starter plan on the last page.
The Resale Tracker — a spreadsheet with three tabs (pages) named "Start Here," "Inventory," and "Sales Log." Every item you list goes into Inventory; every sale goes into the Sales Log, which calculates your real net and your 35% reserve for you.
This guide walks you through both files, in order.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your files, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your files from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your files start downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same files.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Your download arrives as one ZIP file. A ZIP is just a folder squeezed into a single file to make downloading easy — inside it are the playbook PDF and the tracker spreadsheet. To open it: on a phone, tap the ZIP in your Files app and the files appear; on a Windows computer, right-click the ZIP and choose "Extract All"; on a Mac, double-click it.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open the playbook PDF
Tap the playbook file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for this file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
The tracker is a spreadsheet. You'll need a free Google account to open it in Google Sheets. Don't have one yet? Create a Google account — it only takes a couple of minutes.
Prefer Excel? The tracker also opens in Microsoft Excel — the Excel app is free too: Excel for Android or Excel for iPhone. On a computer, Excel also runs free in your web browser: go to office.com, sign in with a free Microsoft account (or create one), and click Excel.
Step 5: If you can look but you can't type (the View-Only trap)
Sometimes a spreadsheet opens so you can see everything, but nothing happens when you tap a cell to type. That means you're looking at a view-only copy — you don't have your own working copy yet. This is the most common spreadsheet hiccup there is, and it's fixable.
On a computer (Google Sheets): click File → Make a copy, name it whatever you like, and click Make a copy again. Your own copy opens, and now you can type.
In the Google Sheets phone app: close the file, find it in the app's file list, tap the More (⋮) icon next to the file's name, and tap Make a copy. Open that copy — now you can type.
In Excel: if a yellow bar appears across the top of the file, tap Enable Editing. If the bar is red, tap File → Edit Anyway. Both bars just mean Excel is being careful with a file that came from the internet — once you tap, you can type.
About saving: Google Sheets saves itself as you type — look for the words "Saved to Drive" near the top. There's no Save button, and you don't need one. In Excel, save the file once under your own name (File → Save As) and it will keep your changes from there.
Want more detailed help with Google Sheets and Drive?
A PDF reader for the playbook — fillable, so you can type on your phone or print it
Google Sheets (free) or Excel for the tracker
A phone camera for item photos — the one already in your pocket is fine
About an hour for your first batch: photos, listings, and tracker setup
Getting started: work the playbook
Read the Start Here page (page 2), then hunt your own house first (Section 1, page 3). Before you spend a single dollar on things to resell, list what you already own — the "someday" pile is free inventory, and every sale of your own stuff is profit. Fill in the worksheet on page 3: five items, and where you found each one. Then walk the room-by-room hunt on page 4 and check off each spot as you search it.
☐ Done when… five items are written on the worksheet and photographed.
Sort your batch (Section 2, page 6). For each item, mark it Fast, Steady, or Slow, and pick the first platform you will list it on. (Section 2, page 5, explains what moves and what sits, and Section 6, page 11, matches platforms to items.)
☐ Done when… every item in your batch has a speed and a platform.
Price from evidence (Section 3, pages 7–8). Price is not a guess — it is evidence. Search your platform, filter to SOLD listings (asking prices are wishes; sold prices are facts), and write down 3–5 sold prices on the worksheet on page 8. Set your list price from that range, then decide your floor — the lowest you will take — before the first message arrives, not during it. Fill in your day-7 and day-14 drop prices now, too; the price-drop ladder on page 7 explains the timing.
☐ Done when… one item is priced completely: sold prices written down, list price, floor, and both drops decided.
Take the six photos (Section 4, page 9). Whole item straight on, a 45° angle, the brand label, a close-up of any flaw (yes, really — a flaw photographed clearly builds trust), the item in place, and a size shot with a tape measure in the frame. Tick the shot checklist for each item and write its measurements.
☐ Done when… every item in the batch has all six shots checked off.
Build your listing (Section 5, page 10). Title formula: what it is + brand + standout detail + size or count. Then the description in order: what it is and its honest condition, what's included plus measurements and the flaw, a pickup line with your general area only, and a friendly close. The playbook's signature edge: after a divider line, add the Spanish section — a short version of the key facts in Spanish widens your buyer pool and costs five minutes.
☐ Done when… the listing builder on page 10 is filled in for your first item, in both languages.
Make the templates and safety rules yours (Sections 7–8, pages 12–14). Copy the buyer-message templates — "Is this available?", the lowball offer, the hold request, scheduling, the phone-number deflection, and the after-the-sale thank-you — and fill in your details on page 13: your go-to public meetup spot and usual meetup times. Then read the safety rules on page 14 and fill in your safety plan. These rules never bend: no phone number to strangers, public meetups only, cash or on-platform payment only, never refund an "overpayment."
☐ Done when… your meetup spot, meetup buddy, and accepted payment are written in your safety plan.
Set up the Resale Tracker
A spreadsheet is made of pages called tabs — look at the bottom of the screen for the labeled strips and tap one to open it. Each box in the grid is called a cell; tap a cell to type in it.
Open the "Start Here" tab and read the five steps. The color key matters most: grey columns are yours to type in; columns with a gold header calculate themselves — Net, Reserve (35%), and Yours to Keep are formulas (automatic math). Never type over a gold column; typing there breaks the automatic math.
☐ Done when… you can point to a grey column and a gold column and say which is which.
Add your batch to the "Inventory" tab. One row per item — a row is one line across. Tap each grey cell and type: Item (what it is), Source (where it came from), Cost (what you paid — write $0 for your own stuff, proudly), Date Listed, Platform, and List Price. Set the Status column too; its choices are Listed, Pending, Sold, Donated, or Kept.
☐ Done when… every photographed item from your batch has a row in Inventory.
Log every sale the same day, in the "Sales Log" tab. Tap the grey cells and type: Date Sold, Item, Platform, Sold Price, Fees (what the platform charged you), and Other Costs. The gold columns do the rest: Net = sold price − fees − other costs; Reserve (35%) = 35% of net; Yours to Keep = net − reserve. A Totals row at the bottom keeps your running score.
☐ Done when… your first sale is logged and the three gold numbers appear on their own.
Move the reserve the day the sale lands (playbook Section 9, page 15). The Reserve column is money already spoken for — a cushion for taxes, refunds, and surprises. Move that amount into its own spot (a separate account or envelope) the same day. Then go back to the Inventory tab and change that item's Status to Sold, and once a month fill in the monthly snapshot on page 15 of the playbook.
☐ Done when… the reserve money sits in its own spot and the item shows Sold in Inventory.
Your first 30 days
The last page of the playbook (page 17) lays out the starter plan, week by week — list your first 3–5 items, answer messages with the templates, hold your first public daytime meetup, run the price-drop ladder on anything quiet, log every sale the same day, and move your reserve. Work it in order; small batches keep it fun and keep your home from turning into a warehouse.
Tips
Start at home, always. Zero cost, real feedback, and quick wins — the first sale, even $10, proves the system works.
The floor is a promise you make to yourself while you're calm. Mid-negotiation, "just this once" is how good items sell for bad prices.
Show the flaw, say the flaw. A scratch photographed clearly prevents arguments at the meetup — and never describe an opened or used item as "sealed" or "like new" if it isn't. Your reputation is the business.
Log sales the same day. Two minutes now beats an hour of guessing at the end of the month — and your tracker stays honest.
Back up your tracker once a month. In the Sheets app, tap More (⋮) next to the tracker file's name, tap Make a copy, and name the copy with the month. If anything ever goes sideways, last month's copy still has your records.
A slow item is data, not failure. It usually means price, photos, or timing. The price-drop ladder in Section 3 handles it.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This playbook is education about a selling method, not tax or financial advice — the tracker keeps your records either way, and a tax professional can advise on your situation.
Notion templates & the kit
Notion Budget Dashboard
What this is
The Notion Budget Dashboard is a ready-made Notion template with a monthly budget database and an expenses database that work together. Instead of a static spreadsheet, you get a living dashboard: log expenses as they happen, and your budget categories update automatically.
Starting from zero
New to this kind of thing? No problem — this section walks you through it one tap at a time. Already have a Notion account? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Find your template link
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows your purchase on screen — for this product, what you get is a link to your template (there's no file to download).
Gumroad also emails you a receipt with that same link in it, so you can always find it again in your email.
Don't tap the link just yet — do Step 2 first. The order matters!
Tip: you can always find this purchase — and its template link — again in your Gumroad library. Just sign in with the email address you used when you bought it.
Step 2: Make your free Notion account (do this first!)
Go to Notion's sign-up page and create a free account. You can sign up with your email address, or with a Google or Apple account if you have one.
Rather use your phone? You can sign up in the free Notion app instead: Notion for Android or Notion for iPhone. On a computer, you don't need to download anything — Notion runs in your web browser at notion.com (just sign in). Prefer an app? There's an optional free desktop app at notion.com/desktop.
Follow the steps on screen until you land in your own Notion workspace — an empty page with your name on it. That means you're in.
Step 3: Copy the template into your account
Now open the template link from your Gumroad purchase (that's Step 1 above).
Make sure you're signed in to the Notion account you just made.
Tap or click Duplicate in the top right corner. (Using the phone app? Tap the three dots (•••) at the top right first, then tap Duplicate — "Getting started" below shows it step by step.) The whole template copies into your account — now it's yours, and you can change anything in it.
Want more detailed help with Notion?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A free Notion account (sign up at notion.so — the free plan is plenty)
The template link from your purchase (also works in Notion's mobile app)
About 15 minutes for first-time setup
Getting started
Open the template link in your browser while logged into Notion. (Your browser is the app you use to visit websites — Chrome, Safari, or Edge. A template is a ready-made page you copy and then make your own.) Tap the link in your Gumroad receipt email; if Notion asks you to sign in, use the account you made in "Starting from zero" above.
Click "Duplicate" (top right). Duplicate just means "make a copy" — this copies the entire dashboard into your own Notion workspace (your workspace is your private home base inside Notion, where all your pages live). On a computer, Duplicate is at the top right of the page. On the phone app, tap the three dots (•••) at the top right first, then tap "Duplicate." After that, everything you see is yours to edit — you can't break the original. Your copy lands in the Private section of your sidebar (the list of pages down the left side of Notion) — if you don't see it right away, look there, under your own name.
Explore the two databases. In Notion, a database is a smart table — a list where every line is one item and every column is a detail about it. The monthly budget database holds your budget categories and planned amounts; the expenses database is where individual spending gets logged. They're linked, which means when you type an expense into the expenses table, it automatically counts toward the matching category in the budget table — that's what "roll up" means. Tap a few of the example entries to see how they connect.
Set up your first month. In the monthly budget table: (a) tap the row for this month to open it, and type your income into the income box; (b) to add a budget category, tap the + New button at the bottom of the budget table, type the category name (housing, groceries, transport, fun money — match your real life), and type the planned amount for it; (c) repeat until every regular category has a row with an amount.
How to use it week to week
Log expenses in the expenses database as you spend. Here's exactly how: (a) open the dashboard page in Notion; (b) find the expenses table and tap + New at the bottom of it; (c) type what you bought, tap the amount box and type the amount, and tap the category box to pick which budget category it belongs to; (d) that's it — the entry saves by itself, and the budget table updates automatically. It takes seconds in the Notion mobile app. Once or twice a week, open the dashboard to see how each category is tracking against plan. At month's end, make a copy of the month's setup for the new month — open the month's page, tap the three dots (•••) at the top right, then tap "Duplicate" — and adjust any categories that were consistently over or under.
Tips
Log spending the same day. A dashboard you update weekly beats a perfect one you abandon — keep the bar low.
Match categories to your real life. If "dining out" and "groceries" always blur together, that's fine — combine them. The best budget is one you'll actually use.
Use the mobile app. Notion's phone app makes logging a coffee purchase take five seconds.
Don't delete the example entries until you've explored. Click around first to see how the databases connect, then clear them out and make it yours.
See a block that says "No access"? That's normal — a few pieces of a shared template don't copy over. It isn't broken, and nothing is missing that you need. Just delete those blocks.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
Small change. Big dreams. ✨
Complete Money Kit
What this is
The Complete Money Kit brings together the core money system in one package — the seven original products plus both Notion templates: the 90-Day Money Reset Planner, the Debt Snowball Tracker spreadsheet, the Credit Builder Playbook, the Holiday Savings Challenge, the Couples Money Planner, the Freelancer Income Tracker, the Tax Season Organizer, and both Notion templates (the Budget Dashboard and the Debt Snowball Tracker). Together they cover the full journey — stabilize your cash flow, attack your debt, build your credit, and stay organized all year — for much less than buying them separately.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your files, one tap at a time. The kit has eight files: five PDFs, two spreadsheets, and one links file for the Notion templates. We'll open each kind below. Plan on about an hour for this first pass — you're only opening files and peeking inside, not finishing every tool today. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "What's inside" below.
Step 1: Download your files from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. The kit has eight files — download each one.
Missed a button? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has the download links in it. Either way works; you get the exact same files.
Can't find the downloads? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot them? Open that same Files app and search for each file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
If the download arrives as a single ZIP file (a file whose name ends in .zip), that's all eight files packed together to make downloading easy: on a phone, tap the ZIP in your Files app and the files appear; on a Windows computer, right-click it and choose "Extract All"; on a Mac, double-click it. Then open each file as shown below.
Step 2: Open the PDFs
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One important tap: if Gumroad shows you a Read button for a file, don't type there — anything typed in the Read view doesn't save. Tap Download instead, and always fill in the downloaded file itself.
Filling it in: these PDFs are fillable, which means you type right into them. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Step 3: Get the free Google Sheets app
You'll need a free Google account. Don't have one yet? Create a Google account — it only takes a couple of minutes.
Step 5: If you can look but you can't type (the View-Only trap)
Sometimes a spreadsheet opens so you can see everything, but nothing happens when you tap a cell to type. That means you're looking at a view-only copy — you don't have your own working copy yet. This is the most common spreadsheet hiccup there is, and it's fixable.
On a computer (Google Sheets): click File → Make a copy, name it whatever you like, and click Make a copy again. Your own copy opens, and now you can type.
In the Google Sheets phone app: close the file, find it in the app's file list, tap the More (⋮) icon next to the file's name, and tap Make a copy. Open that copy — now you can type.
In Excel: if a yellow bar appears across the top of the file, tap Enable Editing. If the bar is red, tap File → Edit Anyway. Both bars just mean Excel is being careful with a file that came from the internet — once you tap, you can type.
About saving: Google Sheets saves itself as you type — look for the words "Saved to Drive" near the top. There's no Save button, and you don't need one. In Excel, save the file once under your own name (File → Save As) and it will keep your changes from there.
Both trackers also have an EXAMPLE tab with sample numbers already filled in, so you can see what a finished setup looks like. Each tracker's own guide (linked in "What's inside" below) walks you through clearing the example rows and setting up your real numbers.
Step 6: Open the Notion templates
The kit's eighth file is a links file for the two Notion templates. Before you tap a template link, create a free Notion account and sign in first — at notion.so or in the free Notion app (Android / iPhone). If you're not signed in, the Duplicate button won't work.
Open the links file, tap a template link, then tap Duplicate — top-right on a computer; in the phone app, tap the three dots (•••) at the top-right first, then Duplicate.
Your copy lands in the Private section of your Notion sidebar (the list of pages on the left). From there it's yours — the two Notion guides linked in "What's inside" walk you through each template step by step.
Want more detailed help?
If you get stuck on the tech side, these official pages go deeper:
90-Day Money Reset Planner (PDF) — your day-to-day command center: baseline snapshot, monthly budgets, weekly 15-minute check-ins, and month reviews across three phases.
Debt Snowball Tracker (spreadsheet) — enter your debts once and get an automatic month-by-month payoff plan with a progress dashboard (a summary page that shows your totals at a glance).
Credit Builder Playbook (PDF) — a 90-day system for auditing your credit reports, protecting due dates, lowering card balances, and disputing errors correctly.
Holiday Savings Challenge (PDF) — an 8-week challenge that builds your holiday fund a little at a time, so December doesn't land on a credit card.
Couples Money Planner (PDF) — a monthly money-date ritual for two: shared goals, a joint budget check-in, and a plan you both agree on.
Freelancer Income Tracker (spreadsheet) — track invoices, clients, and payments, with tax set-asides figured as you go.
Tax Season Organizer (PDF) — gather every document, deduction, and deadline in one place, so tax time is calm instead of chaotic.
Notion templates links file (text file) — links to both Notion templates: the Notion Budget Dashboard and the Notion Debt Snowball Tracker. Open the file, tap a link, and save your own copy in Notion.
Suggested order
Start with the Money Reset Planner (Week 1). Fill in the baseline pages first — the money snapshot, bill list, and debt inventory. This gives you honest numbers, which everything else builds on. (See the 90-Day Money Reset Planner guide on this page for the page-by-page walkthrough.)
Add the Debt Snowball Tracker (Week 1–2). Take the debt list from your planner baseline and enter it into the spreadsheet's Debt Setup tab. (New to spreadsheets? A spreadsheet's pages are called tabs — labeled strips at the bottom of the screen; tap one to open that page. The page is a grid of boxes called cells — tap a cell to type in it. The Debt Snowball Tracker guide on this page walks through every tap.) Now you have an exact payoff schedule instead of a vague hope.
Begin the Credit Builder Playbook (Week 2). Follow its 7-day quick start: pull your three credit reports ("pull" just means go get them from the free official website, AnnualCreditReport.com — the Credit Builder Playbook guide on this page has the full walkthrough), map your due dates (write every bill's due date down in one place), and set up autopay or reminders (autopay means your bank pays the bill automatically each month). Then work it alongside the planner week by week.
Add the rest as life calls for them. The Holiday Savings Challenge runs in the weeks before the holidays; the Couples Money Planner becomes a monthly ritual if you share money with a partner; the Freelancer Income Tracker is your bookkeeping home if you have side or self-employment income; the Tax Season Organizer comes out whenever tax paperwork arrives; and the Notion templates give you a second, app-based home for your budget and debt plan if you prefer Notion to files.
Run the core three together from there. The planner is your weekly routine, the tracker is your debt scoreboard, and the playbook is your credit project. They reinforce each other: on-time payments from the planner feed the playbook's goals, and the tracker's shrinking balances show up in your planner's month reviews.
Tips
Don't try to do everything on day one. Baseline first, debt plan second, credit audit third. Each step makes the next one easier.
Keep one weekly check-in ritual that covers all three: planner check-in, tracker balance update, playbook weekly tracker. Fifteen to twenty minutes total.
Use the planner's month reviews to record progress from all your tools in one place — debt reduced, savings added, credit habits kept.
Revisit the playbook's 12-month maintenance calendar after your first 90 days so the gains stick.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
These tools are educational and organizational — not financial, legal, or tax advice.
Family & safety
My First Money Workbook
What this is
My First Money Workbook is an 18-page print-at-home activity book for kids ages 6–10, done together with a grown-up. It gives your child a friendly first tour of money: what coins and bills are worth, the difference between needs and wants, earning, saving toward a goal, and the three things we can do with money — save it, spend it, and share it. This guide is for you, the grown-up: how to print the book, what to gather, and how to walk through each activity with your child. The workbook itself carries its own note for grown-ups on page 17, and an answer key on page 18 — that last page is your secret weapon, not a spoiler.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Download your file from Gumroad
Right after you check out, Gumroad shows a Download button right on the screen. Tap or click it, and your file starts downloading.
Missed it? No worries — Gumroad also emails you a receipt, and that email has a download link in it. Either one works; they give you the exact same file.
Can't find the download? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Tip: your purchase also lives in your Gumroad library and in your receipt email — you can re-download it anytime. Just sign in with the same email address you used when you bought it; that's how Gumroad knows the purchase is yours.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
One thing you can type first: the name page (page 2) can be filled in on a screen before printing — tap the line and type your child's name, or leave it blank and let them write it by hand after printing. Writing it themselves is half the fun. If you do type it, use the downloaded file, not Gumroad's Read view (typing there doesn't save) — then save a copy (Share → "Save a copy"), close it, and re-open it to check the name is still there.
This book is made to be printed. It is a paper activity book on purpose — coloring, circling, and tracing are the point. The printing steps are right below.
Step 3: Print your workbook
At home: open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print — on a computer, press Ctrl+P (Windows) or Cmd+P (Mac). Choose your printer, pick letter-size paper (the standard 8.5 × 11 inch size), and in the print settings choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. Color looks best, but black-and-white prints fine — your child adds the color anyway.
Printing double-sided (front and back of each sheet) saves paper and works well for this book. Single-sided is easier if you plan to hang finished pages on the fridge.
No printer at home? A public library is the friendliest option: bring the file on your phone or a USB stick (a small plug-in storage drive), and ask at the desk about printing from a library computer — most libraries offer it for a few cents a page. Office-supply stores print files too.
Print as many copies as your family needs. The book says so on every page: if a page gets loved to pieces, a sibling wants their own, or the savings-goal stripes need a fresh start, print it again.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A printer and letter-size paper — or a library card and a few cents per page
Pencils and crayons or colored pencils
A handful of real coins — a penny (1¢), a nickel (5¢), a dime (10¢), and a quarter (25¢) — for the coin pages
Three clear jars or envelopes, labeled Save, Spend, and Share
About 10 minutes per sitting — one or two pages at a time is the sweet spot
Getting started
Print the book and write the name. Start with page 2, "This Workbook Belongs To." Your child writes (or you type beforehand) their name on the line. Ownership matters — this is their book.
☐ Done when… the book is printed and the name page is filled in.
Meet the Coins (page 3) and Meet the Bills (page 4). Put the real coins on the table next to the page. Say each coin's name and value out loud together — penny 1¢, nickel 5¢, dime 10¢, quarter 25¢. Let your child trace the numbers, hold the real dime (the smallest coin, but worth more than the nickel — page 3 points this out), and color the coins on the page. On page 4, draw the matching lines from each coin to its value.
☐ Done when… your child can name all four coins and say what each is worth, with the page put away.
Count It! (pages 5–6). Count the coins in each row together, out loud, touching each coin as you count. Circle the right total. Page 6 is a little harder, with a bonus row to write in. Stuck? Count with real coins first, then look at the page. You have the answers on page 18 — check together afterward and cheer the wins.
☐ Done when… both counting pages are finished and you have checked them together against page 18.
Walk through the activities together
Needs and Wants (page 7). A need is something we must have; a want is fun, but can wait. Circle the needs (bread, water, a home, clothes) and draw a star on the wants (candy, ice cream, teddy bear, video game). Talk about one of your family's real wants while you work — kids copy what they hear.
☐ Done when… your child can explain the difference in their own words, with one example of each.
Save, Spend, Share (page 8) — then make it real. Color the three jars on the page and draw or write one idea in each. Then set up the three real jars or envelopes at home with the same labels. From now on, money your child gets can be sorted into the jars, just like the page.
☐ Done when… the page is colored and three labeled jars or envelopes exist in your house.
My Savings Goal (page 9). Your child picks something to save for and writes it on the line; together, write what it costs (about is fine). Then agree on an amount for each stripe with a grown-up's help — the page has a spot to write it. Every time real money lands in the Save jar, your child colors one stripe.
☐ Done when… the goal and its price are written, each stripe has an amount, and the first stripe is ready to color.
Earn It! (page 10). Kids can earn money by helping. Read the job list together (make my bed, set the table, water the plants…), pick two or three jobs, and agree the pay before the work starts. Check off each job when it is finished and write what was earned.
☐ Done when… at least one job is checked off, paid, and sorted into the jars.
Play the games (pages 11–13). My Lemonade Stand (page 11) is money math in disguise: use the stand's prices (lemonade 50¢, cookie 25¢, sticker 10¢) and work the four questions together — including making change from a $1 bill. Then the Word Search (page 12 — the words go across the page) and Help the Coin! (page 13), a maze to the piggy bank. Answers for the lemonade stand are in the grown-ups' answer key on page 18.
☐ Done when… all four lemonade questions are answered and the maze coin has reached the piggy bank.
Smart Shopper (page 14) and My Money Dream (page 15). On page 14, two stores show two prices for the same thing — circle the better deal, the one that costs less. On page 15, your child draws a picture of something they would love to save for and writes what it is. This page pairs beautifully with the savings goal on page 9.
☐ Done when… all four better deals are circled and the dream page is drawn and labeled.
The certificate moment
Page 16 is the Money Star certificate — save it for the end. When the book is done:
Write your child's name on the "This star goes to" line.
Sign it where it says "Signed, my grown-up," and write the date.
Make it an occasion. Read it out loud, applaud, and hang it where everyone can see it — the fridge door is the traditional spot. A photo of your child holding it makes a keepsake you will both love later.
☐ Done when… the certificate is filled in, signed, dated — and on display.
Tips
One or two pages per sitting. Short and happy beats long and forced. The book will still be there tomorrow.
Praise the saving, not just the spending. The grown-ups' note on page 17 says it plainly: little bits, saved on purpose, add up — and kids repeat whatever gets cheered.
Reprint freely. A fresh savings-goal page for a new goal, a clean word search for a road trip — print what you need, as many times as your family needs.
Let them make the small choices. Which job, which stripe color, which dream — the choosing is where the learning lives.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This workbook is a fun learning activity for families — a playful start to good money habits, not financial advice.
Scam-Smart Family Guide
Start here: our free Scam Alerts page puts the golden rules, the 60-second pause, and the first steps if a scam hits all on one page — free for everyone, no download needed.
What this is
Scam-Smart is a 12-page family guide to spotting scams before any money moves. It was written by Michael in the plain language he uses with his own family. Inside: seven golden rules that stop almost every scam, the 8 most common scams running right now, a 60-second pause drill, a family code word only your family knows, and the exact first steps to take if a scam ever gets through. Two pages at the back are fillable — a form you can type into — so you can record your family's plan and, if it is ever needed, an incident log with the details your bank will ask for.
Starting from zero
New to downloading things? No problem — this section walks you through getting your file, one tap at a time. Already comfortable with downloads? Skip ahead to "Getting started" below.
Step 1: Get your free guide from your email
Scam-Smart is free — it's our gift when you join The Sunday Money Note, our free weekly newsletter, at penniesintodreams.com. Sign up with your email address, and the guide arrives by email.
Open that email and tap its download button — your file starts downloading right away. Save the email; that same link works anytime you need the file again.
Can't find the email? Check your spam or promotions folder — a first email from a new sender often lands there. Still nothing after a few minutes? The escape hatch at the bottom of this guide will get you sorted.
Can't find the download on your device? Here's where downloads hide: on an iPhone, open the Files app, tap Browse at the bottom, then tap Downloads. On Android, open Files (on Samsung phones it's called My Files) and tap Downloads. On a computer, check your Downloads folder. Still can't spot it? Open that same Files app and search for the file by its name.
Step 2: Open your PDF
Tap the downloaded file (look in your Files or Downloads app) and it should open right up — most phones can open PDFs all by themselves.
Filling it in: this PDF is fillable, which means you type right into it. Just tap any blank field (a field is a box made for typing in) and type your answer. Two free apps type into fields reliably: Google Drive on Android — open the PDF, tap Edit, then Form Filling, type your answers, and tap Save — and Adobe Acrobat Reader on any phone (the free app in the step above). If a field won't accept your typing, you're probably in a preview — switch to one of those two apps instead of tapping harder.
Prove it saved. When you've typed something, save a copy with your answers in it: in Adobe Reader, tap Share → "Save a copy"; in Google Drive, tap More → Save a Copy. Then close the file, re-open that saved copy, and check your answers are still there. If they are, you're safe — you can stop and pick up where you left off anytime.
Would you rather print it? Open the PDF, tap Share (or the three dots) and choose Print. In the print settings, pick your paper size (Letter is the standard US size) and choose Fit — not "Actual size" — so nothing gets cut off at the edges. Print one page first as a test, check it, then print the rest. No printer at home? Email the file to yourself, open it on a computer, and print from there.
Want more detailed help with Adobe Acrobat Reader?
If you get stuck on the tech side, this official page goes deeper:
A PDF reader — parts of this guide are fillable, so you can type right on your phone, or print the pages and use a pen
About 30–45 minutes with your family for the first setup — it is designed to be done together, in one sitting
The phone number from the back of your bank card, for the wallet card
A pair of scissors if you want to cut out the wallet card (a photo of it on your phone works too)
Getting started
Read Part 1, The Golden Rules (page 2), out loud together. Six rules, one page. The short version: real banks never ask for gift cards or crypto, urgency is the weapon every scam uses, and secrecy is always a red flag (a red flag is a warning sign — a detail that tells you something is wrong).
☐ Done when… everyone at the table can say the seven rules back in their own words.
Skim Part 2, The 8 Most Common Scams Right Now (pages 3–5). Each one shows how it works, the red flags to spot, and exactly what to do. Mark the two that could most easily reach your family — for many families that is the bank impersonation text and the family emergency ("grandparent") call.
☐ Done when… each person has picked the scam most likely to fool them, and read its "What to do" lines.
Learn the 60-Second Pause Drill (Part 3, page 6) and say it once out loud. The drill is five moves: Stop. Hang up. Look it up yourself. Call back on a number you trust. Check with your person. Scams are built to work at full speed — they fall apart at walking pace.
☐ Done when… everyone knows the five moves, in order, without looking.
Set up your family protection
Pick your family code word (Part 3, page 6). Agree on one word only your family knows. Silly and memorable beats clever. Skip pet names and birthdays — a scammer can find those on social media. Anyone who calls with an "emergency" must say the code word. If they can't, it isn't family — voices can be copied now.
Write it on the Family Page (Part 6, page 10). Tap the field under "Our Family Code Word" and type it in — or print the page and write it by hand.
Fill in the call tree on the same page. A call tree is a short list of people, in order, that you call to double-check any scary story. Tap each field and type a name, phone number, and relationship — three people is plenty.
Fill in the wallet card at the bottom of page 10. Type your bank's name and the phone number printed on the back of your card (never a number from a text or email), plus your person's name and phone. Then cut the card out along the dashed line and keep it in a wallet or inside a kitchen cabinet door — or photograph it with your phone so it is always with you.
Work through the Phone & Email Hygiene Checklist (Part 4, page 7). Ten minutes of setup makes your family a much harder target: turn on your carrier's free spam filter, let unknown numbers go to voicemail, give your email and bank their own unique passwords, and turn on two-step verification (2FA — an extra code, usually texted to your phone, that proves it is really you signing in). Tap or tick each box as you finish it.
☐ Done when… the code word, call tree, and wallet card are filled in, and every box on the hygiene checklist is checked.
Freeze your credit — it is free, and it is powerful (Part 4, page 7). A credit freeze stops anyone — including you — from opening new credit in your name until you lift it with a PIN (a short secret number). It costs nothing, it does not hurt your credit score, and you can lift it in minutes when you apply for something yourself. Place a freeze at all three bureaus (a bureau is one of the big companies that keeps credit reports): Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. While you are there, pull your free credit reports — they are free every week — at AnnualCreditReport.com and make sure nothing strange is already listed.
☐ Done when… all three bureaus confirm your freeze, and you have saved each PIN somewhere safe.
Put the fridge page where everyone can see it (page 11). Print the last page and stick it on the fridge: the pause drill, the reminders, and the official reporting sites, all in one place.
If a scam hits: your first 10 minutes
Stay calm and work in order. The full action sheet is Part 5 (page 8) — here is how it starts.
Stop all contact. Hang up. Do not send anything else, no matter what the caller promises.
Call your bank now. Use the number on the back of your card — never a number the caller gave you. Ask the bank to freeze or close the affected account and flag the transactions. The sooner you call, the more they can stop — this call matters more than any other step.
Change passwords from a clean device. If you gave someone access to your phone or computer, use a different device you trust. Start with email, then the bank, then everything else — and turn on two-step verification as you go.
Then work the rest of Part 5 (page 8), top to bottom: call about any wire, gift cards, or crypto right away; file a local police report; freeze your credit if you shared personal information; and tell a family member, so two sets of eyes are watching.
Report it to the federal agencies. Report scams at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Report internet crime to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov. If you shared identity documents, IdentityTheft.gov will build you a personal recovery plan, step by step.
☐ Done when… the bank has been called, passwords are changed, and at least one report is filed.
Fill in the incident log
The incident log is on page 11, right after the action sheet. Fill it in while everything is fresh — your bank, the police, and the agencies will ask for exactly these details. Tap each field and type: the date and time it happened, the name the caller used, the phone number, email, or website they used, their story, what you sent or shared, the amount, and the bank affected. As you make your calls, add the date and time you called the bank, the name of the representative you spoke with, your report numbers, and the next steps you were given.
☐ Done when… every field has an answer — "none" or "not yet" counts, as long as it is written down.
Tips
Keep the guide near the phone. It was written to be grabbed mid-worry, not shelved.
Practice with the grandparents, too. The family emergency scam targets them by name. Ten minutes setting up their code word and wallet card is one of the kindest tech favors you can do.
Refresh the code word when life changes — a new family member, a move, or any time it may have been said in front of strangers.
There is no shame in this house. The note about blame on page 8 says it best: the people who get caught are smart people who got caught on a busy day by someone who does this for a living. Reporting what happened is how the next family gets protected.
Caller ID can be faked. Scammers can make a call display your bank's real name and number — the trick is called spoofing. If a call about your money feels off, hang up and call the number on the back of your card yourself. When you place the call, you know who answered.
Watch the holiday traps. Every November and December bring fake package-delivery texts, too-cheap gift stores, look-alike charities, and requests to buy gift cards for someone. Our free Scam Alerts page walks through each one.
Still stuck? Email penniestodreams@gmail.com with your device, the app you're using, and a screenshot of what you see — we'll get you sorted.
This guide is educational — general information about common scams, not legal, financial, or law-enforcement advice.