Separate accounts
Keeping day-to-day spending, the cushion and savings in different places. Seeing a balance that is not spendable stops you spending it.
In the chapter
So the plan does not depend on your willpower
From the same chapter
- Pay yourself firstSetting aside savings on payday, not from what is left at month end. Nothing is ever left: that is why the order is the whole rule.
- Scheduled transferAn automatic recurring move between your accounts. It turns an intention into a fact without spending willpower.
- Deliberate frictionDeliberately putting obstacles between you and a bad decision. It works better than discipline because it does not depend on how you feel that day.