The Broke Files

step 1 / 7

store: i am b date: branch: gen z drop: 01 of many

Why you're always broke, even six days after payday

Seven interactive steps. Tap, drag, and calculate your way to the answer, using a real salary and possibly your own.

👉 Everything below is tappable. Start with the chat.

step 01 · the hook

9:41

N

Naina

online

step 02 · the guess

Before the receipts, take a guess

Naina earns ₹25,000 a month, in hand. How much do you think was left before her next payday?

Tap your guess

step 03 · do the math

Tap each expense and watch her balance fall

This is Naina's actual month. Tap a card to add it to her spending. The balance above updates live, the same way her bank account did.

Naina's balance ₹25,000

That's every rupee. ₹340 left, and payday is still a week away.

try it · your own numbers

Prefilled with Naina's numbers. Change any field to see your own month.

Monthly income

₹

Rent, your share

₹

Food delivery

₹

Subscriptions

₹

Shopping

₹

Cabs and transport

₹

Going out

₹

Other, unused stuff

₹

What you'd have left

₹340

That's about 1% of your income left before payday.

step 04 · the formula

Same income. Flip the order. Watch what happens.

Tap between the two formulas below. Both use Naina's exact ₹25,000. Only the order changes.

Income₹25,000

Minus expenses, spent all month long₹24,660

Left over, maybe, if lucky₹340

Savings is whatever survives spending. Most months, nothing does.

Income₹25,000

Minus savings, moved out on day one₹2,000

Left to spend, on purpose, all month₹23,000

Savings is decided first, before temptation gets a vote. No willpower required, just order.

step 05 · why it matters

It was never really about how much. It was about when.

Drag the slider. Two versions of Naina, both saving ₹500 a month, five years apart.

Years from today 20 years

Naina starts today₹0

Naina waits 5 years₹0

Same ₹500 a month, same 12% return. The five year head start alone is worth ₹0.

step 06 · before and after

Tap between the two versions of Naina

Spends first, saves whatever survives, which is usually nothing.

Checks her balance and gets surprised every single time.

Salary vanishes by day twenty with no clear idea where.

Savings stays a someday plan.

Saves first, the same day the salary lands.

Spending has a clear boundary for the rest of the month.

Knows exactly where every rupee is going, on purpose.

Savings is a standing order, not a mood.

step 07 · the answer

So, in one line, why is Naina always broke?

Tap the real answer

the big lesson

You don't need to earn more to save more. You need to save first and spend what's left, not the other way around.

up next on i am b

What even is an SIP, and why won't your friends stop talking about it

Drop 02 breaks down the thing Naina set up with that first ₹500, in the same no textbook, real numbers, tap through style.

{{PG}}
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