Welcome to my small corner of the world wide web.
This is a place for all things money: learning how to manage it, save it, grow it, and to generally feel confident about it.
I firmly believe that anyone (and everyone) can take control of their money and take strides towards financial independence today — provided that they have access to the right education and the right tools.
To that end, this site features:
- A step-by-step guide to everything you need to know about managing your money (building an emergency fund, tracking your budget, paying down debt, investing to build wealth, and more). Start here!
- Simple-to-use tools to plan your financial future
- Real-world data sets to inform the plans that you make
Everything on this site is completely free, and will always remain so. There’s no “premium” content to buy, and you won’t have to give me your email address to get “special bonuses”.
Personal finance education is so important, yet so ignored. The skills needed to understand and control your finances are a few short steps away. Let’s get started.
The Measure of a Plan Has Been Featured In:
(click for article)
User Testimonials
“Thank you SO MUCH for all your work!
I went through the “Moonshine Money” steps until 2AM yesterday and it just seems that my life is so much more in order. Not that I was in a bad place before but the whole picture of my finances and goals is so much clearer thanks to your amazing spreadsheets (by far the best I have found on the Internet).”
-Jeremie B., from Montreal, Quebec
“I’m so glad I found The Measure of a Plan’s financial tools! My previous budgeting efforts had been thwarted by Mint’s ad-heavy interface, their constant connection issues – and I didn’t like that the company had all my financial data. The Measure of a Plan’s budgeting spreadsheet was exactly what I was looking for, though you can also customize it for your own situation if necessary.
Best of all, the creator is on hand to answer questions or incorporate improvements as they’re suggested.”
-Amaya L., from Houston, Texas
“As a fellow financial nerd I have been the one in my group of family/friends that has made models in the past, but now I just direct people to your site!”
-Joseph B., from Toronto, Ontario
“I absolutely love the Budget Tracking tool and get a real kick out of reviewing the dashboard every week or so.
The tool has been awesome to me and I again wanted to thank you kindly for sharing it. I’ve been saving AND earning more than before. It’s made me more excited about earning money and creating extra cash flow through side hustles.”
-Lukas I., from Toronto, Ontario
“I’ll just say that as far as accuracy goes, the Retirement Date Forecasting tool passed my scrutiny! It returned the same results I’d reached with my own spreadsheet calculations (coast at 40, fully retire by 50)… it just did it in a much prettier fashion! 😀
I even managed to get my husband excited to look at this – job well done!”
-S. B., from Grande Prairie, Alberta
“I am an accounting graduate studying for my CPA while in a one-year MBA program in Charleston, SC. Due to my accounting background and being a student, budgeting is one of my favorite curses. Ever since my first paycheck I have been religious in reconciling my expenses and budget weekly.
This used to consist of time intensive formula building and lots of frustration with unintentional mistakes often occurring. A couple of months ago I came across the Budget Tracking tool from The Measure of a Plan.
I downloaded the tool not expecting much, since a lot of budget tools don’t always fit my needs or cater to the design I had in mind. I was pleasantly surprised when after 10-15 minutes I was able to get accustomed to the Tracking tool. I’ve expedited my reconciling process exponentially. The ease of use and applicable format make it the most used tool in my budgeting toolbox.”
-Michael P., from Birmingham, Alabama
“I just wanted to thank you again for this spreadsheet! In the last year I have been to change my spending habits and deposit more money in savings. I even eradicated credit card debt, finished paying off one of my college loans and raised my credit score.”
-Pammi, from Maryland
A Bit About Me
I’m a Canadian working in the finance industry, and I started The Measure of a Plan in November 2017. Through this project, I hope to use my knowledge for good, and help others to take control of their financial well-being.
For several years I’ve been reading about personal finance (books, news, blogs…), building spreadsheet tools to manage my money, and inching my way towards financial independence.
For better or worse, I spend a lot of time thinking about personal finance. On the bus, in the shower, during dull moments at work — I can’t be helped.
So, instead of subjecting my loved ones to rants on the importance of budgeting and the beauty of compound interest, I’ll use this space to vent.
Thank you for bearing with me.
If you want to chat, you can reach me on Twitter, or via email at themeasureofaplan@gmail.com.
If you’d like to support what I do, you can buy me a coffee or beer by clicking the little blue button below. Any contributions are an immense aid in keeping this site up and running with fresh & free financial content!