Quick question.
Without looking at your phone — what's your net monthly income? Your exact total monthly expenses? Your total debt balance across every card and loan?
If you couldn't answer all three off the top of your head, you're not alone. Most people can't. And that's not a character flaw — it's a setup problem. Nobody told you these were the numbers that matter.
Today we fix that.
Number 1: Net Monthly Income
Not your salary. Not your hourly rate times 40 hours times 52 weeks. What actually hits your bank account every month after taxes, benefits, and deductions are pulled out.
This is your real number. Everything you build has to fit inside it.
How to find it: Look at your last two direct deposits. Average them. That's your net monthly income. If your income varies (side hustle, tips, gig work), take the last 3 months and average those.
Write it down. Put a dollar sign in front of it. That's your baseline.
Number 2: Monthly Expenses
Every single thing you pay for on a recurring basis. Rent. Car payment. Insurance. Phone. Subscriptions. Minimum debt payments. Groceries. Gas.
Not what you think you spend. What you actually spend.
How to find it: Open your bank app. Go back 30 days. Add up everything that went out. Every transaction. Yes, even that $14.99 you forgot was still charging you.
Most people find they're spending $200–$400 more per month than they estimated. That gap — between what you think you spend and what you actually spend — is where financial plans go to die.
Number 3: Total Debt Balance
Every credit card. Every personal loan. Every car note. Every medical bill in collections. Every "buy now pay later" plan. Add them all up. One number.
This is the number most people actively avoid looking at. I get it. It's uncomfortable. But you cannot map a route out of debt if you don't know the starting point.
How to find it: Log into every account. Write down the current balance for each one. Add them together. If you're not sure of all your accounts, pull your free credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com — it lists every open account.
That number isn't a verdict on who you are. It's just data. And data is something we can work with.
What These 3 Numbers Tell You Together
Once you have all three, you can calculate the two most important gaps in personal finance:
Gap 1 → Income minus expenses
If this is positive: you have money to work with.
If this is zero or negative: expenses need to come down before anything else can happen.
Gap 2 → How long to pay off total debt
Take your total debt balance. Divide by how much you could realistically put toward debt each month. That's your rough timeline. It might feel long. That's okay. Knowing it is better than guessing.
Your Action Step Today
Find all 3 numbers before you go to bed tonight.
Net income. Total monthly expenses. Total debt balance.
Write them down somewhere you'll see them. Screenshot this email if you need to. These three numbers are the foundation of everything we build together in Credit Stan.
You can't fix what you can't see. Now you can see it.
Tomorrow we build the budget around these numbers. Watch the video → @CREDITSTAN
— Mya, Credit Stan
No judgment. Just the system.