Filed under → The Autopilot

You do not need discipline. You need a standing order.

One saver moves a little every payday and forgets about it. The other promises four times as much and does it when they remember.

Small enough that you would not notice it leaving.
3 of 12
Autopilot
$1,300

Willpower
$600

After one year $700 ahead

Discipline has to show up seven months out of twelve

Not to win. To draw level. The crossover is the same month whatever you type.

Autopilot, 26 paydays $1,300
Willpower, 3 months $600

The amount is not the variable. You are.

Everybody argues about whether it should be $50 or $200. The size of the promise never decides this. How many times it gets kept does.

A standing order keeps it 26 times a year, for four minutes of setup. It has no opinion about you at all.

So "I am not disciplined enough" is usually true and does not matter. Decide once instead of twelve times.

Four minutes, once

01 Pick the day after

Not payday. The day after, before you have looked at the balance and decided how much of it is spendable.

02 Set it too low

An amount you resent gets canceled in March. One you forget about is still running in December.

03 Send it out of reach

A different account, no card attached. Friction is the point.

How this is calculated

Autopilot is your amount times 26 paydays. Paid twice a month instead? Use 24. Nothing else here changes.

Willpower is four times your amount, times the months you picked. The four is a handicap in its favor: the promise is always bigger than the transfer, which is why it does not survive a bad month.

The crossover is 26 ÷ 4, so seven months, and it is seven whatever you type. Deposits only, no interest. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

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