ChooseFI Identify Financial Leaks: And How to Build and Use A Value Matrix
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Mar 9, 2026 They walk through a simple expense audit to uncover hidden monthly leaks. A value matrix is used to sort spending by joy and cost to decide what to keep, trim, or cut. Practical tools like YNAB and Monarch and tactics such as meal planning and quarterly checks get highlighted. Community benchmarks and real examples show how small leaks add up.
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Run A Quick Expense Audit Now
- Do an expense audit for a recent 1–2 month window to find hidden spending leaks.
- Jonathan and Brad launched a community challenge for February–March and report ~200 participants already finishing the audit.
Judge Purchases By Your 10 Year Future Self
- Value spending through a long horizon lens by asking if your 10–20 year future self would appreciate the purchase.
- Jonathan warns purchases often lock out future options and urges inspection, not deprivation.
Tom Found $12.5K In Annual Spending Leaks
- Tom discovered his household spent $25,000 more last year versus prior years, with $12.5K unexplained as spending leaks.
- He used the audit to recalibrate his true FI number and hunt down the unvalued spending.
