Take Control of Your Money: Track Your Spending and Find Your Gap | RFS 2026 Week 1

Most people have no idea where their money actually goes each month. In Week 1 of Rebel Finance School, Alan and Katie Donegan show you how to find out – and how to use that knowledge to build a gap between what you earn and what you spend, the foundation of every path to financial freedom.

We’re not going to show you how to cut all joy from your life. Far from it! We’ll show you how to spend intentionally in a way that aligns with what actually matters to you, while quietly taking control of your finances in the background.

In this session you’ll start to:
• see exactly where your money goes each month
• understand the gap between your income and spending
• learn why that gap matters so much for everything that follows
• start thinking more clearly about spending, habits, and what is really worth paying for
• be able to apply the Rule of 194 and the 752 Weekly Expense Rule to see the true long-term cost of subscriptions and habits
• know how to protect that gap from lifestyle inflation as your income grows
• have real clarity on your personal “why” for taking control of your finances

This video is part of the 10-week Rebel Finance School course. For the accompanying notes, spreadsheets, and bonus material, sign up here: https://rebeldonegans.com/finance/rfs/

🔗 Links

What’s your gap? Poll
https://forms.gle/PTz3UHMrusycPXps5

10 ways to increase your income – https://rebeldonegans.com/finance/take-control/10-ways-to-increase-your-income/

Salary trap: break free and boost income: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnLERnl4iLU

The Rebel Finance School Leak Hunt: Tell us what leaks you found
https://forms.gle/NXM9VCPjQNi7txti7

How to talk to your partner about money
https://rebeldonegans.com/blog/how-to-talk-to-your-partner-about-money/

Mission control (course notes, links, resources, Freedom Work and more)

Sign up to the course: https://rebeldonegans.com/finance/rfs/

Rebel Finance School Facebook group
See more

Get 30 minute before the session reminder emails with links to join the course

Thursday Week 1 session (4th June 8pm UK time). How to track your spending without overwhelm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxzd8D9VB1U

Create a gap by the Rebelutionaries

0:00 Welcome to Rebel Finance School 2026
0:12 Start with your why
1:26 The head in the sand technique
1:58 The retirement challenge
2:24 Lifetime earnings: where does the money go?
6:15 The purpose of Rebel Finance School
6:44 Disclaimer: education, not advice
7:15 How to ask questions and get support
8:12 Keep more of what you earn
8:21 What is the gap?
11:19 Negative, zero and positive gaps
11:51 What is your gap? Live poll
13:36 Lifestyle inflation explained
16:20 Why income does not equal wealth
18:30 It does not hurt to earn more, just keep some
19:36 How the gap buys freedom
20:59 The Rebel Financial Freedom Map
22:56 Why we do not start with investing
24:07 Wax on, wax off: trust the order
25:54 How to calculate your gap
28:06 Why track your spending?
28:25 Shall we look? Where does the money go?
31:17 Surprise bills are often predictable
32:10 You either know, or you do not
33:35 Challenge is not an attack
34:15 What gets measured gets improved
34:30 Know your retirement target
36:21 Am I too old to start?
37:58 Spot mistakes and duplicate charges
38:36 Make tracking fun
39:36 Subscription creep and death by a thousand cuts
41:20 True cost formulas: 840 and 194
42:54 Sky package example
44:30 Greggs example: weekly spending adds up
46:44 These sums only work if you invest the money
48:12 The true cost can be years of work
50:32 Tracking is knowledge and power
51:22 The Great Leak Hunt 2026
57:48 The pleasure swap
59:15 Week 1 recap
1:00:53 Freedom work mission
1:04:06 Keen-bean freedom work
1:06:04 If you only do one thing
1:08:36 Thursday workshop: tracking systems
1:09:02 Mission Control, AI help and Facebook group
1:11:03 Course roadmap and what comes next
1:13:48 Closing message: flip the order
1:16:53 Do not compare your pineapples
1:19:08 Find, protect and grow the gap
1:20:56 Thank you to the team
1:21:48 Theme tune: Create a Gap
1:24:07 Goodnight YouTube
1:24:40 Zoom after-party begins

Disclaimer: We are not financial advisers 💼 This is not financial advice 💰. We are not regulated. We are not trained financial advisors 🎓 We are never going to try and sell you any investments 🛍️ You make your decisions 💭 Sharing our opinions and ideas 💡 These ideas may not continue to work for us or for you. You are 100% responsible for your financial future 💸 There are no guarantees here. For our full disclaimer, please visit: https://rebeldonegans.com/about-us/disclaimers/

#rfs26 #rebelfinanceschool #PersonalFinance #FinancialLiteracy #FinancialIndependence #TheDonegans #spendinghabits #financialfreedom #financialfreedomuk

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