Guide · Diagnosis
Personal Financial Diagnosis
Six steps for an honest snapshot of your situation, before any plan.
Diagnosis comes before treatment. In finance, this is the most skipped and most decisive step. Most financial plans fail by skipping the diagnosis and jumping straight to "I will save 20%". Without diagnosis, 20% of what?
Why 3 Months, Not 1?
A single month lies. There are vacations, events, one-off purchases. Three months reveal the real average, with enough variations for the number to make sense. Less than that is speculation. More than that is overengineering, you don’t need 12 months to start.
Step 1: Gather 3 Months of Statements and Bills
Download in PDF the last 3 closed months of: checking account, savings account (if active), all credit cards. If you have 2 cards and 1 account, that’s 9 PDFs. Seems like a lot. It’s less than 10 minutes.
Step 2: Calculate the Average Net Income
Sum all income from the 3 months. Include salary, freelances, dividends, tax refunds, client payments. Divide by 3. This is the real number you have to manage, not what comes out of the paycheck.
Step 3: List All Fixed Costs
Fixed cost is everything that falls monthly, regardless of what you do. List at least:
- Housing: rent or mortgage, condo fees, property tax, electricity, water, gas
- Telecom: internet, mobile plan, streaming, TV
- Health: plan, gym, therapy
- Transport: car financing, monthly vehicle tax, insurance
- Education: tuition, language, courses paid monthly
- Others: pet, club memberships, recurring donations
Step 4: Map Variable Expenses
Everything else. Groceries, delivery, Uber, dining out, shopping, gifts, travel. For the diagnosis, just group into 5-7 broad categories and look at the monthly average.
Step 5: Sum All Outstanding Debts
Here you avoid the snapshot that only looks at the current month. Sum:
- Total balance on credit card revolving (if any).
- Total of future installments already contracted on the card.
- Outstanding balance of personal loan.
- Outstanding balance of financing (car, house).
- Overdraft in use.
Step 6: Calculate Your Real Savings Rate
Simple formula: (Average net income − fixed costs − variable expenses − debt payments) / net income × 100.
| Savings Rate | Diagnosis |
|---|---|
| Negative | You are consuming wealth. Absolute priority: stop the bleeding. |
| 0% to 5% | Fragile balance. Any unforeseen event turns into debt. |
| 5% to 15% | Healthy for starting a reserve and building wealth. |
| 15% to 30% | Strong. Allows for medium-term goals. |
| Above 30% | Excellent. Focus on quality of use and investment. |
What to Do with the Diagnosis
The diagnosis is not the plan. It is the starting point. With it, you clearly answer: is the problem of the month variable spending (leisure, delivery), fixed cost (renegotiation), or inherited debt (revolving, installments)? The answer dictates where to start.
Automatic Diagnosis with MonseSend 3 months of statements. Receive the calculated diagnosis.