Learn · Article 6 of 6
Where Forgettie ends and other tools begin
Forgettie does more than list your subscriptions, but it doesn't do everything money can do. Here are both halves: what it actually helps with, and what you'll still need other tools or knowledge for.
Article 1 listed the five things money is for: earning, spending, saving, borrowing, protecting. Forgettie touches three of them in real ways. Two it leaves alone. Saying that out loud matters — a lot of money apps quietly imply they handle everything, which is one reason people end up frustrated when their finances still feel out of control.
So: an honest map of what Forgettie helps with, and what you'll need other tools or knowledge for.
What Forgettie helps with
Seeing what's coming up
The core feature, covered in detail by articles 2 and 3. You list every recurring payment once — name, amount, how often, next date — and Forgettie keeps the running list sorted by date. You can see at a glance what's about to leave your account this week, this month, or this year, including the yearly bills that don't show up in monthly budgets.
Seeing the size of it
Forgettie has a report view that puts your subscriptions in proportion. It shows what you spent this month, how that compares to last month, what your subscriptions add up to as a share of your income, and a rough five-year projection of the same charges if nothing changes.
The "share of income" framing is the part most people don't see anywhere else. "$120 a month on subscriptions" sounds different than "6% of your take-home pay" or "about 16 days of work each year just for the apps." Same money. Different feeling.
Working toward saving goals
Forgettie has a savings view, separate from the subscriptions list. You give it one or more goals — name, target amount, target date — and it tracks how much you've put aside, what percent done you are, and how long the rest will take at your current pace. It uses your forecast to do this: income coming in, recurring spending going out, the difference is what you can save each month.
This is the same "work backwards from a goal" idea article 5 introduced — Forgettie just keeps the running totals updated as your forecast updates.
Spotting price creep
Subscriptions don't just multiply over time — the ones you already have quietly raise their prices a dollar or two every renewal. Forgettie's report flags any subscription whose price has gone up recently, so you can decide whether the new price is still worth it or whether it's time to cancel.
That's the slow drift article 4 talked about, made visible.
What Forgettie doesn't help with
Five areas Forgettie deliberately stays out of. For each: a short plain-English explanation, why Forgettie skips it, and where to learn it for free.
1. Investing
Investing means putting money somewhere that might grow over years — stocks, index funds, retirement accounts, government bonds. The trade-off is that you can also lose some of it, and you usually can't get to it quickly without penalty.
Forgettie has no investment view, no portfolio tracking, no advice on what to buy. It deliberately stays out of this — the right answer depends heavily on your country, your tax situation, and your timeline, and getting it wrong on a generic basis is worse than not helping at all.
Where to learn: Khan Academy's Personal Finance course covers investing basics for free, with no sign-up needed. The r/personalfinance wiki has a step-by-step "what should I do with my money" flowchart that's been peer-reviewed by thousands of readers.
2. Insurance
Insurance is paying a small amount regularly so a big expense doesn't wreck you. Health, home, car, renter's, life. The math behind which policy is "right" depends on your specific risks, and the best policy is rarely the cheapest one.
Forgettie can track the recurring cost of a policy you already have (it's just another monthly or yearly bill) but it can't help you choose between policies, decide how much coverage you need, or compare options.
Where to learn: Your country's official consumer-protection or financial-regulator website is usually the best starting point — it'll be unbiased and free. In the U.S., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and MyMoney.gov. In the U.K., MoneyHelper. Avoid sites that exist mainly to sell you a policy.
3. Debt
If you owe money in more than one place — a credit card, a car loan, a student loan, a mortgage — there are real strategies for which one to pay off first, when to refinance, and how to avoid getting deeper. The right strategy depends on the interest rates and your cash flow.
Forgettie can show you a recurring loan payment as a fixed cost in your forecast (so you don't forget it). It does not run any of the math behind paying off debt strategically — debt avalanche, debt snowball, refinancing decisions, balance-transfer arithmetic. None of that.
Where to learn: Khan Academy's Personal Finance course again. The r/personalfinance wiki has a clear section on "paying down debt" that includes both the math and the psychology.
4. Retirement
Retirement is saving enough now to stop working later. The big numbers are far away, the rules are different in every country, and the choices you make in your 20s and 30s have a huge effect on what your 60s look like.
Forgettie does not project retirement balances, calculate withdrawal rates, or model pension options. The time horizons are wrong for the way it's built — it's designed to show you the next month or year, not the next forty.
Where to learn: If your country has a public pension or retirement system, that system's official website is usually the best free starting point. In the U.S., ssa.gov for Social Security. Beyond that, Khan Academy and the personal-finance subreddit's wiki cover the basics for several countries.
5. Taxes
Taxes are what you owe each year and how to lower them legally. Like insurance, the rules are heavily country-specific and change often. A blog post from 2018 might be useless or wrong today.
Forgettie can show you a yearly tax bill as a yearly outgoing event (this is exactly the kind of "yearly bill" article 3 was about). It cannot help you fill out a return, decide between standard and itemized deductions, or figure out whether to register as self-employed.
Where to learn: Your country's official tax authority. In the U.S., the IRS publishes free guides and runs IRS Free File for people below a certain income. In the U.K., HMRC. Most countries have an equivalent.
A short list of free, vendor-neutral places to learn
These sites don't sell anything, don't require an account to read, and have been around long enough to be trusted:
- Khan Academy — Personal Finance — short videos, free, beginner-friendly. Covers most of the topics above.
- MyMoney.gov — the U.S. government's plain-language hub. The "Five Building Blocks" framing is the same one this Learn section uses.
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — U.S. official, especially good on credit cards, loans, and avoiding scams.
- MoneyHelper — U.K. equivalent, free and impartial.
- r/personalfinance wiki — community-maintained, opinionated, but useful especially for "what should I do next" flowcharts.
If you read one or two articles a week from any of these for a couple of months, you'll know more about money than most adults. Pick one and start.
That's the end of the series
You've now read all six articles. Together, they cover what Forgettie was built for: seeing what's coming, seeing the size of it, and working toward goals on purpose. The other parts of money — investing, insurance, debt strategy, retirement, taxes — are real and important, and you can learn them for free using the links above.
If you want to skip back to the index, the hub is here. If you want to see what Forgettie itself looks like, the features page is the deep dive.