Painting a picture of personal finance, without the monthly budget

Budgeting finances on a monthly basis is often recommended, but it’s hard. Every day, people sit down and try to figure out how they will be foreseeing their allocations through the next billing cycle.

But when there are unmet expectations, the overwhelming feeling of pressure arises, and in turn debt can begin to pile up.

The D.C. area has a high cost of living, which means budgeting can be an exhausting burden. Those in the city and surrounding areas have learned the right tactics on how to save accordingly, but prices add up and things can go left quickly.

Lori Atwood is drawing on experience consulting members of the community on their finances for almost two decades in the metro area to prevent this from happening. With Fearless Finance, she created a tool to decrease the number of debt-ridden households. Or, in her words, “be the plumber that fixes; not a wrench that’s thrown in to fix things temporarily.”

Lori Atwood (Courtesy photo)

Recently-launched Fearless Finance is, at its core, a website and app created to fill in the gap between monthly expectations and everyday realities.

It doesn’t require budgeting out consistent expenses. Instead, personal finance data is broken down into five categories to show a user’s current financial situation. Users also have the option to link bank or credit card accounts, and it only has to be run once a year, or when there is a major life change. A year’s subscription shows projected goals, and offers specific recommendations.

When it comes to monthly habits, the mobile app tracks two categories of spending: discretionary spending and groceries.

The platform, offered on a subscription basis, is aimed towards everyday working people who need financial advice, predominantly people ages 25-45 who dream of financial freedom.

“Anyone can be financially secure and you don’t have to have a budget to do it,” Atwood stated in a press release.