You get a notification from your bank: your paycheck just cleared. For a moment, the number feels reassuring. Then the computation begins. Housing. Utilities. Groceries. Gas. The credit card payment due next week. Money arrives as one lump-sum balance and it tries to do separate jobs with the same money. People spend the rest of the month mentally dividing a number their bank never structured correctly in the first place.
This is the hidden limitation inside conventional banking. A checking account tells you how much you have, but how much alone isn’t enough. Your balance doesn’t tell you how long the money needs to last, what it’s already committed to, or whether spending today creates instability later in the month. The burden of maintaining all those competing demands falls entirely on the household.
One balance is trying to represent obligations, discretionary spending, future goals, and long-term commitments simultaneously.
That’s why people build workarounds. Multiple bank accounts. Spreadsheets. Budgeting tools. Credit cards to smooth timing mismatches between income and bills. Each approach exists to compensate for the same structural problem. One balance is trying to represent obligations, discretionary spending, future goals, and long-term commitments simultaneously.
Most financially responsible people still struggle under this model, because "when" (timing) matters as much as "how much" (quantity). A bill clears earlier than expected. A paycheck arrives late. An annual subscription renews after everyone forgot about it. Every dollar in the account has competing claims against it from day one. And the system treats them as equally available until the moment they disappear. The trouble starts with money itself–because it doesn't know how long (duration) it needs to last.
Magnitude makes time an inherent property of money.
Magnitude knows how often you get paid. If your paycheck lands twice a month, say on the 15th and the 30th, the full amount of your mortgage has to be ready by the 1st. So, Magnitude sets aside half your mortgage from your first paycheck and half from your second, holding both portions in your housing account so neither can be spent on anything else by accident. By the time the 1st rolls around, the money is already there.
So, when income arrives, it organizes money into purpose-bound reserves before spending begins. [CROSS-LINK: Money is missing something.] The typical household spends roughly 80% of what it earns on recurring needs like housing, utilities, car payments, and insurance, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Magnitude's default sets aside 85%, funding those needs first with room to spare. The remaining 15% gets allocated to wants, goals, and investing, with 5% to each by default. Every percentage is yours to adjust.
Most financial systems become intelligent after you spend money. Magnitude becomes intelligent before you spend money.
With Magnitude, each account is part of one coordinated system. If priorities change halfway through the month, you can make tradeoffs dynamically, in real time in the app.
Most financial systems become intelligent after you spend money. Magnitude becomes intelligent before you spend money. The system organizes income around timing, obligations, and purpose. You no longer have to continuously simulate your financial future in your head every time you pull out a card to buy something.
Now you can send your whole paycheck into the future, where your money already knows what it’s for, instead of sending half your paycheck to the past for everything you used to put on credit.
