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Life Support vs. Lifestyle Split Calculator
Understand where your money is going: essentials vs. extras
♥ Life Support: Your Essentials
✨ Lifestyle: Your Choices
Your money naturally divides into two buckets: what keeps your life running (Life Support) and what makes it meaningful (Lifestyle). Most people have never seen this split clearly.
Enter every monthly expense honestly. Do not judge the numbers as you go. The goal right now is clarity, not perfection. You cannot change what you cannot see.
Look at your split. Is it what you expected? Are your Lifestyle choices intentional, or are they automatic? Use this insight to decide where your next dollar should go.
Glossary of Terms
- Life Support
- The PTL term for essential, non-negotiable monthly expenses. These are costs that, if unpaid, would directly threaten your housing, safety, health, or financial standing.
- Lifestyle
- The PTL term for discretionary monthly spending: the choices you make with money left after Life Support is covered. These are real and valid expenses, but they are optional by definition.
- Money Split
- The percentage breakdown of your total spending between Life Support and Lifestyle. There is no universal "right" split. Clarity is the goal, not judgment.
- Poise
- A Plan To Live AI tool that reads your actual bank or credit card statement and categorizes every transaction for you, automatically mapping your money without manual entry.
- Discretionary Spending
- Money spent on wants rather than needs. Discretionary spending is not bad. Unexamined discretionary spending is where most financial leakage happens.
- Fixed vs. Variable Expenses
- Fixed expenses are the same amount each month (rent, loan payment). Variable expenses change month to month (groceries, fuel, dining). Both categories exist in Life Support and Lifestyle.
- TFSA / RRSP (Canada)
- Registered savings accounts that can hold a range of investment products. TFSA contributions grow tax-free. RRSP contributions reduce your taxable income in the year of contribution.
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Prepared by Plan to Live Inc., this material offers general information on legal, financial, planning, and advocacy topics as of publication and is not professional advice. Readers should seek advice for their circumstances before acting, and Plan to Live Inc. and its representatives disclaim liability for errors, omissions, or reliance-related losses, including negligence.