"I didn't overspend this month, so why aren't my savings growing?"
"I'm in the black every month, but my bank account doesn't reflect it."
There is a structural reason for this feeling.
"TruthCost" (Total Cost of Ownership) is the true cost of maintaining your lifestyle. It includes not just your rent and groceries, but also irregular expenses (like next year's vehicle inspection) and the prorated monthly cost of durable goods you will inevitably have to replace—like your car or smartphone.
These costs don't show up on a standard monthly budget, but as an economic reality, you are paying for them right now.
For example, let's say you buy a $30,000 car and plan to use it for 5 years.
Here is how the two metrics view "the month after buying a car."
In corporate accounting, it is standard practice to record the cost of capital investments as "depreciation" in monthly expenses. A company doesn't expense a new building or machine all at once in the month it was purchased. They divide the cost over its useful life and expense it gradually.
The exact same thing is happening in your personal life. Your smartphone, car, and refrigerator don't lose their cost the moment you buy them; they are degrading the entire time you use them. The concept of calculating this "asset depreciation" simply hasn't been mainstream in personal finance—until now.
From there, whether you choose to increase your income or restructure your lifestyle costs is entirely up to you.
TruthCost.calc is simply a tool designed to calculate the raw "numbers" needed for you to make that rational decision.
TruthCost varies wildly depending on your lifestyle.
Enter a few numbers to uncover your "true monthly cost."