The Accounting in People's Heads

Research-led coverage of mental accounting, financial diaries, and how households organize income from multiple sources.

Latest Reports

Behavioral Economics

Mental Accounting and the Label Effect

Decades of research suggest that people treat money differently depending on where it came from. The implications for supplementary earners are still debated.

Read report → Household Finance

What Financial Diaries Reveal About Income Swings

Tracking projects like the U.S. Financial Diaries have changed how researchers think about income stability — but the method has real limits.

Read report → Decision Science

Pre-Commitment and the Envelope

From physical envelopes to digital buckets, earmarking money before it arrives has measurable effects on spending — and measurable dropout rates.

Read report →
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Common Questions

Steady Ledger publishes research summaries and editorial coverage focused on mental accounting, household financial behavior, and how people categorize income from multiple sources. All content cites named researchers and published studies.
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Questions or Corrections

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