In 2021, my world came apart (something that deserves attention, but that’s not the point of this at the moment).
By four years later I had piled up around $110,000 of mostly consumer debt — leather-business overhead, tax bills, a marital separation and divorce, and a lot of trying to fill a hole inside me with money I had, and money I didn’t. I’m not going to surgar coat that. It was the lowest stretch of my life, and for a long time I didn’t know where the bottom was and so I kept spending.
In October of 2024, God broke through, and I started to come back together (another big story to write about). In December 2025, my wife and I remarried (and yet another story to write). By this month, I had paid down close to half of what I had accumulated, and I am now on track to be debt-free by March of 2027.
I didn’t claw out of that with a budgeting app. I tried those — spreadsheets, Notion trackers, pencil and paper, anything I could get my hands on to help me organize the chaos. They all went stale within a couple of months. So I did the thing I always end up doing: I built my own. A private little web app I call the Ledger that runs my payday sessions, projects my payoff date, and hunts down the forgotten recurring charges quietly bleeding me out. It didn’t go stale. Not because it was clever, but because it was built around five specific questions instead of a dashboard full of metrics I’d never look at twice.
Splinched is the book I wrote about all of it. The story behind the system, the method that runs it, and a full working toolkit I can give to those who need it.
It’s honest about the parts that aren’t tidy. It’s honest about God moving in my life, because that’s what actually happened. And it’s not for everyone — if you want to track every dollar in every category, you already have better tools than mine. It’s the book I needed when I was carrying six figures and didn’t know where to start.
Here’s what’s in the bundle:
- The book — just over 120 pages (~2.5 hour reading time), my voice, the story and the method.
- The Projection & Sandbox app — model your debt-free date and play with the what-ifs: an extra monthly attack, some side income, a windfall. Runs in your browser. Nothing leaves your device. This was an absolute game changer for me when I saw the reality, and then used the sandbox to see what was needed to hit my goal date. You can play with it using demo data now if you’d like.
- The Ledger Spreadsheet — the spreadsheet version of my private app. No coding. This helps to keep an eye on your total balance due, your cash runway, interest burn, recurring and known expenses, etc.
- The Leak-Hunt app — drop in a bank CSV and surface the recurring charges you forgot you were paying. Also browser-only; nothing gets uploaded. Take a look now using demo data.
- The Milestone Worksheet and a Daily Practice Card for payday sessions.
You don’t have to take my word for any of it. The first two chapters are free — the cover, the opening, and enough of the story to know whether it’s for you or someone you love. Read those first.
Read the first two chapters, free →
If it lands, the full bundle is $19 for the first 25 readers — founder’s pricing, this is my way of thanking the people who buy in first, whether to support my writing or to use it for themselves or to give as a gift. After that it’s $39. And if it’s not for you, reply to your receipt within 30 days and I’ll refund you, no friction.
Get the bundle — Founder $19 →
I built this because the tools I needed didn’t exist, and then I figured the book might be the thing someone else needs so that they don’t feel like they are alone and without options. If that someone is you, I’m glad you’re here and I am rooting for you.
— Aaron
