Ever notice how every time your income grows, you somehow find new ways to spend it? What should feel like progress ends up feeling exactly the same. That’s Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time available, and expenses expand to fill the income available.

The fix isn’t discipline — it’s structure. When you allocate money into dedicated accounts before it hits your operating account, you remove the temptation. The operating account is smaller, so expenses stay smaller. Profit First works because it uses Parkinson’s Law against itself. Give yourself less to spend, and you’ll spend less — automatically.