Priority Creep Alarm
Use the words I deserve as a warning to protect your top goal
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 96%
Declare one financial objective as the top priority for the current season, such as a house deposit or equipment for a business. Expect other attractive uses of money to compete with it. The diagnostic signal is hearing yourself say I deserve, especially when the phrase is followed by creative logic that makes an optional purchase feel harmless. Pause and compare the choice directly with the declared objective: what amount leaves the goal, and how much time does that add? Then either protect the original priority or consciously replace it. The mechanism prevents priority creep from happening through a series of unexamined exceptions. It does not ban enjoyment; it forces an honest choice between the current want and the goal already given first place.
Origin
Warshaw connected the online joke of girl math to an I deserve mentality that lets weddings, treats, and other wants overtake a previously declared savings goal.
Core principles
- 01Every financial season needs a declared top priority
- 02Competing wants constantly fight for the top slot
- 03The phrase I deserve often signals post-hoc justification
- 04Small diversions increase the time and dropout risk of a goal
How to run it
- 1
Declare the season
Choose the single financial objective that receives first claim on available money for a defined period.
Pro tip Give the goal a number and a date.
Watch out Multiple number-one priorities make the rule meaningless.
- 2
Hear the alarm
Treat the words I deserve as a signal to stop and inspect the decision before spending.
Pro tip Notice creative justifications such as discounts, shared rooms, or future savings.
Watch out A discounted purchase still uses money.
- 3
Price the displacement
Calculate how much the optional choice removes from the priority and how long replacing it will take.
Pro tip Translate the spend into days or weeks added to the goal.
Watch out Do not evaluate the purchase in isolation from what it replaces.
- 4
Choose explicitly
Keep the top goal or deliberately revise it; do not let the new want win by default.
Watch out Repeated conscious revisions may reveal that the stated goal is not truly the priority.
In the wild
Someone saving $20,000 to open a salon is invited to a destination wedding. Sharing a room and finding discounts make the trip sound efficient, but the total still removes money from the salon fund. Pricing the delay lets them decline, reduce the trip, or openly move the launch date instead of pretending nothing changed.
→ The competing commitment is judged against the business goal rather than through creative justification.
Common mistakes
Calling every pleasure irresponsible
The rule protects a chosen priority; it does not require eliminating planned enjoyment that fits around it.
Ignoring the cumulative delay
Each exception may look small while their combined effect makes the goal slow enough to abandon.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for savers who repeatedly make reasonable-sounding exceptions and then wonder why progress is slow.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for essential spending or a deliberate reprioritisation based on changed circumstances.
From the transcript
“work at it as though that's the number one priority because all day long other things are going to fight for that top slot on…”
“you've girl mathed yourself right out of what you said was the top priority”
“when you start to sense or hear yourself say I deserve that should be the warning signal”
From the episode
Jade Warshaw: Break Free from Debt and Unlock Financial Freedom in 2026
Jade Warshaw