Lesson 22 of 25 · 6 min
How those payments become one unaffordable month
Each payment can fit its own test and the month still fail when a second claim arrives.
Lesson 21's five payments sum to $1,030.52. Put them against cash left after rent of $1,840. They fit: $1,840 − $1,030.52 = $809.48 still standing. Add a $640 repair in the same month: claims become $1,030.52 + $640 = $1,670.52. Still fits: $1,840 − $1,670.52 = $169.48. Add a lost shift of $420: remaining cash is $1,840 − $420 = $1,420 against $1,670.52. Gap $250.52.
Each of the five payments was affordable against $1,840. The repair was affordable against $1,840 after the five. The month was not, once the income side moved by $420. Track 9 lesson 1 is a failed test from two numbers. Here the two numbers are remaining cash and the stacked claims. The test failed because the denominator fell and the numerator had already grown. Neither move was a rate change.
The $250.52 is not a judgment about any one payment. It is a shortfall. The five lines did not become larger. The repair did not become larger. Cash after the lost shift is $1,420, and $1,670.52 does not fit inside $1,420. Capacity on a household clock is that comparison, the same shape as a maintenance test, pointed at a month rather than at a securities account.
Each payment fitted. The month did not. The gap is $250.52, from $1,670.52 of claims against $1,420 of cash.
Key terms
- Cash left after rent
- The month's remaining cash before the stacked claims. On this page, $1,840, then $1,420 after a lost shift.
- Stacked claims
- The five payments plus the repair. $1,670.52. The numerator of the month's test.
- Gap
- Claims minus remaining cash when the test fails. Here $1,670.52 − $1,420 = $250.52.
Worked example
Two additions, then a subtraction, then a gap
Cash left after rent $1,840. Five payments $1,030.52. Then a $640 repair. Then a $420 lost shift.
- Five payments against $1,840
- Fits
- Plus $640 repair
- $1,670.52
- Cash after $420 lost shift
- $1,420
- Claims still
- $1,670.52
- Gap
- $250.52
Remainder $809.48.
Still fits. Remainder $169.48.
$1,840 − $420.
$1,670.52 − $1,420. Each payment was affordable. The month was not.
The five lines did not grow. The repair did not grow. Cash fell by $420 and the test failed by $250.52.
Check yourself
Cash left after rent $1,480. Five payments sum to $670. A $520 repair posts in the same month. A lost shift of $360 then cuts cash. What are the stacked claims, the remaining cash, and the gap?
The unaffordable month is a shortfall from two numbers, cash versus claims, Track 9 lesson 1's failed test on a household clock. Open A call is a test failing, not a decision being made →
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Educational only. Nothing in this lesson is investment, legal or tax advice, or a recommendation to enter into any transaction. Figures are illustrative and computed from the inputs stated in the lesson.