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From Across the Table with Kenneth Botwe
You can earn $50,000, $60,000, even $100,000 a year and still feel broke by the 25th. On the first episode of Across the Table, our new remote-guest series, Esther sat down over Zoom with Kenneth Botwe, author of Why You Can’t Get Ahead Financially and creator of Financial Metabolism, to talk about why.
His answer is simple and a little uncomfortable: the problem usually isn’t what you make. It’s what your income becomes.
Read the magazine feature: Kenneth Botwe and the Kerosene Lesson
Where every paycheck goes
Kenneth says income can only go three places:
- Consumption: spent and gone.
- Debt reduction: paying down what you owe, which frees future income.
- Growth: savings, retirement and assets.
When almost everything lands in consumption, a raise doesn’t fix anything. Your lifestyle quietly absorbs it. That’s how someone can “make $40,000 or $50,000 a year and build wealth if they’re intentional,” in Kenneth’s words, while someone else makes six figures and lives paycheck to paycheck.
Step one: measure
“You cannot improve on anything that you don’t measure.” Take a pen and paper and write down your take-home pay, then every expense, line by line. Essentials like housing, transportation, utilities and groceries are non-negotiable. Everything else gets a closer look.
Esther’s shortcut if you don’t want to dig through old statements: look forward instead. For one month, put every purchase on one card, then print the statement. That’s your honest account. (Use a debit card or pay the card off every week; this is a tracking tool, not a reason to carry a balance.)
Step two: find the financial leakage
Financial leakage is money spent on things that aren’t improving your life or moving you forward. Kenneth’s most common leaks:
- Subscriptions you barely use
- High-interest debt you haven’t renegotiated
- Lifestyle inflation: every raise absorbed by an upgrade
- Storage and other things you pay to keep
- Insurance and phone plans you haven’t shopped in years (Esther’s addition)
A $50 to $300 monthly leak becomes $600 to $3,600 a year. And Kenneth’s challenge stands: “If you don’t find any leakage, contact me… I haven’t met anyone that didn’t have any.”
Step three: redirect, in order
Once you plug a leak, give that money a job. Kenneth’s order:
- Stop the leaks (that’s where the money comes from)
- Emergency fund: start small, build toward six months
- 401(k) match: “that’s free money”
- Roth IRA
- Investing, business or real estate
Carrying high-interest debt? Split recovered money between paying it down and a starter emergency fund. For the payoff itself, pick snowball (smallest balance first) or avalanche (highest interest first) and stick with it.
Step four: test it for three months
Don’t overcorrect. Run the new plan for three consecutive months, dial it back if it’s too aggressive, then reassess every three months. Plans change, new offers appear and new leaks sneak in.
Financial freedom isn’t being rich
“It just means that you’re able to generate enough cash flow to take care of your expenses.” Kenneth’s number might be $5,000 a month; yours might be $6,000. “You never get there if you don’t start. So don’t be stressed out, but do get started.”
Get the free Money Leak Finder
We turned this conversation into an illustrated, printable 7-day walkthrough: the Day 1 measuring sheet, the leak finder table with the ×12 column, the redirect ladder, a snowball vs. avalanche planner, your freedom number and a 3-month check-in calendar.
Get the free Money Leak Finder
Or comment LEAK on any of our Instagram or Facebook posts and we’ll send it to you.
Free for a limited time as part of the Across the Table Kit.
Go deeper with Kenneth
- Take his free 2-minute Financial Metabolism assessment (stage, rate, score, diagnosis and a “prescription”): financialmetabolism.com
- His book and coaching: kennethbotwe.com
- His interviews: YouTube @KennethBotwe1
Produced and edited by The Broker’s Table Studio. Want your own interview produced like this? See our interview packages.
This post is for education and conversation only and is not individual financial, tax or investment advice.