Tax refund season has a predictable problem: the money gets spent mentally before it ever arrives. Jessica Moorhouse says writing it down before it lands changes the outcome.

Her ratio is 80 to 90 percent toward something responsible and 10 to 20 percent toward something just for you. Jessica Moorhouse calls the alternative frugality fatigue: budget too strictly for too long and you will eventually blow it on something you will regret, the same way an overly strict diet ends in a binge. Fun money is not optional. It belongs in the budget because without it, people eventually rebel.

On the responsible side, Jessica Moorhouse sequences the refund as emergency fund first, high-interest debt second, then RRSP, with the FHSA taking priority over the RRSP for anyone who has one.

Topics: tax refund Canada, frugality fatigue, budgeting tips, digital envelope budgeting, RRSP FHSA

GUEST: Jessica Moorhouse | http://jessicamoorhouse.com

Originally aired on2026-05-04