Back in early 2019, I noticed something odd while helping my neighbor sort through his winter heating bills. Every December, he'd panic. Every June, he'd forget. Same cycle, year after year.
That's when it hit me — most people treat their budgets like static documents. But life doesn't work that way. Seasons change, expenses shift, and yet financial education kept pretending otherwise.
Six years of learning what actually works when teaching people about money. Some lessons came easy. Most didn't.
Started with twelve people in a borrowed office space. We talked about quarterly budget reviews — the concept that your October spending shouldn't mirror your April spending. Half the room looked confused. The other half looked relieved someone finally said it out loud.
Pandemic taught us something valuable. When people suddenly had time to look at their finances, they realized they'd been following advice that didn't fit their reality. We stopped teaching generic budgeting and started focusing on seasonal adjustments. Enrollment tripled.
Our autumn 2023 cohort reported an average 23% reduction in end-of-year financial stress. Not because they earned more, but because they'd learned to anticipate and prepare for seasonal expense patterns. That's when we knew we were onto something real.
Running quarterly programs from our Sofia office. Next session starts October 2025. We're still small, still focused on practical results over flashy promises. And we're still learning — mostly from the people we teach.
These aren't miracle stories. Just folks who learned to work with the calendar instead of against it.
Petya came to us in spring 2024. Every summer, her budget collapsed — vacation costs, higher electricity bills, kids home from school. By August, she'd be using credit cards to cover basics. After learning to build a summer expense buffer during winter months, she finished summer 2024 with money left over.
Viktor's heating bills used to derail everything from November through March. He'd see the first cold snap and feel his stomach drop. In our winter 2025 program, he learned to set aside small amounts year-round specifically for heating season. This year? First time in fifteen years he didn't panic when December arrived.
Darina Radev
Financial Education Lead
I've been doing this for six years now. Started because I was tired of watching people follow advice that sounded good but didn't match how their lives actually worked.
Most financial education ignores a basic fact — your expenses change throughout the year. Your income might stay steady, but your costs don't. Heating in winter. Cooling in summer. Holiday spending in December. School supplies in September.
We teach people to map their year, identify their high-cost seasons, and build buffers during the low-cost months. It's not complicated. But it's not common either.
Our next program starts in October 2025. If you're tired of being surprised by the same expenses every year, maybe it's time to try something different.