Spend the way you always do. Own a slice of where it goes.
Ballast is a planning tool for building an inflation hedge from your own spending. You choose a percent of every purchase, from 0 to 25, and that slice is set aside for investing. When you pay a public company, such as Walmart or Shell, the slice goes into that company's own stock. When you don't, it goes into a fund for that kind of spending, like groceries, gas or real estate.
Ballast is a planning tool. It is not investment, tax or legal advice, and it does not buy or sell anything for you. Investing involves risk, including loss of money.
Four purchases, set aside at 5%$11.00
Walmart$80.00WMT$4.00
Shell$45.00SHEL$2.25
Local diner$60.00PBJ$3.00
Corner grocery$35.00XLP$1.75
Public company stock Sector fund
Eight sectors cover what you spend on
Real EstateVNQ fund
GroceriesXLP fund
RestaurantsPBJ fund
GasUGA fund
Car PaymentsXLY fund
Car InsuranceIAK fund
Health & MedicalIHF fund
Everything ElseVOO fund
Funds shown are examples of the section funds Ballast uses for planning. Not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or fund. This is not investment advice.
Try one purchase
Pick where you spent, enter the amount and choose a percent. See where the slice lands.
Where you spent
$
You spend
Set aside
Example only. Not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or fund. This is not investment advice.
How it works
Your spending$220.00
Walmart$80.00
Shell$45.00
Local diner$60.00
Corner grocery$35.00
Percent of each purchase
5%
0%25%
$80.00 purchase$4.00 set aside
Where each slice goes
WalmartWMT$4.00
ShellSHEL$2.25
Local dinerPBJ$3.00
Corner groceryXLP$1.75
What you would own$11.00
WMT$4.00
PBJ$3.00
SHEL$2.25
XLP$1.75
Example only, using made-up purchases at 5%. Not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or fund. This is not investment advice.
What you get
Statements read for youUpload a CSV or PDF. Money coming in and transfers between your own accounts are left out.
Lines understood by meaning"Lexus GX loan payment" is a car loan, so it files under Car Payments and goes to Toyota.
Public or private, checkedPublic companies get their own stock. Private ones, like Barnes & Noble, go to a sector fund.
Eight sectors, eight fundsReal estate, groceries, restaurants, gas, car payments, car insurance, health and everything else.
A full holdings summarySee every stock and fund your money would own, with fees and a donut by sector.
Your call on every lineSwap any holding for a different company or fund, add a position, change dollar amounts or delete one, right in its sector card.
See what your spending would own.
Ballast is a planning tool. It does not connect to a bank or brokerage and does not place trades. This is not investment advice.
Questions, answered.
How Ballast decides where your money goes, what it does with your statements, and what it can't do.
Answers here are general information about how Ballast works. They are not investment, tax or legal advice.
No question matches that. Try a shorter word, like "fund" or "upload".
Contact us
Question we did not answer, a bug, or a company that landed in the wrong place? Write to us.
Still curious? Try it with a purchase.
Add spending
We do not store your data. Period. Your purchases and statements are read in this tab only. They are never sent to a server and never saved in your browser. Refresh or close the page and they are gone.
These are example purchases from a sample statement. Add your own or upload a statement and the examples clear automatically.
For each purchase, choose the section fund or a stock. You can also add, swap, resize or delete positions in each sector card below.
Or add card statements
Drop files here, or
CSV or PDF. Pick or drop as many as you like, such as several months or several cards at once.
PDFs need selectable text. Scanned PDFs can't be read, so use your bank's CSV export for those. Companies are filled in automatically when a line matches one, such as Walmart or Shell. Everything else goes to the fund for its section, or to VOO when no section fits. Files are read in your browser and are not uploaded anywhere.
How do I get my statement?
CSV is the most reliable. A PDF works if you can select the text in it. Menu names change from bank to bank, so if you don't see these, search your bank's help for "download transactions".
Sign in to your bank or card website or app.
Open the account, then look for Statements (PDF) or Download / Export transactions (CSV). The download option is often an icon above the list of transactions.
Choose the dates you want, such as the last three months, and pick CSV if it asks for a type.
Drop the file or files into the box above.
Where to look at common banks
Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citi: open the account, then Statements & documents for PDFs or the Download option above your activity for CSV.
Capital One, Discover:View statements for PDFs, or Download transactions from the transactions page.
American Express:Statements & activity, then Download and choose CSV.
Apple Card: in the Wallet app, open Apple Card, then Statements to export.
Credit unions and smaller banks: look for Export or Download on the transactions page.
Easier still: copy and paste
Open your transactions page, select the rows, copy, and paste them into the box above. You don't need your account number. Ballast only needs the merchant and the amount.
Total spent
$0
Invested by sector
Invested at 3%
$0
Percent of each purchase
0%25%
Round each holding to
Rounds what goes into each stock or fund, so the amounts are easy to enter at a brokerage. Totals follow the rounded amounts. The purchase ledger always shows exact amounts.
Smallest holding
$0$25
A stock that would get less than this goes into its sector's fund instead, so you aren't buying tiny amounts of many stocks. Brokerage minimums vary, so check yours.
Your sections
Illustrative allocation based on what you enter. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any stock or fund. This is not investment advice.
Opens your browser's print window. Choose "Save as PDF" there to keep a copy. Ballast does not store it.
By sector
Fund fees and company names are shown for planning and may be out of date. Check current details with your brokerage before investing. This is not investment advice.
Purchase ledger
Merchant
Category
Bucket
Spent
Invested
Ballast is a planning tool. It does not connect to a bank or brokerage and does not place trades. Buying small dollar amounts of individual stocks needs a brokerage that offers fractional shares. Stocks can lose value, including the ones you buy from. This is not investment advice.
Your spending already points at companies. Ballast follows it.
Every purchase sends money to a business or a kind of business. Ballast sets aside a small percent of each purchase and invests it in what you paid: the company's own stock when it is public, and a fund for that sector when it is not. If prices climb, the places you spend may be the places that earn more, though nothing is guaranteed.
0 to 25%of each purchase set aside, in steps of half a percent
1 pickfor every purchase: the company paid, or its sector fund
8 sectorseach with a low-cost fund as the fallback
Why Ballast is different
Many similar services can only invest in public companies, which leaves out most of what you actually pay for. Ballast follows all of your spending, including car payments, rent and mortgages, insurance and groceries. When there is no public company to buy, your slice goes into a fund that tracks that kind of spending, so every dollar you spend has a matching investment.
Where each dollar goes
Two purchases, the same 5% rule, two different destinations.
Purchase$80 at Walmart
Set aside at 5%$4.00
Is the payee public?Yes
BuysWMT Walmart stock
Purchase$60 at a local diner
Set aside at 5%$3.00
Is the payee public?No
BuysPBJ Restaurants fund
Read the line by meaning. A line like "Lexus GX loan payment" is a car loan, so it files under Car Payments and routes to Toyota, Lexus's parent.
Skip what is not spending. Money in, refunds and transfers between your own accounts never count.
Prefer the payee. A recognized public company gets its own stock. Private companies, like Barnes & Noble, go to the sector fund.
Let you override. Any holding can be swapped for a different company or fund, from its sector card.
Why follow spending
Prices do not rise gently every year. In the worst stretches, everyday costs jumped by double digits, and the money you pay becomes revenue for the companies on the other end.
Yearly change in US consumer prices (CPI-U, December to December), rounded, from Bureau of Labor Statistics figures and approximate. Confirm exact figures at bls.gov before quoting them.
Eight sectors, eight funds
When a payee is not a public company, the money goes to the fund for that kind of spending. Bars show the yearly fee; the right column shows what that costs on $10,000 held for a year.
Expense ratios as used in Ballast. Fees are taken inside the fund, so you never see a bill. Check each fund's current figure before investing.
Why these funds
We picked each fund because it comes as close as we could find to owning the thing you are paying for, or the companies on the other end of the payment. A fund that mirrors the goods or the asset rises and falls with the prices you face, which is the whole point of a hedge.
Funds are listed as examples of ways to track each kind of spending. They are not recommendations, and their fees and holdings change. This is not investment advice.
VNQHolds the asset
Real EstateVanguard Real Estate ETFOwns the companies that own property: apartment, office, retail, storage and other real estate trusts, so it moves with property values and rents.
XLPHolds the sellers
GroceriesConsumer Staples Select Sector SPDRHolds the grocers, packaged-food makers and household-goods companies that sit behind a grocery bill.
PBJClose fit
RestaurantsInvesco Food & Beverage ETFHolds food and beverage companies. It is the closest fit among these picks for what a restaurant buys and serves, but it is not a pure restaurant fund.
UGATracks the good
GasUnited States Gasoline FundTracks the price of gasoline itself through futures, so it follows the pump price more directly than any oil company would.
XLYClose fit
Car PaymentsConsumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDRHolds carmakers and the retailers and consumer brands around them. It is broader than autos alone, so it follows car-buying demand loosely.
IAKHolds the sellers
Car InsuranceiShares U.S. Insurance ETFHolds insurers, including the property and casualty companies that write car policies, so premiums rising shows up in their revenue.
IHFHolds the sellers
Health Insurance & MedicaliShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETFHolds health insurers and care providers, the companies on the other side of premiums, bills and copays.
VOOWhole market
Everything ElseVanguard S&P 500 ETFHolds 500 large US companies. Spending that fits no sector is spread across the broad market instead of guessed.
No fund is a perfect copy of a spending category. Gasoline and real estate come closest; restaurants and cars are matched by the nearest broad group of companies. Check each fund's current holdings and fee before investing.
What a habit could grow into
Move the sliders to see a steady monthly set-aside compound. It is a what-if, not a forecast: the return is held constant, which real markets never do.
Hypothetical results based on the numbers you choose. They are not predictions or guarantees. Real returns vary and can be negative. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This is not investment advice.
$
Projected value
You set aside
Growth
Projected value
Total set aside
Show as a table
Year
Set aside
Projected value
An example month
A made-up household spending the total you set above, to show how the amount you set aside spreads across the eight sectors. Move the percent and every dollar figure follows. Yours will differ; the donut on the calculator page shows your own.
Illustration with made-up numbers. It is not a recommendation or a promise of any result. This is not investment advice.
What this does not do
It does not trade.Ballast is a planning tool. It does not link to a bank or brokerage and places no orders.
Stocks can fall.The companies you pay can lose value, even while prices rise. A hedge lowers risk; it does not remove it.
Small amounts need fractional shares.Buying a few dollars of one stock needs a brokerage that sells fractions.
It is not advice.Nothing here is investment, tax or legal advice. Fund fees and company lists change.
Terms of Use
Effective October 10, 2026
These terms are the rules for using Ballast. They are written to be read. Please read them before you use the website.
1. Acceptance
Ballast is operated by TCB LLC (“TCB,” “we” or “us”). By using this website (the “Service”), you agree to these Terms of Use and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. What Ballast is
Ballast is a planning and educational tool. You enter purchases, or upload statements, and choose a percent of your spending. Ballast shows which stock or fund that slice of spending could match. Ballast does not connect to your bank, card or brokerage, does not hold money or securities, and does not place or execute trades.
3. No investment, tax or legal advice
Nothing on the Service is an offer, a recommendation, a solicitation of an offer, or advice to buy or sell any security. The information on the Service is for informational and general educational purposes only. It is not investment, financial, tax or legal advice. Ballast is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, bank, or tax preparer, and using the Service does not create an advisory, brokerage, fiduciary or professional relationship of any kind. You are responsible for your own decisions. Please talk with your own licensed financial, tax and legal advisors before you act.
4. Investing involves risk
All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of money you invest. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. Any historical returns, expected returns, projections, inflation figures and example numbers shown on the Service are hypothetical or approximate, are not predictions, and may not reflect actual future results. A diversified or balanced portfolio requires strategies that Ballast does not provide.
5. Who may use the Service
The Service is intended for residents of the United States who are at least 18 years old. By using it, you confirm that you meet these requirements and that you have the legal capacity to agree to these terms.
6. Accuracy of information
Company names, tickers, fund names, fees, holdings and other details are provided for planning and may be incomplete, out of date or wrong. Matching a purchase to a company or fund is automated and is an estimate. Statement reading can make mistakes. Check every figure, and confirm current information with the issuer or your brokerage before you rely on it.
7. Third-party names and trademarks
Company, product, ticker and fund names are used only to identify them. They are examples, not recommendations. They belong to their owners. Ballast is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of them.
8. Acceptable use
You agree not to: use the Service for anything unlawful; upload data you do not have the right to use; try to disrupt, overload, probe or break into the Service; copy or scrape it in bulk by automated means; or use it to mislead other people about investing. We may limit or block access if we think these rules are being broken.
9. Your data
What you enter stays in your browser tab. Ballast does not collect, send or store your purchases or statements, and clears them when you refresh or close the page. You are responsible for keeping any information you want to keep, and for the content you enter. The Privacy Policy explains this in more detail.
10. Ownership
The Service, including its design, text, logo, charts and code, belongs to TCB LLC and its licensors and is protected by law. You may use it for your own personal, non-commercial planning. You may not copy, sell, or build a competing service from it without our written permission. If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without owing you anything.
11. No warranties
The Service is provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises of any kind, express or implied, including that the Service will be accurate, complete, reliable, secure, uninterrupted, error-free, or fit for a particular purpose.
12. Limit of liability
To the fullest extent the law allows, TCB LLC, Ballast and the people who run it are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of money, profit, investment value, data or opportunity, that comes from using or not being able to use the Service, or from any decision you make using it. If a court decides we are liable to you despite these terms, TCB’s total liability is limited to $100. Some places do not allow certain limits, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
13. Indemnity
You agree to defend and hold harmless TCB LLC, Ballast and the people who run it from claims, losses and costs that come from your misuse of the Service, your breach of these terms, or your violation of any law or anyone’s rights.
14. Changes to the Service
We may change, pause or stop any part of the Service at any time, without notice.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. The date at the top shows when they last changed. If you keep using the Service after a change, you accept the new terms.
16. Governing law and disputes
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina and applicable United States federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in North Carolina, and you agree to their jurisdiction. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.
17. Contact
Questions about these terms? Use the Contact us form on the .
Privacy Policy
Effective October 10, 2026
The short version: Ballast does not have accounts, does not collect what you enter, and does not sell or share your personal information.
This policy applies to the Ballast website, which is operated by TCB LLC (“we” or “us”).
1. What you enter into Ballast
Purchases you type, statements you upload (CSV or PDF), text you paste, and the choices you make in the calculator are processed inside your own browser tab. They are not sent to a Ballast server and are not saved in your browser’s storage. When you refresh or close the page, they are gone. Because we never receive this information, we cannot see it, recover it, or share it. If you print or save your plan as a PDF, your own browser creates it and it is saved only where you choose.
2. What we do not do
Ballast does not require an account. It does not ask for your name, bank login, card number, or brokerage details. It does not use advertising, and we do not sell or share your personal information. We have not added analytics or tracking tools to the website.
3. If you contact us
The Contact us form on the Q&A page does not send anything by itself. It opens a ready-made message in your email app, or in Gmail if you choose that option, and nothing is sent until you press send there. If you send us a message, we receive the name, email address and message you chose to include, and your email provider handles it under its own policy. We use it only to read and answer your message, and keep it only as long as we need to. Please do not put account numbers, statement contents or other sensitive information in your message.
4. Third parties involved in showing the website
Even though we do not collect your entries, other services are involved when the page loads. When you use them, they can see technical information your browser sends, such as your IP address, browser type, and the time of the request:
Hosting. The website is delivered by a third-party hosting platform, which may keep standard technical logs.
Fonts. Text fonts are loaded from Google Fonts.
PDF reading. When you upload a PDF, a PDF-reading library is loaded from the Cloudflare cdnjs network. Your file itself stays in your browser and is not uploaded.
Instagram. Our footer links to our Instagram page. If you follow that link you leave Ballast, and Instagram's own terms and privacy policy apply to what you do there.
Email. If you choose to send a message, your email provider (for example, Gmail) processes it.
We do not control these services. Their own privacy policies apply to what they collect.
5. Cookies and local storage
Ballast does not set cookies and does not use your browser’s storage to keep what you enter. If an earlier version of the site saved data in your browser, the current version removes it when the page loads. Third-party services listed above may use their own technologies.
6. Security
Keeping your entries in your own browser tab means they never travel to us. No website or method of transmission is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Use a device and browser you trust.
7. Children
Ballast is not for anyone under 18, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has sent us information through the contact form, tell us and we will delete it.
8. Your choices and rights
Because we do not keep what you enter, there is nothing to delete or export. If you sent us a message and want it deleted, contact us and we will remove it. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights over personal information, such as to access, correct or delete it. We do not sell or share personal information, so there is nothing to opt out of. You can contact us to ask about your rights.
9. Where information goes
Ballast is intended for residents of the United States. If you use the website from elsewhere, you understand that the third-party services above may process technical data in the United States and other countries.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If you keep using the Service after a change, you accept the updated policy.
11. Contact
Questions about privacy? Use the Contact us form on the . See also our .