Earmarking

A financial-management practice, studied by sociologist Viviana Zelizer, in which people mentally or materially separate money into distinct categories tied to specific purposes (rent, groceries, savings goal, treats). Earmarking can take physical form — separate envelopes, jars, or bank accounts — or digital form through sub-accounts, digital "cash pots," or colour-coded spreadsheets. For accessibility, earmarking is particularly important for users whose executive function, working memory, or emotional regulation make a single-balance view overwhelming; it externalises decisions and creates visible boundaries. Financial technology design that collapses all money into one undifferentiated balance, or that makes moving money between earmarked pots too frictionless, can undermine the control strategies these users rely on.