diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 0a62b58..621136e 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ repos:
           - --disable-error-code=list-item
         additional_dependencies:
           - types-requests
-          - earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.5.0#subdirectory=earned_time
+          - earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.6.0#subdirectory=earned_time
 
   # ===========================================================================
   # PYLINT
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ repos:
         # (steam_backlog_enforcer._mcp_server).
         additional_dependencies:
           - aiohttp==3.14.4
-          - earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.5.0#subdirectory=earned_time
+          - earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.6.0#subdirectory=earned_time
           - howlongtobeatpy==1.0.23
           - mcp==2.3.0
           - pytest
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a002c3a..a2e0238 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "websockets==17.2",
     # The earner registry (gaming budget terms); stdlib-only, so the root
     # daemon imports it from the desktop user's site-packages.
-    "earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.5.0#subdirectory=earned_time",
+    "earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.6.0#subdirectory=earned_time",
 ]
 
 # Optional extras. The `mcp` group is ONLY needed by the MCP server
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 276b76a..b49ee0e 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ aiohttp==3.14.4
 bandit==1.9.4
 codespell==2.4.3
 coverage==7.16.2
-earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.5.0#subdirectory=earned_time
+earned-time @ git+https://github.com/kuhyx/utils@earned-time-v0.6.0#subdirectory=earned_time
 howlongtobeatpy==1.0.24
 mcp==2.3.0
 mypy==2.4.0
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/_budget_resolve.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/_budget_resolve.py
index 160f09d..03e59a7 100644
--- a/steam_backlog_enforcer/_budget_resolve.py
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/_budget_resolve.py
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@ is its sum, capped at the gaming ceiling (8h):
     base (4h) + workout (2h) + LeetCode (1h) + reading (1h) + ...
 
 The base is 5h minus every penalised earner's cut once its day arrives
-(book-guard's reading hour, from 2026-10-01). The earners are read
+(book-guard's reading hour, from 2026-10-01) -- and, from earned_time 0.6, not
+before the day after the gate's first real credit
+(:func:`steam_backlog_enforcer._ledger_earners.first_credits`). The earners are read
 **independently** -- :mod:`steam_backlog_enforcer._workout_budget`,
 :mod:`steam_backlog_enforcer._leetcode_bonus`,
 :mod:`steam_backlog_enforcer._reading_bonus` and, for any earner registered
@@ -46,6 +48,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Final
 import earned_time
 
 from steam_backlog_enforcer._ledger_earners import (
+    first_credits,
     ledger_answer,
     ledger_units,
     registry_for,
@@ -156,7 +159,14 @@ def resolve_budget(config: Config) -> BudgetResolution:
     # the earners asked and the earners summed can never differ.
     today = datetime.now().astimezone().date()
     registry = registry_for(today)
-    day = earned_time.resolve(_answers(config, registry), today, registry)
+    answers = _answers(config, registry)
+    # Maturity only delays a penalty: a gate that never paid out costs nothing.
+    first_paid = first_credits(registry, today)
+    day = (
+        earned_time.resolve(answers, today, registry)
+        if first_paid is None
+        else earned_time.resolve(answers, today, registry, first_credits=first_paid)
+    )
     earned = {t.earner.name: t.gaming_minutes * _SECONDS_PER_MINUTE for t in day.terms}
     total = day.gaming_minutes * _SECONDS_PER_MINUTE
     parts = ", ".join(
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/_ledger_earners.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/_ledger_earners.py
index 1df8d1f..e73f000 100644
--- a/steam_backlog_enforcer/_ledger_earners.py
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/_ledger_earners.py
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ A *counted* gate (the Automation tutor, from ``earned_time.TUTOR_FROM``) pays
 per unit -- each verified 15-minute block -- so :func:`ledger_units` reads its
 unit count for the day instead of a yes/no.
 
+:func:`first_credits` feeds ``earned_time.resolve`` each penalised earner's
+first real credit (earned_time >= 0.6), so a gate that never paid out costs
+nothing yet: maturity can only delay a penalty, never add one.
+
 Paths resolve under :data:`LEDGER_HOME` -- the unit sets ``HOME`` to the
 desktop user's, and the test suite redirects this constant.
 """
@@ -19,13 +23,16 @@ from datetime import date, datetime
 import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 import time
-from typing import Final
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Final, cast
 
 import earned_time
 
 from steam_backlog_enforcer._leetcode_ledger import HMAC_KEY_FILE
 from steam_backlog_enforcer._status_api import AnswerCache
 
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Callable
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 LEDGER_HOME: Final = Path.home()
@@ -54,6 +61,37 @@ def registry_for(day: date) -> tuple[earned_time.Earner, ...]:
     return tuple(earned_time.EARNERS if fn is None else fn(day))
 
 
+def first_credits(
+    registry: tuple[earned_time.Earner, ...], day: date
+) -> dict[str, date | None] | None:
+    """Each penalised earner's first real credit up to ``day``, for ``resolve``.
+
+    Keyed by name over ``registry`` -- the tuple the answers came from, so the
+    two ``automation`` earners (one per side of ``TUTOR_FROM``) never collide.
+    An earner without ``penalty_from``, a ledger or a matcher is left out:
+    ``resolve`` then falls back to its ``confirmed_on`` (fail closed).
+
+    Returns:
+        The map, or ``None`` on an earned_time without ``maturity`` (< 0.6),
+        where the caller resolves exactly as before.
+    """
+    maturity = cast(
+        "Callable[..., earned_time.Maturity] | None",
+        getattr(earned_time, "maturity", None),
+    )
+    if maturity is None:
+        return None
+    return {
+        item.name: maturity(
+            item, LEDGER_HOME / item.ledger, HMAC_KEY_FILE, day
+        ).first_credit
+        for item in registry
+        if item.penalty_from is not None
+        and item.ledger is not None
+        and item.match is not None
+    }
+
+
 def _no_ledger(earner: earned_time.Earner) -> None:
     logger.warning(
         "Earner %s has no ledger and no reader here; it earns nothing",
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/_budget_dates.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/_budget_dates.py
index 1202276..74c19b4 100644
--- a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/_budget_dates.py
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/_budget_dates.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 """Pin the day ``resolve_budget`` believes it is, around the 5h -> 4h base cut.
 
-``earned_time`` takes the reading hour off the floor from
-``READING.penalty_from`` on. A budget test that reads the real clock would
-change its answer on 2026-10-01, so every such test pins the date on one side
-of the cut.
+``earned_time`` takes the reading hour off the floor from its penalty start
+on: ``READING.penalty_from``, delayed by maturity (0.6.0) to the day after
+``confirmed_on`` when no credit is on record. A budget test that reads the
+real clock would change its answer on that day, so every such test pins the
+date on one side of the cut.
 The module asks ``datetime.now().astimezone().date()``, so that chain is what
 the pin answers.
 """
@@ -20,7 +21,9 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from contextlib import AbstractContextManager
     from datetime import date
 
-_CUT = earned_time.READING.penalty_from
+# With no ledger on record (the suite's empty LEDGER_HOME) the cut waits for
+# the day after READING.confirmed_on: fail closed, never before penalty_from.
+_CUT = earned_time.penalty_start(earned_time.READING, None)
 assert _CUT is not None, "earned_time.READING lost its penalty_from date"
 
 AFTER_CUT = _CUT
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_budget_resolve_reading.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_budget_resolve_reading.py
index 0d41e02..c0becbb 100644
--- a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_budget_resolve_reading.py
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_budget_resolve_reading.py
@@ -87,13 +87,13 @@ class TestTheBase:
     """The floor carries the old extra hour until book-guard's gate starts."""
 
     def test_the_day_before_the_cut_keeps_the_old_floor(self) -> None:
-        """2026-09-30 still gets the hour that reading cannot yet earn back."""
+        """The day before still gets the hour reading cannot yet earn back."""
         with pin_today(BEFORE_CUT):
             resolved = _resolve(earners=(False, False, False))
         assert resolved.base_seconds == 5 * _HOUR
 
     def test_the_cut_day_itself_uses_the_lower_floor(self) -> None:
-        """The boundary is inclusive: 2026-10-01 is the first 4h day."""
+        """The boundary is inclusive: the penalty start is the first 4h day."""
         with pin_today(AFTER_CUT):
             resolved = _resolve(earners=(False, False, False))
         assert resolved.base_seconds == 4 * _HOUR
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_first_credits.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_first_credits.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d70aa2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_first_credits.py
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+"""Tests for _ledger_earners.first_credits: maturity only delays a penalty.
+
+A stand-in earner (``piano``) is registered with a penalty. Its signed ledger
+lives under the suite's redirected ``LEDGER_HOME``; whether it has ever paid
+out decides the first day its cut applies (earned_time 0.6.0), and on an
+earned_time without ``maturity`` the budget resolves exactly as 0.5.0 did.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import replace
+from datetime import datetime, time, timedelta
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import earned_time
+import pytest
+
+from steam_backlog_enforcer import _ledger_earners, _leetcode_bonus, _workout_budget
+from steam_backlog_enforcer._budget_resolve import resolve_budget
+from steam_backlog_enforcer._ledger_earners import first_credits
+from steam_backlog_enforcer.config import Config
+from steam_backlog_enforcer.tests._budget_dates import AFTER_CUT, pin_today
+from steam_backlog_enforcer.tests._ledger_fixtures import KEY, credit, write_ledger
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from collections.abc import Iterator
+    from datetime import date
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+_WORKOUT = "steam_backlog_enforcer._workout_budget._fetch_workout_today"
+_LEETCODE = "steam_backlog_enforcer._leetcode_bonus.read_ledger_solved_today"
+_ANSWER = "steam_backlog_enforcer._budget_resolve.ledger_answer"
+_HOUR = 3600.0
+_DAY = timedelta(days=1)
+
+
+def _any_credit(_row: dict[str, object], _window: tuple[float, float]) -> bool:
+    """Count every verified credit: the reader's own dating is earned_time's."""
+    return True
+
+
+# Penalised since well before the suite's pinned day, never confirmed by kuhy:
+# without a real credit it is a new gate and costs nothing.
+PIANO = earned_time.Earner(
+    name="piano",
+    label="Piano",
+    gaming_minutes=30,
+    shutdown_minutes=30,
+    ledger=".local/share/piano_guard/ledger.json",
+    match=_any_credit,
+    penalty_from=AFTER_CUT - 5 * _DAY,
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def _clear_caches() -> Iterator[None]:
+    """Keep every earner memo from leaking answers between tests.
+
+    Yields:
+        None, with the caches empty before and after.
+    """
+    for module in (_ledger_earners, _workout_budget, _leetcode_bonus):
+        module.reset_cache()
+    yield
+    for module in (_ledger_earners, _workout_budget, _leetcode_bonus):
+        module.reset_cache()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def key(tmp_path: Path) -> Iterator[Path]:
+    """Sign and verify the stand-in's ledger with a throwaway key.
+
+    Args:
+        tmp_path: pytest's temporary directory (also ``LEDGER_HOME``).
+
+    Yields:
+        The key path, patched into ``_ledger_earners``.
+    """
+    path = tmp_path / "hmac.key"
+    path.write_bytes(KEY)
+    with patch.object(_ledger_earners, "HMAC_KEY_FILE", path):
+        yield path
+
+
+def _credit_on(home: Path, day: date) -> None:
+    """Write the stand-in's ledger with one signed credit at noon on ``day``."""
+    ledger = home / str(PIANO.ledger)
+    ledger.parent.mkdir(parents=True)
+    when = datetime.combine(day, time(12)).astimezone()
+    write_ledger(ledger.parent, [credit(when=when, entry_id="piano:1")])
+
+
+def _base(day: date) -> float:
+    """``resolve_budget``'s floor on ``day`` with ``piano`` registered, all "no"."""
+    with (
+        pin_today(day),
+        patch("earned_time.EARNERS", (*earned_time.EARNERS, PIANO)),
+        patch(_WORKOUT, return_value=False),
+        patch(_LEETCODE, return_value=False),
+        patch(_ANSWER, return_value=False),
+    ):
+        return resolve_budget(Config()).base_seconds
+
+
+class TestTheMap:
+    """Only penalised, ledger-backed earners, keyed by name."""
+
+    def test_maps_each_penalised_reader_to_its_first_credit(
+        self, tmp_path: Path, key: Path
+    ) -> None:
+        """A bonus, a ledger-less earner and a matcher-less one are left out.
+
+        Args:
+            tmp_path: The suite's ``LEDGER_HOME``.
+            key: The patched signing key.
+        """
+        assert key.exists()
+        _credit_on(tmp_path, AFTER_CUT - _DAY)
+        registry = (
+            PIANO,
+            replace(PIANO, name="bonus", penalty_from=None),
+            replace(PIANO, name="no-ledger", ledger=None),
+            replace(PIANO, name="no-match", match=None),
+        )
+        assert first_credits(registry, AFTER_CUT) == {"piano": AFTER_CUT - _DAY}
+
+    def test_an_unreadable_ledger_is_no_first_credit(self) -> None:
+        """No ledger and no key on record: ``None``, which resolve treats closed."""
+        assert first_credits((PIANO,), AFTER_CUT) == {"piano": None}
+
+    def test_an_old_earned_time_gets_no_map(
+        self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """Without ``maturity`` (< 0.6) there is nothing to pass on.
+
+        Args:
+            monkeypatch: pytest's attribute patcher.
+        """
+        monkeypatch.delattr(earned_time, "maturity")
+        assert first_credits((PIANO,), AFTER_CUT) is None
+
+
+class TestTheBudget:
+    """The cut waits for the day after the first real credit."""
+
+    def test_a_gate_that_never_paid_out_costs_nothing(self) -> None:
+        assert _base(AFTER_CUT) == 4 * _HOUR
+
+    def test_the_cut_starts_the_day_after_the_first_credit(
+        self, tmp_path: Path, key: Path
+    ) -> None:
+        """Credited on the pinned day: free that day, penalised the next.
+
+        Args:
+            tmp_path: The suite's ``LEDGER_HOME``.
+            key: The patched signing key.
+        """
+        assert key.exists()
+        _credit_on(tmp_path, AFTER_CUT)
+        assert _base(AFTER_CUT) == 4 * _HOUR
+        assert _base(AFTER_CUT + _DAY) == 3.5 * _HOUR
+
+    def test_an_old_earned_time_resolves_as_before(
+        self, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+    ) -> None:
+        """No ``maturity``, no ``first_credits``: ``penalty_from`` alone cuts.
+
+        Args:
+            monkeypatch: pytest's attribute patcher.
+        """
+        monkeypatch.delattr(earned_time, "maturity")
+        assert _base(AFTER_CUT) == 3.5 * _HOUR
diff --git a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_ledger_earners.py b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_ledger_earners.py
index d308d38..fdb23e6 100644
--- a/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_ledger_earners.py
+++ b/steam_backlog_enforcer/tests/test_ledger_earners.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ passes on to ``earned_time.resolve``, at call time.
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from dataclasses import replace
-from datetime import datetime
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 import logging
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 from unittest.mock import call, patch
@@ -170,8 +170,14 @@ class TestAGenericEarnerInTheBudget:
         assert "Piano unknown" in resolved.reason
 
     def test_its_penalty_lowers_the_base_by_what_it_pays_back(self) -> None:
-        """Penalty, then reward: skipping it costs exactly its term."""
-        penalised = replace(PIANO, penalty_from=AFTER_CUT)
+        """Penalty, then reward: skipping it costs exactly its term.
+
+        Confirmed the day before, so its empty ledger fails closed: penalised
+        from ``penalty_from`` all the same.
+        """
+        penalised = replace(
+            PIANO, penalty_from=AFTER_CUT, confirmed_on=AFTER_CUT - timedelta(days=1)
+        )
         missed = _resolve(answer=False, earner=penalised)
         earned = _resolve(answer=True, earner=penalised)
         assert missed.base_seconds == 3.5 * _HOUR