diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index eed1bd6..e28730b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -50,11 +50,11 @@ mytoolkit templates register /path/to/templates
 mytoolkit templates list       # lists each template with its absolute path
 ```
 
-Registry is stored at `~/.config/mytoolkit/templates.json`.
+Registry is stored at `~/.mytoolkit/templates.json` (or `$MYTOOLKIT_HOME/templates.json`).
 
 ## User config
 
-All user-level config lives under `~/.config/mytoolkit/`:
+All user-level config lives under `~/.mytoolkit/` (override with `$MYTOOLKIT_HOME`):
 
 | File | Owner | Purpose |
 |------|-------|---------|
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ mytoolkit env export                     # print MYCLI_FOO=... export statements
 eval "$(mytoolkit env export)"           # load into current shell
 ```
 
-Legacy `bin/config.json` (in the source dir) is auto-migrated to `~/.config/mytoolkit/env.json` on first run after upgrade.
+Legacy `bin/config.json` (in the source dir) is auto-migrated to `~/.mytoolkit/env.json` on first run after upgrade.
 
 ## Uninstall
 
@@ -84,4 +84,4 @@ mytoolkit uninstall
 make uninstall
 ```
 
-User config under `~/.config/mytoolkit/` is left in place.
+User config under `~/.mytoolkit/` is left in place.
diff --git a/bin/commands/mail.py b/bin/commands/mail.py
index 0e5465e..4c99e78 100644
--- a/bin/commands/mail.py
+++ b/bin/commands/mail.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import base64
 import imaplib
 import json
+import os
 import re
 import smtplib
 from datetime import datetime
@@ -16,7 +17,8 @@ import click
 
 from bin.utils import handle_errors
 
-CONFIG_PATH = Path.home() / ".config" / "mytoolkit" / "mail.json"
+_HOME = Path(os.environ.get("MYTOOLKIT_HOME", Path.home() / ".mytoolkit"))
+CONFIG_PATH = _HOME / "mail.json"
 
 
 def load_config():
diff --git a/bin/templates_registry.py b/bin/templates_registry.py
index 215113e..ada0746 100644
--- a/bin/templates_registry.py
+++ b/bin/templates_registry.py
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 """External templates registry for md→pdf / md→docx conversion."""
 
 import json
+import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import click
 
-CONFIG_PATH = Path.home() / ".config" / "mytoolkit" / "templates.json"
+_HOME = Path(os.environ.get("MYTOOLKIT_HOME", Path.home() / ".mytoolkit"))
+CONFIG_PATH = _HOME / "templates.json"
 
 
 def _read() -> dict: