8 Smart Money Rules for a Healthier Financial Future

8 min readSep 25, 2023

Mastering Your Money: 8 Essential Rules for Financial Success

Money is awesome.

Okay, okay, just kidding. Or am I?

I mean, money is cool and all, and while it may not buy happiness (I’d love to be sad while driving a Ferrari to my mansion in the south of France), it definitely makes things quite easier.

The reality is that whether we like it or not, we need some of that green paper to get stuff that we need to live (pay rent/mortgage, buy food, buy clothes, etc.). Whether you are someone who has a lot of money or someone who doesn’t (like me. Venmo me @g — what? What do you mean I cannot put my Venmo tag here?)

Where was I?

Oh yes, regardless of your financial situation, it is important to create a healthy relationship with your money and that is what today’s not-so-short article will focus on.

I’ll give you 8 tips to create a healthier relationship with your money.

The goal is not to not spend your money but rather to help you spend it wisely instead of spend it on dumb stuff. No? No one else spends it on dumb stuff? It’s just me, then. Oh, okay.

So, how does one go about creating a healthy relationship with one’s money? Here are 8 tips that can get you started. You don’t need to use all 8 of them at once! The easiest way to your goal will be slow but steady.

1. Navigating Debt: A Wise Approach to Borrowing.

Ahem, let me rephrase: not all debt is bad debt…but stay off it if you can.

I am sure 99% of those reading this post have at least some experience with debt. I personally don’t like it, but sometimes it is a necessary evil. A good tip, however, is to not get bad debt, or if you have to, get rid of it as quickly as possible.

NOTE: for purposes of this post I am not referring to “bad debt” as the term of art in the finance world (i.e., expense incurred by businesses that is now uncollectible and has to be written off). Instead, I am referring to the type of debt that is bad to get into.

A couple of examples:

Debt to buy groceries: okay.

Debt to buy a PS5: not okay.

Debt to buy a house: probably okay.

Debt to buy a fifth car: most likely not okay.

Now, I know this can be a quite subjective, but one good rule of thumb is to ensure that your debt is affording you the ability to live or generate income (so the debt pays itself and then some) instead of becoming a liability that simply gets added to the pile of debt.

It’s a balancing act, but whenever possible, I try to get rid of my bad debt as soon as possible, even before I worry about “saving” more money. Why? Because I personally save money for unexpected things in the future, but bad debt (at least to me) is a bad thing happening right now, so I prefer to get rid of it sooner rather than later.

2. Save for a Rainy Day: Building Financial Resilience.

Another way to have a good relationship with money is to save money (you know, as opposed to spending it). I know it sounds contradictory based on the tip I just shared but that is why I said it was a hard balancing act.

Unfortunately, unexpected sh*t does happen and it is best to be prepared for it, as much as you can be. A common rule of thumb is to have enough in your savings to allow you to survive for 6 months without any income. This does not have to happen immediately, but you should start preparing for the unexpected while it still has not happened.

Now, the topic of saving money has been discussed ad nauseam and it is the farthest thing from sexy as it can be. But, it is possible to find pleasure in saving by “gamifying” it. For example, have you heard about the $100 envelope challenge? It’s a quick way to save $5,000 in a bit over 3 months. Check this article for that and other ways to make saving money a bit more fun.[LINK TO MY OWN ARTICLE ABOUT MONEY SAVING GAMES]

3. Balancing Spending and Living: A Dual Account Strategy.

I only started doing this recently because I had to get a second checking account (my original bank did not have any branches in the city I moved to). But what started as somewhat of a nuisance turned into a blessing in disguise.

I started treating my out-of-state account as my “living expenses” account and my in-state account as a “spending” account. My salary and income goes all to my “living” account and my expenses are paid from there. I only give myself an allowance to spend on whatever I want and send that to my “spending” account.

Since I only carry my “spending” account’s debit card with me, it is pretty much “out of sight, out of mind” so I only need to focus on my “spending” account whenever I contemplate day-to-day purchases.

This helps me avoid spending more than what my allowance is, but I can still access my money if I need to in case of emergency.

My out-of-state account already comes with a savings account, so at the end of the month, anything that was not spent on rent, food, bills, etc., goes to the savings account which allows me to start building a bit of a nest egg.

4. Invest in Knowledge: The Art of Selective Learning.

One thing I have spent way too much money over the years on is education. And I don’t mean student loans (I do have a ton of student loan debt) but I mean random courses to learn different things.

I am a huge fan of learning. I love learning languages, so I bought a subscription to Rosetta Stone. I love music production so I bought some courses on music theory and music production. I have interest in investing, so I bought a course on investing. I have so many interests that spread all over the place that I have spent quite an amount in courses, books, and audiobooks.

Now, I think you should always buy food for your brain and spend a bit of money on things that interest you, provide you knowledge, and nourish your mind. But, don’t fall in the trap I set for myself when I realized I had bought more courses than I had time to sit down and take.

Who would have thought that buying a course on something does not mean you automatically acquire the knowledge from the course. I guess you have to actually go through the course to learn stuff? Jeez.

In case you were wondering, I recently did an audit of all the courses, books, and audiobooks I’ve bought. I placed them into orderly categories and started numbering them in order of what I want to learn first. I told myself I will not buy another course until I am done with most of the ones I have already bought, but this system allows me to really focus on what I have and truly get value from what I already purchased.

But you? You should go ahead and buy that course you have always wanted to buy. Drop that knowledge! (you know — after you acquire it from finishing the course).

5. Cash vs. Plastic: The Power of Responsible Spending.

For the longest time I did not have a credit card — because I didn’t really need one. The benefit was that it was harder for me to overspend because I quite literally could not spend more than what I had. The downside was that when it comes to bigger purchases (e.g., a car or a house), your credit score is king and I did not have a healthy one.

Since I had already built some semblance of a healthy relationship with my money, it was easier for me to get a credit card and start building my credit relatively quickly, but even to this day, I still prefer to use cash every now and then to not lose sight of what I can and cannot afford to buy.

6. Embrace Coupons: Practical Savings on Everyday Expenses.

I think it is nonsensical that this gets a bad rep, but I honestly don’t give a sh*t:

I am never afraid or embarrassed to look around for coupons and use them.

Especially if it is for things I am already going to spend money on anyways, like groceries or gas. If I am already going to spend money, why would I choose to spend more than I have to?

7. Manage Lifestyle Inflation: Make Your Raise Count.

This one takes a lot of discipline but it’s worth it — and if you’re a student, I think getting this habit early will save you a ton of money (and headaches). Whenever we get a raise or a promotion at work, we are tempted to show it by getting a better car, a nicer house, upgrading our smartphones, or buying other shiny things. The problem is that by doing that, you are not allowing yourself to save money. Think of the effort you have been putting on saving before you try to upgrade your life with the illusion of more money coming in.

Imagine you have been trying to fill a pool with a water gun. Then you get a hose and think “oh shoot, this will make things way easier!” but then you decide to get a bigger pool. See the problem there?

8. Thoughtful Purchases: The Value of Sleeping on Decisions.

This one should come as no surprise but every now and then we are faced with the choice (or need) to spend bigger bucks on something, like a house or a car. Whenever that is the case, do not let FOMO or a hot head sign the check for you.

Simply take some time and sleep on your choice before making it. I’ve talked myself off the ledge of so many purchases by simply stepping a way for a day or two and realizing I really did not need to make them.

Your future self will thank you.

I hope you found at least a couple of these tips helpful!

Let’s do this.

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