Money's meant to be a tool, but we often let it take over our lives.
It's easy to let money become a hidden centerpiece in your day-to-day, influencing nearly every decision.
To help with this, I created a set of guidelines for myself.
These rules keep me on track with decision-making and they reduce the amount of time I spend thinking about money overall.
They aren't perfect, but they work well for me:
Rule 1) If it saves time, spend the money
Rule 2) If it creates a memory, spend the money
Rule 3) Maintain a one year cash reserve
Rule 4) Budget & aim for monthly travel
Rule 5) Insure for security, and nothing more
Rule 6) Invest (or save) at least 10% of income
Rule 7) Always tip at least 25% (aim for double)
Rule 8) Reduce friction, stay organized, & simplify where possible
Rule 9) Avoid non-cash flowing debt
Rule 10) No more than two actively used credit cards
Rule 11) One to rock, one to stockWhy? Organization is a key part of managing your money. If you have several bank accounts or old retirement accounts from different employers, consolidating will make everything easier to manage
• With old retirement accounts, you may be able to roll them over into an IRA so that you only have to manage one account - which can save on fees and paperwork
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Further reading:
How to consolidate retirement accounts
• With bank accounts, I like to have one primary checking and then a couple of savings accounts designated for specific goals
• For credit cards, I like to keep it simple, stick with one or two primary cards, and that's it
Why? It's easy to let your website get stale. Making updates and reviewing your copy is boring, but it needs to be done once in awhile
• Take a few minutes to upload new work to your portfolio
• Update your "copyright" text in the footer to reflect 2023
• Review your contact info and social links to make sure they're still accurate. I've seen this a lot recently with personal brand websites, but you want to make sure that your site has a
security certificate or visitors may not be able to access it.
• Also read:
How to Create a Contact Page that Attracts Better Clients