Follow These 20 Finance Rules To Begin Stacking Wealth

19. Become A Master Of Money – Not A Slave

Some people say that bad debt is the new form of slavery, and if you think about it, they are correct. You can build so much debt that you have no idea how to erase it. Instead of having the freedom to work one job, you need to work two jobs to pay off your debt and bills. You’ll start to lose more freedom as you need to pick up extra shifts. Soon, you find yourself working close to 80 hours a week and you still struggle to make enough money.

If this sounds like you, you’re a slave to money and need to turn this around to become a master. Meet with a financial advisor or someone from your bank that you trust to help you with the next steps. Start a budget to help you find a way out and stick to the plan. Do what you can to invest in your money so you can control it instead of it controlling you.

18. Money Shows People Who They Really Are

You’ve probably heard the famous saying that money changes people. Most people believe this because they’ve experienced changes in themselves or someone else who came into money. Usually, these changes are not positive and often refer to the person becoming selfish, spoiled, or disrespectful.

But other people feel that money doesn’t change the soul. Instead, it merely brings out the person people actually are. If you’re rude when you become rich, then you are a nasty person in general. On the flip side, if you are naturally a generous person, you will be generous with your money no matter what.

17. Money Will “Grow On A Tree,” Just Plant The Seed

Many parents tell their children “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” when trying to teach them the value of money. However, this isn’t wholly true. As long as you plant the right seed you’ll find yourself growing a little money tree. Of course, this isn’t a real tree. Instead, it is more of an investment account that will send you a significant return on an annual basis for keeping your money in the account.

There are many ways to plant the seed than investing. You can also find a high-interest savings account and leave your money there. Don’t touch the money and don’t allow anyone else to touch it. You can put your money in a savings bond or trust that will enable you to only so much money every year. Of course, another way to plant a money tree is to remain dedicated to your job, work hard, and learn how to handle money effectively.

16. Investing Time Comes Before Investing Money

When you think of becoming rich, you most likely think of getting rich quickly. You don’t want to work hard and wait for your money to trickle in. However, this is one of the major rules of money. You invest time to earn money, and then you can start investing the money. While this will take longer and can be a couple of decades before you start seeing a comfortable amount, it’s more likely to last the rest of your life.

Investing time also means that you want to take the time to learn the best ways to invest and take care of your money. Even if you have $50 to open up a savings account, do this. Start putting a little money away every paycheck, and you will quickly see your money grow. The trick, which is often the hardest part for many people, is that you don’t touch the money unless a real emergency pops up.

15. Live Within Your Means

Have you ever sat down to make a budget? Do you know how much your bills vs. how much money you make a month? Do you know how much money you spend on items that you don’t need? One of the biggest reasons people can’t make their paychecks stretch into their next payday is because they are living beyond their means. When you live within your means, you’re not spending more money than you take in. For example, if your monthly income is $3,000, you don’t spend more than this amount.

Even if you have $200 left in your account at the end of the month, you are living within your means. This is an excellent path to take, but you also need to consider what to do with the $200. Do you push it toward a savings account or save for a few months and then invest in a CD? Once you know you are living within your means, it could be time to look at spending the “extra” money.

14. Build An Emergency Account

You know the term savings account. This is something people get from a bank, and put money into. As the money sits in the count, it collects interest. The amount of interest you get annually will depend on the amount of money in the account. The more money you have, the more interest you will receive during the year. The thing is, a savings account is not meant for emergencies. However, when people have nowhere else to turn, they pull money out of their savings account to pay a car repair bill.

Instead of having one savings account, you should take out two. Even if you think “I can barely put money into one account,” do what you can. Even if you put $20 into each account every paycheck, you’re saving money for your future and emergencies. You can also focus more on saving for emergencies first and then look at opening a second account.

13. Earn Your Money Before You Spend It

This happens to many people. You see your paystub a couple days before your paycheck hits your bank account and you decide to go shopping. There are items you need that you put off with the last paycheck because you didn’t have enough money. The problem is, you didn’t calculate right, and your check went into the bank before your paycheck. Therefore, your account hit overdraft status and the bank charged you $50 for this. Now, you have $50 less than you thought, so your budget is off.

Never spend money until it hits your bank account. Even if you see that your paycheck is in your account, but the status is “pending,” do not touch the money. There is always a possibility that something can go wrong that force you to have a lot of overdraft fees.

12. Don’t Let Money Bore You

When you’re poor, you dream about the day you don’t need to worry about money. You think of all the things you can spend money on and all the vacations you can go on. Once this day comes, you find yourself spending recklessly for a bit, and then you are at a loss. You’re not sure what to do next. You find yourself a bit tired of traveling and know that you can’t continue to travel without draining your money. You don’t really need to go out and buy anything, so you sit at home and feel… bored.

Now, you can’t imagine how anyone with money can become bored, but the grass is never truly greener on the other side. Once you let money bore you, you don’t tend to care what happens to it, and you will stop paying attention to where it should go. You will continue to spend recklessly and stop noticing your account balance.

11. Continue Learning, Continue Earning

There’s a big difference between knowledge and trivia. Knowledge is information that you can learn from. For example, understanding how to invest money so you don’t find yourself broke and homeless is valuable knowledge. Knowing the names of all the Vikings football players is trivia. Those names cannot help you make money that you can build on.

If you’re in a job where you are making a lot of money, continue focusing on your position and learn as much as possible. Take college or online classes that can help you learn a new skill you can incorporate into your job. Once you have expanded your knowledge, it’s time to ask for a raise so you are paid what you’re worth.

10. Choose Your Partner Wisely

Whether you have a partner or not, you can quickly find yourself becoming rich with the right person and broke with the wrong person. It’s always essential to make sure that you choose your partner wisely so you don’t end up broke and alone. Someone who only wants you because of your bank account will quickly suck you dry if you’re not careful. Plus, they are more likely to cause you more stress and make you work harder because the amount of money is never enough.

But when you have someone who loves to be with you and doesn’t pay too much attention to your bank account, you are more likely to enjoy your relationship. They will care about where the money goes because they don’t want to see you lose the money you have.

9. Being Rich And Being Wealthy Are Two Different Things

People often see being rich and being wealthy as the same. In fact, the words rich and wealth are interchangeable in conversation, and people will usually think about the same type of stereotypical person. They have a nice car, designer clothes, and a lot of money. However, the truth is that being wealthy and being rich are two different things.

When someone is rich, they have money for a short period and are sometimes stressed about how fast their money is spent. They don’t focus on investing their money or really paying attention to where their money is going. When someone is wealthy, they know how to handle their money and invest. They continue to have a budget, save, and make money, but they don’t feel stressed because they know their money will always be there as long as they are careful. Become a wealthy person and not a rich person.

8. Your Money Should Bring In More Money

No matter how you come into money, you always want to think about investing. Even if you live paycheck to paycheck, do something to make sure that you are bringing in cash and then make sure that money is bringing in money. For example, when you invest money into a high-interest savings account, the money you placed into the account is bringing money in the form of interest.

If you don’t follow this method, you’ll go backward. You will become a rich person and soon find yourself living paycheck to paycheck before you know it. Another way to invest in money is to create a side hustle that lets you grow your wealth or get into the stock market. However, both of these steps take a long time as you need to make sure you do your homework.

7. Money Will Only Solve Problems With Money, Nothing Else

Some people believe that money will solve all their problems. They won’t have to struggle to put food on the table, buy supplies, pay a bill, or buy clothing. They won’t get behind on their bills and can buy what they want when they want it. To many people, this is the answer to their problems because money creates stress in people’s lives. Therefore, couples who fight about money a lot will think they will fight less if they had the money they needed.

Unfortunately, this is the wrong way to think, and if you come into money with this thought, you’ll be disappointed. While cash might solve some of your problems, it will only solve your money problems. If your health is declining, money might bring you to the best doctors, but it won’t make you feel better. The only problems money can fix are the problems that focus on money. At the same time, when you find yourself with a lot of money at once, you can create other problems if you aren’t careful.

6. Rewards Come From Your Contributions

You might have heard the saying that goes something like, “you reap what you sow.” What this means is you need to face your consequences, but it can also be said in a more positive light. Technically, what actions you take today can influence what happens to you in the future. Some people think of this as karma, while other people simply assume that all activities good or bad have consequences. For example, if you save money, you’ll watch your money grow with interest. If you decide to spend your money without care, you’ll find yourself in a lot of debt.

When it comes to what you contribute to this world, especially in your small world, with your job and how you handle money, your rewards come from this. For instance, if you learn how to invest, then you will always have money. If you take the time to learn more about how to handle money and live within your means, you will always pay your bills on time.

5. Never Forget The Word “Taxes”

It’s a word that most people don’t like that’s everywhere – taxes. It seems that no matter what you buy, there is some kind of “tax” that is attached to it. Then, at the beginning of the year, you need to do your taxes, and the federal government will decide if you paid too much money, and they owe you or if you didn’t pay enough and you owe them. Even if you are struggling and don’t have that $3,000 to pay them, they still expect the money.

One way to work around this stressful time of the year is to prepare yourself for it. You know that taxes are coming, and you cannot avoid them. Therefore, you need to save up for them if you know there is a chance that you will need to pay the IRS. After all, if you save up the money and you find that you saved too much, you have two choices. You can invest that money elsewhere or you can decide to keep it for the following year.

4. Don’t Obsess Over Expenses

We all have expenses. Kind of like taxes, there is no way around them either. However, the problem that comes with your expenses is that you tend to obsess over them, and this can create other issues you don’t realize. Take a moment to think about how often you lay awake at night and worry about how you will pay your bills. You need to get new tires for your car, and you don’t know where you will get the money for this. You try to tell yourself that it will be fine, but you still can’t stop worrying about all your expenses.

We all need to do our best to pay attention to our expenses so we don’t miss a payment. So continue to live within your means, but don’t obsess over them. When you are worried about money, your health will start to decline. You might find yourself sick more, with a stomach ulcer, headaches, or sinking into depression. Your expenses are never worth damaging your own health.

3. Protecting Your Money Means Protecting Yourself And Family

When you come into money, you want to help your friends and relatives. You may even want to help charities and give a child a little more to be thankful for in their life. While you can do these things, it’s essential to remember the rule that protecting your money means you are protecting yourself and your family. This is especially true if you have or want children. Very few parents want to see their children struggle in life, so they try to save money for them through a savings bond, savings account, or trust.

Of course, this is something you should do, but to do this, you need to make sure you are taking care of yourself and not giving your money out to people who can already provide for themselves. Therefore, when you have to say “no” to your brother because he wants you to pay his rent instead of work, don’t feel bad about it. Help him in other ways by finding him a job or learning how to manage the money he does have.

2. Pay Yourself First

This rule follows the rule above how protecting your money is protecting yourself. It’s something that many people don’t comply with because people will see them as greedy or selfish. However, making sure that you pay yourself before everyone else is making sure you can live comfortably for the rest of your life. It also helps when it comes to saving, investing, and making sure your family is taken care of.

After all, you can’t help your children pay for college when you don’t have any money yourself. While they can get student loans, do you really want your children racking up over $100,000 in debt right away when you can take the extra step and pay yourself so you can help them when it comes time to do so?

1. Spend A Little Money And Have Fun

Let’s face it, not all of these rules need to be about saving, investing, and making sure that money goes exactly where it should when it should. You also need to have a little fun with your money, just not too much. For example, if you want to take your children to Disney World, have a great time while doing so.

However, you should also remember to focus on a budget and save for a period of time before you rush and give them the time of their lives in Florida. After this, maybe wait about a year before you take your family on another fun vacation. This will allow you to possibly set up a vacation fund instead of dipping into your savings.

Sources:

“How to Become a Money Magnet.” Stacia Pierce, Stacia Success Blog.

“Your Money Cheat Sheet.” Liz Weston, Nerdwallet. March 2017.

“The only 4 money rules you need to follow to become rich.” Christy Bieber, USA Today. September 2017.

“10 Golden Rules On Money & 20 Inspiring Quotes About Money.” Gecko and Fly. January 2020.

“15 Rules of Money.” Alux. June 2019.