Here at the CultOfMoney, we adhere to the original meaning of the word cult. That being a set or system of ritual practices. These practices are centered around money such that you can have the money that you need and want, have positive experiences in life, and help others. The broad tenets that we follow are here:
- Money is a tool and method of exchange, so spend money on the things you are devoted to without guilt, as they are a source of happiness in your life.
- Save money religiously on the things in life where you derive no benefit or happiness.
- Everything has a trade-off, so think, consider, and then decide wisely.
- Earn money and create wealth through hard work, ingenuity, and intelligence. Increase you earnings by trading off something else you value less.
- Focus on saving money in your largest expenses, and investing in yourself to earn more income. It’s easier to earn a million than save a million.
- Incentives change behavior, so create and use incentives to derive the desired actions and behavior.
- Take full advantage of all legal opportunities to save on taxes.
- Automate as many aspects of your finances as you can. This includes your instant access savings account, retirement funds, investments, and bill paying.
These ritual practices will expand over time, and will doubtlessly evolve over time. I would love to hear your feedback on these practices. Share your own. The contents of this post will live on the home page as a link to a new page, Ritual Practices.
Karl Nygard is the original founder of Cult of Money and created the website to share his ideas on investing, personal finance, and more.
Automate your finances and let the online systems take care of the routine for you. Savings and bills can both be automated to make your life more streamlined and manageable.
I debated added an item for automation, but since it seems to be a popular choice, I will certainly do so. And I think you’re right to say finances, you want your bill pay, your investments, and retirement all as automatic as possible.
I love the “everything has a tradeoff” point. The greatest mistake I see with my clients is that we ALL buy things today (for short-term happiness) and completely neglect the long-term picture of retirement.
Sure, a $30,000 car payment has a few short-term trade-offs (e.g. you may not be able to afford going on vacation and your budget may be a little tighter for a few months), but the most important trade-off is your inability to save properly for your retirement.
Most of us see the short-term trade-offs, but most of us fail to see (or just ignore) the long-term ramifications.
I don’t know if I’d go as far as saying most even see the short-term trade-offs. Far too many people simply spend on something they want, not considering the other uses for those money at all.
These are all great financial rules to live by. I think everyone should create some set out some practices that they plan on following to improve their finances. It’s easy enough to say that you plan on spending less and trying to earn more, but you need to pinpoint exactly what kind of behavior you need to follow to reach those goals.
Yes indeed. Your goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, relative, and Time-bound). Those “let’s spend less money” type of goals just don’t last.
Everything has a tradeoff, indeed. My mom has a saying – you either pay with money or you pay with time. For example, you cook at home instead of going out to eat? You’re paying with time. You pay someone to wash your car or walk your dog, you’re paying with money. You take an ultra-stressful job for an extra $20K? You’re paying with time. There is no way around it.
It’s always a tricky trade-off isn’t it? Time for money. In the next few decades, I really wonder what will happen as we keep getting more advanced robotics and artificial intelligence. Can we all just have a full size rumba clean our houses and cook as we live the life of leisure? Sounds kinda nice…
Those “money rituals” have to be constantly reevaluated as your season of life changes, also. As a busy mom of 5, I’d prefer to spend time vs. money, but others in a different season of life may have more time than I do.
We’ve also had to realize, in our family’s get-out-of-debt journey, that we’re having to sacrifice some time for the sake of money right now. We figure the more of that we can do in the short term, the less of it we’ll have to do in the long term.
Very interesting article!
Completely agree with you Lindsay. I expect these to change over time as both my goals change and I as I refine them. Good comment!