The Golden Rule is a fundamental moral principle which simply means, “Treat others as they would treat you.” It is arguably the essential basis for human rights. Similarly, in my mind there is a Golden Rule for Personal Finance. Like the moral Golden Rule, it doesn’t encompass everything you need to know but unless you tackle it, the rest is moot.
Golden Rule of Personal Finance: You must earn more income than what you spend.
Sounds simple enough but so many folks don’t follow this rule. Check out this link to an awesome skit on SNL.
Dollars & Sense Education 
November 2, 2007 at 4:03 am
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November 2, 2007 at 6:56 am
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November 2, 2007 at 2:41 pm
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November 12, 2007 at 12:13 am
So true. I love that video. I would think about switching it around to “You must spend less than you earn.” I think that you need to start with what you earn, and base your spending on that. If you spend a certain amount and then try to go out and earn more than what you spent, you might not make it.
In either case, it is such a simple concept, but becomes challenging with all of the different ways to pay for items these days. You have credit cards, debit cards, online bill pay, paypal, and more. I think many people would benefit by going back to all cash.