He had it all by 30, but was still ‘miserable’—now he follows these money rules

I spent the last three years of my life researching money and wealth.

During that time, I developed and battle-tested my own set of money principles, mindsets, tips, guardrails, and tools that helped me build a life that feels truly abundant.

Here are 25 money rules I’m following to live a wealthy life.

You can get pretty damn far by just avoiding errors: silly impulse purchases, avoidable debt, emotional investing, neglected responsibilities. Slow down, think clearly, and protect yourself from…yourself. 

Markets fluctuate. Seasons change. Businesses rise and fall. Your sense of worth must be anchored in something deeper: character, values, relationships, interests, service.

You can’t improve what you don’t track. Use a financial tracking and management tool to get a clear picture.

Manage financial expectations by keeping your lifestyle well below your means, creating slack in the system, and never matching an economic leap forward with a lifestyle one.

The people who do the best financially are usually the ones who obsess over solving real problems, creating real impact, or genuinely helping others. 

The return on improving your skills, expanding your scope, building new earning streams, or stepping into higher-impact roles dwarfs the difference between a 6% or 8% market return.

When purchasing products for their utility, always invest a bit more and opt for quality. They’ll last longer and create fewer headaches. 

The world is full of silent scripts about what you should buy, achieve, or own by certain ages. Most of them are complete nonsense. Your life is not a race with anyone else. There are no timelines. You get to create your own.

Never use debt to live a life you can’t truly afford. A simple rule I follow: Never finance a luxury material purchase if you can’t buy it twice over in cash. 

This reduces impulse purchases and improves saving and investing rates. If you still want to buy the thing after 24 hours, go for it.

There are some investments that require money and no time (index funds) and some that require money and a lot of time (active multi-family real estate). Make sure you consider both when evaluating returns on an opportunity.

Early in my career, I started making angel investments in early stage technology companies. On paper, it didn’t make a lot of sense: I didn’t have much excess capital and I knew that most of the startups would fail. But what they lacked in financial returns, they made up for in access, networks, and learning.

There are a lot of things that look like expenses but are better regarded as investments in yourself: fitness, quality food, books, personal development, mental health, etc. You’ll have more energy, feel better, and show up better in the world.

When you start making more money, an entire menu of options materializes to reduce life’s minor frictions. You can hire a personal chef, a full-time cleaner, a staff, or a driver. But sometimes that friction was what created meaning. Cherish the meaningful friction in your life.

Money trouble rarely comes from math. It comes from misalignment. A monthly financial check-in creates transparency, trust, and shared direction. Focus on values. What matters this month? What doesn’t? 

Even small percentage increases have an outsized long-term impact when you consider the magic of compounding.

It may seem excessive, but there’s value in peace of mind. Knowing you have that financial security allows you to see and capitalize on exciting opportunities when they come. 

Your willingness to imagine bad times during good times is what allows you to safely navigate them. What if you lost your job? What if you had a major healthcare expense? 

Bestselling financial author Ramit Sethi says people ask $3 questions (can I buy this coffee?) when what truly matters are $30,000 questions (how can I earn twice as much?). I see friends spending countless hours thinking about optimizing credit card points when they could be thinking about how to get promoted three times in the next year. Unless it brings you joy — some people love the game of credit card points — skip them.

A barbell has weights on the ends with nothing in between. A barbell investment approach would have the vast majority of your investments on the safe, simple, and steady side (e.g., index funds, bonds, cash) with the remainder having a high-risk, high-reward profile (e.g., startups, crypto). The goal is to get some exposure to the high rewards of the risky stuff, but without taking on too much risk because it’s a small portion of your overall financial pie.

Accounts everywhere, investments you don’t understand, obligations you can’t track. This is how people lose control. Automate, consolidate, and reduce unnecessary friction. The simpler the system, the more likely you are to stay the course.

Eliminate the cognitive burden to free up headspace for executing on bigger opportunities that can help you earn more.

I’ve found hundreds of dollars in monthly burn through random subscriptions I never use and didn’t know I had. Use your financial tracking tool to find and eliminate these.

Be frugal with yourself and generous with others. Generosity creates significantly more happiness than consumption. 

I believe the best uses of money are those that create one of four things in your life: time, experiences with people you love, purpose, or health.

Sahil Bloom is an entrepreneur, investor, and inspirational writer and content creator who writes the biweekly newsletter, The Curiosity Chronicle. He is the author of “The 5 Types of Wealth: A Transformative Guide to Design Your Dream Life.” Follow him on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

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This article has been excerpted and adapted from an installment of Sahil Bloom’s newsletter. It has been republished with permission.