Domain 1
Money Foundations
Thirty short lessons that get you in control before you ever invest a rupee. Covers spending, budgets, debt, inflation, compounding and the right order of money decisions.
- You're here1What "being good with money" actually meansIt isn't about earning the most or living on nothing. It's about your money doing what you decided it should. 2 min read
- 2Where your salary really goes each monthMost people can name their rent and their EMI. The leak is everything in between: small, frequent, and invisible until you add it up. 2 min read
- 3Tracking spending without a spreadsheet obsessionYou don't need to log every chai. You need to know your numbers well enough to make decisions. That's a much lower bar. 2 min read
- 4Needs, wants, and the grey zone betweenThe honest categories aren't "need" and "want". They're need, want, and "want dressed up as need", and the third one is where budgets quietly break. 2 min read
- 5Your first monthly budget in ten minutesA budget isn't a cage. It's a plan you make once so you don't have to make forty small money decisions under pressure. 2 min read
- 6The 50-30-20 rule, and when to bend itA starter recipe, not a law: half to needs, a third to wants, a fifth to your future. Useful precisely because it's simple. 2 min read
- 7What net worth is, and how to find yoursOne honest number that captures your whole financial position: everything you own, minus everything you owe. 2 min read
- 8Why an emergency fund comes before investingInvesting without a safety net is building the second floor before the foundation. One bad month can undo years of returns. 2 min read
- 9How big should your emergency fund be?Enough to cover your essential expenses for several months, sized to your life, not a round number someone quoted you. 2 min read
- 10Where to actually keep your emergency fundTwo jobs, in tension: instantly reachable, and not tempting to spend. The right home balances both, safety over returns. 2 min read
- 11Good debt vs bad debtDebt isn't automatically evil. The question is whether it buys something that grows, or something that shrinks while you pay for it. 2 min read
- 12How EMIs really workEarly EMIs are mostly interest, not loan. Understanding that one fact changes how you think about prepaying. 2 min read
- 13The true cost of a credit-card balanceA credit card is a brilliant tool and a brutal loan. The switch between the two flips the day you don't pay in full. 2 min read
- 14Your credit score, explained simplyA three-digit report card on how reliably you repay. It quietly decides whether you get a loan, and at what rate. 2 min read
- 15Inflation: why cash quietly loses valueMoney sitting still doesn't stay still. Prices rise, so the same rupee buys a little less every year, silently. 2 min read
- 16Compounding: the eighth wonder, with numbersGrowth on your growth. Slow and dull for years, then it bends sharply upward, and that bend is where the wealth is. 2 min read
- 17The cost of waiting: starting at 25 vs 35Two people, same monthly amount, same returns. The only difference is a ten- year head start, and it changes everything. 2 min read
- 18Setting goals that actually stick"Save more" never survives a busy month. A goal survives when it has a number, a date, and a reason you feel. 2 min read
- 19Short, medium and long-term goalsNot every goal is far away, and they don't all behave the same. Sorting them by time changes how you hold the money. 2 min read
- 20The right order of operations for your moneyWhen every priority shouts at once, a sequence keeps you sane. Here's the order most sturdy financial lives are built in. 2 min read
- 21Paying yourself firstSave at the start of the month, not from whatever survives to the end. Because almost nothing survives to the end. 2 min read
- 22Lifestyle inflation and the salary-hike trapYour salary rose 30%. If your spending rose 30% too, you got a raise you'll never feel, and never save. 2 min read
- 23Sinking funds for big yearly expensesInsurance premiums, festivals, that annual trip: they aren't emergencies. They're certainties you can see coming, so save for them monthly. 2 min read
- 24How to think about a large purchaseThe price on the tag is only part of the cost. A good decision looks at the full picture, and gives itself time. 2 min read
- 25Renting vs buying: the honest mathsNot a moral question, a maths one. Renting isn't "wasting money," and buying isn't automatically "an investment." It depends. 2 min read
- 26Money habits that actually lastWillpower fades; systems don't. The people who stay good with money aren't more disciplined; they've made the right thing automatic. 2 min read
- 27Talking about money with your familyMoney is one of the hardest things families discuss, and one of the most important. Silence is where the expensive misunderstandings live. 2 min read
- 28Common money myths, bustedA handful of tidy sayings feel wise and cost people dearly. Here are the ones worth unlearning. 2 min read
- 29Your one-page financial planA financial plan doesn't need to be a thick document. Everything that matters fits on a single page, and a page gets used. 2 min read
- 30A 30-day money resetKnowing and doing are different things. Here's a month that turns everything in this domain into action, one small step at a time. 2 min read