Our 5 Money Rules as a Couple

Both Ruchi and I were not born into richness.
Infact for the longest time we did not have a lot of money.
It is only in the past 6-7 years that we have seen abundant money.

We are aged 46, and have 2 kids aged 15 and 9.
Here are the 5 money rules we follow as a couple.

1/
We don’t spend money to look rich.
We spend it to become wealthy (by investing a lot of our money and buying assets - mostly stocks and gold) and to gain freedom of our time.

So we have only one house.
We drive only one car, which too is rented.
No spending on brands that show which brand it is :)
No posting pics of the flights we take or the hotels we stay in.
No spending on things to show to people - look how rich we are.

2/
We spend a lot on high-quality food.
We know what goes into our body is ultimately the most important thing we have. Unfortunately, high quality food is not cheap - but we happily spend that money.

High quality protein.
All our vegetables (except onion, potato, tomato) are grown locally and organically on a rented farm.
We rarely order in.
When we eat out, it is often at restaurants that use high quality ingredients.
We buy nearly everything organic and locally sourced.

3/
We spend on experiences more than things.
Travel is a huge part of that experience. Last year we travelled for 116 days, as a couple and as a family.
We would happily spend money on watching a live tennis match. Or hiring an incredible local historian for a walk tour in a new city. Or visit a museum.

4/
We invest before spending.
As soon as our salaries hit the bank, we invest.
The remaining amount is used for expenses.
At the end of the month, we are left with a few thousands in the bank. Everything else is invested.

5/
We have no budget for books and learning.
Our living room is a library.
Our kids go to a library every week.
We all read endlessly.
We go to classes to learn.

Ruchi is learning pottery, water color painting, tennis.
I am learning tennis, Python.
Vidur is learning piano, drums, football.
Uzma is learning vocals, swimming, piano.

We love reading and learning as a family :)

These are our rules.
They may not apply to you.
But having money rules will certainly apply to everyone!

Started reading Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy.
I remember reading her first book “The God of Small Things” when I was in college. It was a wonderfully written book. I quite enjoyed her writings.

But as I grew up, and so did she, I did not find myself aligned with a lot of what she said beyond her writing.
And I felt that her writing became influenced by those opinions as well.
So I distanced myself.

When she came up with her autobiography, Ruchi picked it up and she quite enjoyed it. So I decided to give it a read as well. People’s lives are always so fascinating, irrespective of their beliefs.

I am enjoying the read. An incredibly tough life. And she remains a wonderful writer.

Here is a list of all books I have shared in this newsletter.

Perks of the good work my team does is that I get a lot of the appreciation in such wonderful ways.

Ruchi and me :)

Faces :))

Life completely changes when you move from trying to impress everybody, to trying to impress yourself.

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You will not be remembered at work for the deadlines you hit.

You will be remembered for how you treated people in the 5 minutes after something broke.

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The English words "sugar" and "candy" are both born in India.
Sugar comes from the Sanskrit sharkara.
It travelled through Persian (shakar), Arabic (sukkar), and French (sucre) before becoming "sugar."
Candy comes from the Sanskrit khanda - raw unrefined sugar.
Why did the words travel from India?
Because the product did.
India was the first place in the world to crystallize sugar.

Last week I asked: Which Indian city got the country’s first railway line, back in 1853?
The right answer is Mumbai (Bombay) - the Bori Bunder to Thane line.
About 500 people got it right.

The lucky winner last week is Dhiren (thed***w@gmail.com)

Reply with your answer, and I will pick one random winner with the right answer.
They will get a signed copy of a book of mine :))

PS: This section is inspired by Capitalmind’s awesome weekly newsletter - you should subscribe to it - terrific personal finance content.

🏦 YouTube Finance: Why gold is rising faster than you think

📹 YouTube Career: This AI Mistake can cost you your career

📱 Instagram: Don't give up

🐥 Twitter: I love my team

You can, of course, always write to me by simply replying to this newsletter.

I love reading all your emails, even though I may not be able to reply to them all.
Yes! I READ ALL MY EMAILS. ALL OF THEM.
(Roz roz aam khaana sahi hai kya, waali soch ki kasam)

until next week

stay awesome | stay focused | do epic shit

warikoo