Life by Design

Build a life by design, not by accident — and leave behind a story worth telling.

Manage

Control your money

Purpose: Money you can’t control controls you. Management is the foundation. Without it, you can’t grow wealth or give generously. You’re just reacting to emergencies. Most financial stress comes from lack of control—spending more than you earn, no plan for the money, debt eating your income. Management creates margin. Margin creates options. Options create freedom.

Core Idea: Spend less than you earn. Plan every dollar. Automate the plan.

The 4 core principles:

1
Live below your means
Spend less than you earn—always. If you make $5,000, spend $4,000. If you make $10,000, spend $8,000. The gap is your breathing room. No gap, no margin. No margin, no stability. Track where your money goes. Cut what doesn’t matter. Keep what does. Living below your means isn’t deprivation—it’s discipline that buys freedom later.
2
Budget every dollar and automate it
Give every dollar a job before the month begins. Income − expenses = zero. Rent gets $1,200. Groceries $400. Savings $500. Then automate: direct deposit splits, auto-pay bills, auto-transfer savings. When your budget runs on autopilot, you remove willpower. You tell your money where to go—and make it go there automatically.
3
Eliminate debt
Debt is financial weight. List every debt—smallest to largest. Attack the smallest first while paying minimums on the rest. When it’s gone, roll that payment to the next. Momentum builds. Wins stack. Debt doesn’t disappear by ignoring it—it disappears by paying it off systematically.
4
Build an emergency fund
After debt is gone, save 3–6 months of needs (rent, food, utilities, insurance). This buffer turns crises into inconveniences. Without it, every setback becomes a debt event. An emergency fund breaks the cycle so you don’t go backward financially.

OUTCOME: Stability. Control. Margin. You stop living paycheck to paycheck. You handle emergencies without panic. You sleep better because money isn’t a constant source of stress.

START HERE: Write down your income for next month. List every expense. Assign every dollar a job until you hit zero. That’s your first budget. Then set up one automation—savings transfer or bill payment—this week.