Write your own money rules — and live by them
In 5 min you'll know: how to write a personal financial manifesto with rules, calendar and metrics
In Block 1 you created your first 5-category budget (Lesson 3). In Block 3 you learnt to plan your (Portugal's personal income tax) and optimise deductions (Lesson 5). You have reached the end of the course — but the end of the course is not the end of the story. It is the beginning. The rule: write a personal financial manifesto with your rules, calendar and metrics — and review it every January.
Before you continue: in Block 1 you built a budget and cut leaks — how do those actions fit into a long-term financial plan?
(Answer in the next paragraph.)
The financial manifesto is a one-page document containing three blocks. First, your personal rules: "I never buy anything with a (annual percentage rate of charge — total credit cost) above X% without comparing 3 quotes", "The emergency fund is always between 3 and 6 months of expenses", "Savings are transferred on payday, not at the end of the month". These rules are yours — they are not generic. They are the result of everything you have learnt: the budgets from B1-L03, the insurance from B2-L10, the (Portuguese securities market regulator) verification from B4-L02, the TAEG comparison from B4-L03.
Second, the annual calendar: January (IRS filing — review B3-L05 for dates and deductions), February (insurance review — premiums and cover), March (update the financial selfie and digital folder from B4-L01), June (mid-year budget review — the B1-L03 rule of correcting when a month goes wrong applies to the half-year), September (verify the CMVM/ (Portuguese insurance and pensions regulator) registrations of your financial intermediaries), December (plan major expenses for the following year and adjust the savings rate).
Third, the metrics: net worth (account balances + investments – debts), savings rate (monthly savings / net income × 100), effort rate (instalment payments / net income × 100 — remember the 35% limit from B2-L04?) and the number of financial products with fees above the minimum banking services cap. These metrics tell you, in four numbers, whether you are on track or need to correct course. The manifesto is not a contract with someone else — it is a contract with yourself. And as we said in B1-L03: the budget works because it gets corrected, not because it is perfect. The manifesto is the budget for your entire financial life.
Download the financial manifesto template (1 page) →
Your promise: On the first Saturday of January, I will open the financial manifesto and update the 4 metrics.