10 RULES TO GET YOUR MONEY WORK— By Grant Cardone
By Joan Nakagwe
Money is one of the most powerful tools in the world—yet for most people, it’s also one of the biggest sources of stress. We’re taught to work hard, save a little, and hope it all adds up. But the truth is, most people never learn how money actually works. They make decisions based on emotions, bad habits, or outdated advice, and end up broke, frustrated, and stuck in the same cycle.
What separates the wealthy from everyone else isn’t luck, intelligence, or even education—it’s discipline and a clear set of rules for managing money. If you don’t control your money, your money will control you.
Grant Cardone breaks down 10 simple but powerful money principles—rules that the wealthy live by and that you can start applying today. These aren’t complicated theories; they’re practical strategies to help you protect your income, grow your wealth, and create lasting financial freedom.
1. Never Spend It Until You Get It
Don’t count a deal closed until the money is actually in your account. This applies to every department and every financial decision. Until you sign the deal, get the credit card to go through, and see the money hit your account, you can’t spend it.
The principle is simple: don’t spend tomorrow’s money today. Wait for confirmation, then act.
2. Use the 40% Rule
Here’s how the 40% rule works: If 40% of your income goes to the IRS, you should pay yourself at least 40% too. The government figured out how to get paid first—they take it out before you even see your paycheck. You need to do the same for yourself.
The breakdown looks like this:
• 40% to taxes
• 40% to yourself (savings/investments)
• 20% for living expenses
Live on the 20%, and don’t change your standard of living until that 20% grows. Don’t rent the Lamborghini or buy the designer belt when you can’t afford it. If you cheat on your money, it will cheat on you.
Rich people might have problems in other areas of life, but they pay attention to money. That’s how they accumulate wealth. The key is not changing your lifestyle until your income justifies it.
3. If You Can’t Write It Off, Don’t Buy It
Use this as a filter for your purchases. If you can’t write it off as a business expense, think twice before buying it. This doesn’t mean you’ll never violate this rule, but it gives you a starting position for financial discipline.
If you can write it off, you’re more inclined to buy it—and that’s smart business thinking.
You don’t need to own everything. Just use it. This applies to cars, equipment, and other depreciating assets. Renting and leasing often makes more financial sense and preserves your capital for investments that actually grow in value.
5. Stabilize and Grow Your First Flow Before Adding a Second
Don’t chase side hustles when you should be maximizing your primary income source. Instead of spending three hours flipping items on eBay for $40, focus that energy on excelling at your main job where you might earn $28 per hour for eight hours.
Work on creating a second income stream within your company before looking elsewhere. The math often doesn’t work on those side hustles when you calculate the time investment.
6. The 47 Rule
If you’re working 40 hours a week for someone else, spend at least 7 hours working on yourself. That’s one hour a day dedicated to reading, learning, and self-improvement.
Every super successful person talks about putting in 100-140 hour work weeks early in their career. Warren Buffett reads 3-4 hours daily. Bill Gates used to eat, code, and sleep—that was his entire routine when building Microsoft.
Stop complaining about working long hours and start bragging about it. There will come a day when you can’t work, and you’ll wish you could.
7. Stay Broke
Cash is garbage. Money is worthless until it’s put to work. Your parents might not have known this, but wealthy people understand that holding cash is actually losing money.
Money comes from “current”—it needs to flow and be in circulation. When you give $100 to a bank, they immediately convert it to digits and lend it out nine times, almost 10x-ing it.
You want cash flow, not cash. Instead of letting money sit idle, put it to work through investments, marketing, or business growth.
8. Never Lose Money
If you leave cash sitting around, you’re guaranteed to lose it—either to theft, inflation, or missed opportunities. If you leave money in the bank earning 0.0012%, you’re losing money to inflation.
We’re heading toward negative interest rates like Germany and Japan. Compound interest was real in the 1970s, but it doesn’t exist at current rates.
The safest way to never lose money is to keep it moving and working for you.
Don’t just accumulate money—create systems that generate regular cash flow. Real estate investments, businesses, and other assets that pay you monthly are more valuable than one-time gains.
Cash flow provides financial freedom because it covers your expenses without you having to work for every dollar.
10. Never Quit Until You Achieve Your Financial Goals
There are future billionaires reading this right now. If someone in your position decided to build a billion-dollar fortune, it’s absolutely possible—the money exists, and you’d do good things with it.
The question isn’t whether it’s possible; it’s who will make the decision to go after it and stick with it until they achieve it.
Breaking the Scarcity Mindset
Many of us grew up with scarcity thinking: “A penny saved is a penny earned,” “Save for a rainy day,” “Eat all your food.” This mentality keeps people poor in a country full of abundance.
We live in the richest country in the world, yet people maintain scarcity mindsets. It’s time to think differently about money—not as something to hoard, but as a tool to create more wealth and make a positive impact.
The wealthy understand these principles and live by them. The choice is yours: continue with the same old financial habits, or adopt the rules that actually create wealth.
Written by Joan Nakagwe
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