Kautsar Ikrami's Key Ideas from The Financial Diet
by Chelsea Fagan, Lauren Ver Hage

Your cash flow is healthy if:

• 50% of your income pays your fixed costs like rent, telephone, and utility bills.
• 30% of your income pays for variable and lifestyle costs like groceries and travel.
• 20% of your income pays for short and long-term investments.

You also need a pyramid of bank accounts in place.

1. Top of Pyramid: Checking account. This is where you keep your day-to-day expenses.
2. 2nd Top of Pyramid: Savings account. It houses your emergency fund.
3. Middle of Pyramid: Semi-liquid savings account, which would help save up to buy a house in a few years.
4. Bottom of Pyramid: Account for longer-term investment.

• Save up an emergency fund equal to at least three months of your living expenses.
• Create a debt repayment schedule that pays down your debt at a minimum cost of interest and maximum benefit in profit to you. Compare the interest on your debt with the return on investment you are getting per dollar for the month.
• Open up a retirement account.
• Consider investing in the likes of mutual and index funds because they are low-risk.
• Consider investing in the individual stocks of companies you feel a strong affinity for (only if you feel confident of your investing savviness).

Nothing scary or complicated about investing.

None of your money should sit idle in a bank account except your emergency fund.

Your money should actively work toward reaching a goal on its own to your benefit.

Cooking your own meals is a great way to save money.

Financial security means you must embrace the Italian grandmother's mindset — cooking for yourself and your family members is imperative, and eating out or ordering food is a treat.

The next time you’re tempted to go to the nearest restaurant, remind yourself there is food at home, and you can save for the future.

With your partner, you need to have goals and dreams involving investments, property ownership, and retirement, not just falling in love and hoping all turns out well.

You should willingly postpone your fairy-tale ending to build some stability for yourself.

• Find a non-stressful time to have a money talk.
• Begin the conversation by appreciating each other.
• Both you and your partner should then, in turn, share how money was regarded and handled in each family.
• Both of you should, in turn, share money hopes and dreams, as well as fears and concerns.
• Both of you can mention the facts ― the subject of the (potential) dispute.
• Both of you should agree not to blame the other concerning the money issues that have now been resolved.