– Control downside; let the upside take care of itself.
I stole the second from a Seth Godin blog post (which I can’t find):
– Spend as little as possible on what doesn’t matter, and as much as necessary on what does.
The first rule is the best kind of a rule: a simple one. The second rule is simple too, but it has some ambiguity built in, which means I can adapt it in the future—my understanding of what matters, what doesn’t and what constitutes “necessary” is likely to evolve over time. But enough with finance. See, what I realised—and why I’m writing this—is that these personal finance rules can double as time management rules. Time is my most precious resource, and I can’t do much better than knowing how I spend it (rule one) and resolving to devote as much of it to what matters as I can (rule two).
Swell & Cut 