I know very little about good personal financial management other than that ideally revenue > expenses. If you found any source for learning about personal finance useful please post it.
For day-to-day personal finance, “disposable income > expenses” is sufficient—automate payments to long-term savings, rent, etc; and then spend the balance as you will. Some people get a lot of value out of detailed budgeting techniques or tools, but IMO that’s mostly personal preference.
Before considering any departure from the conventional wisdom of low-fee diversified index funds, you should also read Inadequate Equilibria and some of Taleb (I usually suggest Fooled by Randomness and Antifragile).
For day-to-day personal finance, “disposable income > expenses” is sufficient—automate payments to long-term savings, rent, etc; and then spend the balance as you will. Some people get a lot of value out of detailed budgeting techniques or tools, but IMO that’s mostly personal preference.
The best short introduction to personal finance for the long term is William J Bernstein’s If You Can: how millenials can get rich slowly (pdf). It’s only sixteen pages long, with recommended follow-up reading and actions for your second pass through.
Before considering any departure from the conventional wisdom of low-fee diversified index funds, you should also read Inadequate Equilibria and some of Taleb (I usually suggest Fooled by Randomness and Antifragile).