Ok, this is going to be a little big. Firstly before giving you out details on how I manage my money. Let me first let me tell you I'm an Indian, currently staying in Bangalore. This is important to understand the economic background from where I come.
To give you a brief background, I come from a relatively poor backgrounds. And trust me poor in India translates to very poor in USA. My dad was a cab driver and mom a teacher at a school. Me and my sister are the only kids parents have. They slogged their whole life to get us decent education. Throughout my teenage and childhood, I witnessed first hand how difficult life gets without money. Many a times we didn't have money even to pay for my school fees. We used to stay at relatives place in a small room. The whole family in a hall. We used to get clothes probably once or twice a year. I still remember I didn't wear shoes until I got my first pay. The first month I had borrowed my Uncle's shoes. Until even 22, The only clothes I wore were either borrowed or donated. During my pre university college and engineering, I've survived on scholarships. I used to get around 2 rupees a day to live on. Given that, I used to be able to eat my lunch only once a week. That is all could afford. If there is anybody who knows what hunger is, its me. I've seen first hand, how it feels to see some one eat stomach full in front of you, while you just look at them and hope you had gotten that opportunity to eat that meal.
Coming to how I managed my finances and came out of all this.
a. Firstly my dad, got himself a cab of his own. This was a risk we took. He used to drive nearly 24x7, he got rentals more frequently. More importantly he was able to get a lot of personal clients who were ready to pay a little more for the excellent services he offered. One great thing about my parents is although we live in near hand to mouth conditions. We saved money and invested like no one. And we used to do that very frequently.
b. Gold savings, Making a routine habit of buying a little gold helped our family a lot. Over years, Gold prices have gone up real high in India. I helped us sell of a lot of ornaments we purchased to buy real estate later. Incremental investments are crucial.
c. Disposing Gold at the right time, to buy real estate not in the city. But closer to the city. Keep an eye on the real estate market. There are always opportunities to buy cheap properties, which are not good now but will be good in the future. In fact the whole concept of an investment is to work towards a future prospect, not current.
d. Get yourself a good savings plan. A penny saved is a penny gained. Know how much is sufficient for you X years from now and plan accordingly.
e. Learn to live content and frugal. Differentiate between needs and wants. You don't need to keep changing the iPhone model every year. That's waste of money. Don't fall into mindless consumerism. Especially buy a get 2a free stuff kind of things. Learn how you can cook at home, avoid hotel meals. They are neither healthy nor economical. Occasional family outing is Ok, but frequent ones spoil you. Don't fall for show off, know what you need and stick to it. People's perception don't matter.
f. I don't have/take any loans, credit cards, dues as a life principle. Interests are the most dangerous thing. They make your life miserable. Get out of the debt as soon as you can and don't go into it ever again.
g. Don't buy stuff you can't afford.
h. Get your self endowment insurance policy. The things that allows you small investment over years. Covers you for life, but yet gives you a huge sum of amount at some period. This also takes care of your retirement planning.
By Gods grace,I am in good conditions now. By merely learning how to manage my monthly salary well. Thanks to my dad for teaching me this. Small expenses, savings matter a lot. Over time they get multiplied. Its in your hand to manage your money.
If you earn 100 rupees, sure enjoy 40 rupees. Save 30 rupees and invest 30 rupees. Incremental savings and investments matter a lot. This is the most important thing you must remember. Don't bother about what others are thinking or doing. You plan for your future. No one is going to help you when you are in trouble. So save and invest whatever you have.
Above all work hard, work your life off. Going far requires making sacrifices and undergoing pain. Show up on time, do the right thing and a little extra than others. Take the occasional risk and make right decisions.
If you can do all this 12-16 hours a day. Success is inevitable. Its karma. You will be ahead of at least 95% of the crowd.