What are some financial tips that everyone should know?

iPhones. Mahesh(changed name) is my friend. He works in an IT company in Gurgaon. He earns around Rs 40K per month. Two months ago, he called me.

“Bro! Where are you? It’s urgent”

“Yeah! What happened?”

“I need some money. It’s urgent. I will return it in a few weeks.”

“Okay, is everything okay?”

“Can’t talk right now. please send money.. let’s talk in the evening.”

I thought there might be some medical emergency so I immediately transferred the amount he had asked for. weeks passed. months passed but we didn’t talk. I got busy with my work and he might have gotten busy with his. Last week, I called to check on my money. I got to know the dude had bought an iPhone 13 on EMI with my borrowed money. The dude earns 40k and has to send some money home too. After sending money, he has to look for his expenses in Gurgaon. With this little salary, he bought iPhone for what? Just for the status. What will he do with this status?

I still use Redmi 4 which I bought in 2017.

Lesson: Never buy anything on EMI. Status is temporary, Savings are Permanent