As a rule of thumb, you should set aside 40 percent of your income for taxes. Some people save 30 percent, but I prefer to be conservative: It’s better to end up oversaving than owing money at the end of the year.

If you’re booking travel or eating out, use a travel card to maximize rewards. For everything else, use a cash back card. The card I use for travel and eating out is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. For everything else, I use an Alliant cash back card. And for business, I use a Capital One cash back business card. For extra benefits, I have an Amex

Follow my CEO Method: Cut costs, Earn more, and Optimize your existing spending.

It’s important to note that your APR doesn’t technically matter if you’re paying your bills in full every month—you could have a 2 percent APR or 80 percent APR and it would be irrelevant, since you don’t pay interest if you pay your total bill each month.

The Downside of the À La Carte Method. This method requires you to de-automate your life. This is the price you pay for saving money. Give it a shot for two months and see how it feels.

There are certain loopholes for the super-rich that you probably haven’t heard about. If you earn multiple six figures, go to my website for my course on advanced personal finance.

These robo-advisors have added phenomenal features that are genuinely helpful, including planning for medium-term goals like buying a house and long-term goals like retirement.

As an alternative, how about this idea from Suze Orman? She encourages dividing expenses based proportionately on income.

Try calculating how much your own purchases really cost at bankrate.com/brm/calc/minpayment.asp