Before we leave the subject of money, let's look at the five golden rules of no-stress money management. No matter what your tendencies, income, financial preconceptions, or savings account balance, these five golden rules will help to de-stress your financial life each and every day. Copy them. Post them. Live by them.

They aren't all easy to achieve right away. Add them to your list of financial goals if necessary. Working toward these rules will put the money that is (or isn't) in your life in its proper and rightful place: as a tool you use with total control and good sense to maintain and improve your life.

• Live within your means. In other words, don't spend more than you make each month. Don't use credit unless it is absolutely necessary. If you don't have the ready cash to go on a shopping spree, don't go on a shopping spree. Of course, to accomplish this rule, you need to know exactly how much ready cash you have available to spend each month (see the earlier section “Know Exactly How Much Is Coming In and Going Out”).

• Conquer your debt. Make chipping away at those high-interest debts your top priority. Debt may not be something you can hold in your hand, but neither are a lot of the things that cause you chronic stress. Just knowing you've got huge debts is enough to activate the stress response in some people. First, purge the debt. Then, start saving. Even as you start to pay off your debts, you'll feel as though a black cloud is lifting from over your head. Don't listen to people who tell you debt is necessary, the American Way. Nonsense. A mortgage and a car payment, maybe. Other than those, pay them off, pay them off, pay them off, and breathe more freely.

• Simplify your finances. Set up a simple system for financial management. Go through a single bank for all your transactions. When possible, have your paycheck automatically deposited into your bank account, and have payments made automatically or make them online so that you don't have to run to the bank all the time. If you invest, go through a single firm. If the thought of investing stresses you out, don't do it.

• Know your money. Know how much you earn. Know how much you spend. Know where all your money is. Know how much your investments are earning you. Know (and trust) your broker. Or, if you invest on your own, keep track of everything you do. Keep your checkbook balanced and your bank statements reconciled. You'll never have to get stressed out because you don't know whether a check will bounce, whether your investments are earning or losing, or how much you have saved.

• Plan for the future. Save. Save. Save. The short-term sacrifice of buying something you don't really need and probably won't use very much, the decision not to do the expensive remodeling or get the really high-profile SUV, the decision to move to a smaller and more manageable house, to stop eating out so much, to spend more time at home, all in favor of saving, saving, saving, is well worth it in many ways. Your life will be simpler. It will be easier. You'll have a nest egg. All that adds up to a lot less stress.