An expat rarely runs into financial trouble through an accident. It comes from a series of small gaps between a system you know and a system you are discovering.
1. Build a real budget. Compare the planned budget to your actual spending regularly, and adjust both, not just the first.
2. Treat credit as infrastructure. In the United States, your credit history governs housing, insurance and financing. It builds slowly and degrades fast.
3. Beware of impulse purchases. A forty-eight hour rule on any unplanned purchase removes most of the regret.
4. Set tax aside. Non-wage income is not withheld at source. Putting money aside on every receipt avoids the painful April catch-up, and the quarterly estimates when they are due.
5. Build an emergency fund. Three to six months of running costs, in a separate account, immediately available.
6. Understand your health insurance. Deductible, out-of-pocket maximum, network: three numbers that determine your real exposure far more than the monthly premium.
7. Separate business and personal accounts. It is an accounting requirement, a legal protection, and a time saver at year end.
8. Never leave a tax year unfiled. A missing year always costs more a year later, and catch-up procedures exist precisely to stop the situation settling in.