6 money lessons from “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

I didn’t expect “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” to be a cinematic classic. It was clear from the first preview that this would be a popcorn movie. What I did expect is that Paul Rudd and Carrie Coon would take the lead in supernatural heroism.

So I was pleasantly surprised when the middle-school nerd, Phoebe (Mckenna Grace, of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” among others) and her new (and only) friend, Podcast (Logan Kim) pretty much walked away with the movie. They – and especially Phoebe – are the film’s heart and mind.

And the scene where Podcast asks if she would be….

…wait for it…

his lab partner? That was one of the shyer, sweeter movie scenes I’ve encountered in ages.

The protagonists are the daughter and grandkids of one of the original Ghostbuster gang, and they’ve inherited his dilapidated house in Middle-of-Nowhere, Oklahoma. The mom, Callie, tells the kids they’re just going out there to sell the place, but we know before they do that they’re going to stay; after all, an early scene shows Callie begging the landlord not to evict them.

What could go wrong? Especially when teenaged son Trevor (Finn Wolfhard, of “Stranger Things”) and his new buddies start hanging around an abandoned mine? Or when Phoebe starts noticing some strange things of her own around their new home?

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” drags a bit here and there, and I could have done without the Hallmark-y denouement, but overall I had a pretty good time. Didn’t hurt a bit that I paid only $6 because it was cheap Tuesday, or that I had a $3-off coupon for the concessions stand. (Like I said: Popcorn movie.)

And, of course, I found money lessons therein. Don’t I always? 

Personal finance is where you find it. Here’s what I found in “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.”

1. You need an emergency fund

We’d seen Callie getting out of Dodge before they could be evicted. (Which plays hob with your credit score, by the way; don’t let this happen to you. Leave before you actually wind up in court.) During her dinner date with Phoebe’s teacher she hints at a ne’er-do-well ex, so we can assume he’s not keeping up with the child support.

It can be very hard to save up an EF. But it’s absolutely crucial. Had Callie been able to give a few hundred bucks to her landlord, perhaps he’d have held off on the pay-or-vacate stuff. But she didn’t have it. Make sure that you do.

(The “Challenge Yourself to Save” chapter of my first book is available for free as a Google doc. It contains nearly three dozen ways to squeeze a few extra dollars out of even the most dire of budgets. All of them are easy, and some of them are even fun.)

2. Educate yourself

Phoebe is an incredibly smart preteen, the kind of kid who reads physics for fun and as a result can talk shop with her science teacher. At one point her older brother asks her to explain something, and she fixes him with a preteen glare: “Would it kill you to read a book?” Lucky for the entire human race, Phoebe has read quite a few books. Her intelligence and bravery save the world.

You’ll probably never be in the position of having to fight Dark Forces. But you should always protect your finances. If you don’t know anything about money, then educate yourself. Websites like the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have articles to help you understand money. You can’t build a secure financial future based on advice from friends and family, unless one of them happens to be a fiduciary.

3. It’s okay not to follow the herd

Phoebe spends part of the movie trying to learn how to make people like her. It doesn’t work all that well. But she’s too self-aware just to keep her mouth shut and try to blend in with all the other tweens. Phoebe is true to herself, even though that worries her mom and apparently gets her into trouble at times. (One scene from an early film trailer showed her being bullied. I’m very glad that scene was cut.)

Phoebe does Phoebe. You should do you. It doesn’t matter that all the cool kids are spending money much faster than they make it. There’s nothing wrong with having fun, but there’s a whole lot wrong with piling up debt without a clear idea how you’ll pay it off.

Some people say that we’re not guaranteed anything, so you should live like there’s no tomorrow. Thing is, there usually is a tomorrow, and it usually costs at least as much as today. Do budget for fun – but make sure it’s fun you can afford, instead of buying expensive stuff just because all the people your age are doing it.

4. Choose non-toxic self-care

At some point Phoebe finds her mother asleep with her head on the kitchen table, a stack of bills and a half-empty glass of wine nearby. I expect I’d want to empty a few glasses of my own if I had a ton of bills and no clear idea of how I was going to finish raising two kids.

Life is hard. Sometimes it’s so hard we aren’t sure if we can get through. Things like alcohol, drugs, gambling and ill-advised relationships may make us feel better in the short term, but they can hurt us physically as well as financially.

Next time you’re tempted to do something that’s short-term fun but long-term iffy, look for other ways to care for yourself. A massage, a hot bath, a good book, a night of movie-watching at a friend’s house. Figure out what makes you feel better and doesn’t break either your health or the bank, and then do that thing.

5. Don’t be afraid of a little hard work

On the family’s first night in town, the teenaged son notices a “Help Wanted” sign at the burger place. Okay, at least part (maybe all) of the reason he applies is because of his attraction to a teenaged girl who already works there. Since we already know they’re in trouble financially, it’s a safe bet that he’ll either donate some of his earnings to the family coffers or at the very least buy his own school clothes to ease the burden on his mom.

Fact is, a lot of kids – and not a few adults – sit around and wait for miracles to happen. Spoiler alert: They rarely do. If your money isn’t stretching the way it should, maybe a second job is in the cards for you. That won’t work for everyone, of course; folks who’d spend more on child care than they’d earn in a night of Doordashing immediately come to mind. But a short-term gig, one with a strictly defined beginning and end – say, a temp retail job evenings and weekends during the holidays – could help you deal with the debt that’s been dogging you.

It doesn’t even have to be traditional work. For example, some people pet-sit or walk dogs for extra cash, or do virtual work at home after their regular job is done for the day. For leads on jobs like these, head over to SideHusl; site creator Kathy Kristof is a longtime personal finance journalist who vets jobs before she posts them, and points out the pros and cons of such work.

6. Work with what you’ve got

Like his granddad, Trevor is a tinkerer. Phoebe got the mega-brains and he got the urge to fix things. Ultimately his ability to get the Ghostbusters vehicle running again (along with its assorted weaponry and ghost traps) is as important to saving the world as Phoebe’s plan to beat those Dark Forces.

No reason you shouldn’t have a car that runs, too. But do you have to trade it in every few years? Maybe you want a kitchen remodel, but if the current appliances are still in great shape, then why not just paint the cabinets and change out their hardware instead? And yeah, a long vacation at a nice resort sure sounds luxurious, but…What’s the opportunity cost of those dollars?

Understand: It’s not that you shouldn’t have what you want. It’s that you shouldn’t go into debt for those things and/or lose sight of long-term financial goals to get them.

Related reading:

• 8 personal finance lessons from “Gotterdammerung”
• 10 personal finance lessons from the Iditarod
• 5 financial lessons from “Parsifal”