Welcome to Under 2, an email series delivering short insights to empower your money life – in 2 minutes or less.
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In the journey to financial solvency, then security, independence, and full-fledged financial freedom, there are ultimately two factors always at play: income and expenses. All too often we focus on just one of these.
Either living as though frugality is a virtue in and of itself, prioritizing saving 35 cents on cereal over planning your next career step. Or the inverse, having sights set on the next big step in income that will finally be enough… and then somehow it still isn’t.
Indeed, we’ve all heard stories of the entertainment superstar, professional athlete, or lottery winner that went bankrupt. Even the unfathomable heights of the Vanderbilt fortune (and it was truly staggering) evaporated inside of five generations, thanks largely to exorbitant spending with little staying power. But we also know plenty of people (or maybe we are one of them) that adjust the thermostat down to save some bucks, clip coupons, only buy items on sale, and generally never pay a premium for anything if there’s a cheaper option. Neither of these extremes will ultimately harness money in a way that creates meaning, purpose, and impact.
I can say I pretty much never stop systematically pruning our daily life expenses (i.e. maintenance spending) for the purpose of securing spending power for what matters most to us. Even when half of my (former) paycheck was no longer necessary for our family’s living expenses, you could still find me scrutinizing the bills routinely. And choosing to go without in many areas.
Because while more spending on a nicer car, home improvements, new clothes, more vacations – or even just not bothering to pay close attention to the bills anymore – seem like important next-step expenditures/conveniences when you finally have wiggle room, that logic can spin off indefinitely. You get locked in an endless cycle of moving goal posts where everything seems important to spend on, simply because you can.
If everything is important, then nothing is.
Patrick M. Lencioni
In contrast, when you’re comfortable in a lifestyle that costs less to keep up and you simultaneously work towards earning more anyway, the effects are far more impactful. For choosing what kind of work you do and how much time you spend doing it, for making a desired or necessary pivot in work or family life, for answering a calling to give or founding a cause that needs attention – the stuff that gives life meaning.
You also create flexibility to change course because you aren’t committed to excessive costs from decisions made in the past to stay solvent. (Even the Rockfellers had to let go of John D. Senior’s grand home in the end due to the substantial cost of its maintenance.)
Ultimately, avoid falling in the trap of focusing too much on income – or thriftiness – because it’s getting lean with expenses combined with income growth that’s the exponentially powerful pairing.
Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
Helen Keller
But our passion for adventure never goes away. We simply trade it in for standards of living.”
Ainsley Arment in The Call of the Wild and Free
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Under 2, an email series designed to share quick bites of wisdom to empower your financial journey (while keeping it short).
All for now,
Lindsey