January 12th, 2023

Cody Ward |

First, a joke:

 

Have you heard the news about corduroy hats?

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.

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They are reaaaaalllyyy making headlines...

 

 

And now, a plea. Ever heard advice about money along these lines:

 

Before you can manage a lot of money,

It's best to understand how to manage a little.

 

Ahh yes, the old crawl-walk-run advice...

 

To me, it's all about being intentional about your choices -- especially when it comes to money.

 

The thing is, when you're working with a much smaller amount of money, the decisions might be easier to make because the major priorities (food, shelter, transportation...) naturally have precedence. You might even feel like the decisions kinda make themselves.

In other words, "non-discretionary" expenses don't seem to leave any room for discretion in the first place -- no need to grapple with the Tyranny of Choice in this case!

As you start to work with larger amounts of money (cash flow increases, big windfalls like an inheritance, etc...), the game changes quite a bit. Now there might be enough to cover the non-discretionary expenses and then some. This opens the door for Discretion -- as you walk through it, may your sense of intentionality be by your side.

So when it comes to money, the crawl-walk-run advice sounds nice, but you might not even have a choice.

If and when you do have more choices to make, it becomes important to walk and run with intention. It won't guarantee that you make it to your desired destination -- but it should at least help with feeling like you are reducing the probability of serious injury along the way.

Anyway, please feel welcome to share your thoughts by sending a brief note to hello@leewayplanning.com if you’d like!

Thanks for your time and may you have a swell rest of the day.

Sincerely,

Cody L. Ward