👑 How status games kill your finances

Published almost 2 years ago • 1 min read

Good afternoon Reader,

How is it the end of 2024 already? We're just a couple weeks away from the end of the year - and our kids only have two more school days left!

There's goes my sanity. 😆

How has your year been?

(View this email as a webpage)

👑 Avoid status games

The holidays can be a great time.

They can also be a challenging time.

One of the ways it's challenging is that when you see friends and family, there's a natural inclination to compare yourself. This is especially true when you see extended family, folks who you grew up with and may or may not be "doing better" than you now.

These are status games. Here's how to avoid them:

👉 How to Avoid Status Games

⚒️ Ditch activities that no longer serve you

As we near the new year, you're probably going to think about ways to declutter your life. We remember to declutter things because we can see them (even though it's not easy!).

But it's important to declutter activities and practices too:

👉 Ditch financial practices that no longer serve you

📅 5 Year End Financial Ideas

My internet friend Jesse at The Best Interest shares a list of 5 good year end financial ideas you should think about.

They're not specific tips in that "you should do this," but more financial areas you should be thinking about and considering.

Click through and you'll know what I mean:

👉 5 Year-End Financial Planning Tips

What did you think of today's email?
✅ I Loved It! 🟨 It Was Okay ❌ Not My Favorite

Take care!

Jim

PS. Do you get random text messages from strangers pretending to know who you are (and asking you to coffee or something?) - here's why and what you should do.

(see our archive of previous emails)

You signed up for this newsletter via wallethacks.com

We respect you and your attention. If you no longer wish to get emails from us, you can unsubscribe and we will still be friends.

If you like sending gifts, we like getting them here - P.O Box 323, Fulton, MD 20759

Read more from Hi, I'm Jim Wang and I share my strategies and tactics for managing your money and enjoying more out of life.

🥶 it's getting cold

Good morning Reader! We had our first cold week in Maryland where temperatures were in the high 30s at night. We live in a home built in the 1980s with an oil furnace that burns #2 heating oil - which is now 124% higher than a year ago. We have a heat pump too, for the shoulder seasons, but the price per kilowatt-hour has jumped too... it's something we'll all have to contend with this winter. Regardless of how you heat your home, if you need help check to see if your state offers any...

3 days ago • 3 min read

😴 The boring middle isn't

Good morning Reader! When it comes to your money and investing, there are three distinct phases - the setup, the accumulation, and then the drawdown. Early in the process, there's a lot of work to set it up. You create a budget, you dial in your spending, and you save and invest your money. Then there's the accumulation phase, the "boring middle," where you simply wait. You make automatic contributions, you go about your life, and you wait until your portfolio hits "the number." Then, of...

10 days ago • 3 min read

🏋️ Barbell budgeting strategy

Good morning Reader! I was chatting with a friend who works at a consumer products company and she's seeing consumer behavior change. More and more people are using a barbell budgeting strategy when it comes to their spending. This is where you spend spend more on high-end luxury while cutting aggressively on the basics. People are choosing to spend on the things that bring them joy. An example of this is when you choose to go out to a fancy meal on the weekend but during the week you're...

17 days ago • 3 min read