Financial strategy I am using: Cash For Eating and Drinking
In an effort to tighten the reins on my financial life and move some of our resources into other areas, my wife and I have decided to go back to carrying cash. We have decided to cut 20% from our typical monthly expenditure on eating and drinking. To set this up successfully we track all of our spending on Quicken. We then took out 80% of what we normally spend in a month and divided it evenly between us. There are a few additional benefits to using cash; 1) when it is gone it is gone for the month. 2) When you are spending cash you can eliminate the guilt often felt because you know that it has been allocated for that type of expense. 3) You inherently become aware of your spending habits and eliminate the “just put it on the card” mindset. If you are looking to become more free, by becoming more disciplined in your financial life, this is a great strategy to try! For more information on how to do this, check out Dave Ramsey’s reference called The Total Money Makeover.
Book I am hearing: Great By Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen
Authors of “Good To Great” and “Built To Last“, this writing consists of research done on companies that, despite experiencing the same uncertainty, chaos and luck of other companies in the marketplace, thrived. The easy to understand, focused and research backed approach to running companies during trying times is a great reference for anyone looking to create an enduring entity!
Quote I am saying: “Regardless of the external environment the most productive thing you can do is manage yourself.” ~ Devin Shea
This weekend I took a friend of mine to La Jolla Cove for a swim. He had not done ocean swimming before and I was excited to share what I had learned over the past two years with him. Unfortunately, when we arrived we saw that the surf was really big (6-8 foot swells). As someone who had grown up in San Diego surfing, I knew he could handle himself in the water, so I decided he would be ok. I knew that the hardest part would be the first 2 minutes of trying to get out past the big waves. The initial shock of the cold water, the inability to see in the water, the big waves crashing and your heart rate skyrocketing are all common challenges to deal with during this first 100 meters. As expected, he struggled with all of these components, but we made it out past the breakers and enjoyed the rest of our experience. Reflecting on this swim I realized that what we had gone through was a great metaphor for life. Despite the chaos of the external environment, all we needed to do was stay calm, focus on our breathing, relax and enjoy the opportunity to truly feel alive. In reality, this is all we can ever do. Sometimes I find that I expect way too much of myself and get really worked up when I can’t control all the variables. In the future, I hope to be able to look back on this moment and get centered once again!
Have a kick ass week everyone!
In Health,
Dr. Devin Shea, DC
