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Honestly, right now I just have one envelope for coffee/beer/random 7-11 purchases and one for utilities/rent I split with a few room mates. Next month I'm goi

Honestly, right now I just have one envelope for coffee/beer/random 7-11 purchases and one for utilities/rent I split with a few room mates. Next month I'm going to try to split it out because I'm budgeting for some gift giving (girlfriend's birthday and Chinese New Year stuff). For anything I don't have the cash for that I want to buy online, I wait two days before I buy anything over a certain amount just to make sure I _actually_ want it. I still keep my debit card in my wallet in case I'm in a pinch, but the act of using cash everywhere makes a _huge_ difference. E.g. last week I bought a round of cocktails for my friends because they came to the stand up comedy club I was performing at so I was in an extra giving mood. This morning I looked at my wallet, saw I didn't have much cash left, and that act of being mindful caused me to make a coffee at home this morning rather than go buy one. It also makes me appreciate every purchase. Because I built this habit of being mindful with spending while I was in the USA, I had a nice nest egg saved up from when I moved to Asia so I can pick and choose what projects and people I want to work with. Keeping everything simple in one account removed a lot of mental overhead of managing money. For any investments, I uninstalled all the stock tracking apps on my phone and only check investment performance on my laptop every few months. I use the extra mental energy to focus on work instead of trying to time the market to get better at my craft and deliver better value to my clients. Which gives me more money in the end anyways.

iambateman 5y ago
This is so great, thanks. I’ve never used envelopes but I can see the appeal. Love the idea of waiting two days. In theory I should do the same thing with investments. It’s hard to avoid checking daily, even though I don’t trade very often. Thanks!
- jameshush 5y ago
  Ya just uninstall them. So simple but makes a huge quality life difference. My hands are made of paper so I ended up getting a financial advisor too, that way I have to give someone a phone call in order to sell anything. Like I said, I treat my finances the same way an 85 year old grandma does and it's worked great for me.

iambateman 5y ago

This is so great, thanks. I’ve never used envelopes but I can see the appeal. Love the idea of waiting two days. In theory I should do the same thing with investments. It’s hard to avoid checking daily, even though I don’t trade very often. Thanks!

jameshush 5y ago
Ya just uninstall them. So simple but makes a huge quality life difference. My hands are made of paper so I ended up getting a financial advisor too, that way I have to give someone a phone call in order to sell anything. Like I said, I treat my finances the same way an 85 year old grandma does and it's worked great for me.