Exploring the butterfly net, the money paradox, and financial systems

Welcome to the Intentional Dollar weekly newsletter — great work taking this small step to move your money forward. I’m Logan, a Certified Financial Planner™, and I’m excited you’re here!

What’s inside?

• One tool to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

_{One tool to experiment with:}

The Butterfly Net

Have you ever made an impulsive purchase?

The feeling that follows is often buyer’s remorse, or shame. Subsequently, you regret spending the money and debate yourself on why you made the purchase. “Did I really need that new pair of Nike’s, or is the Amazon marketing team tactfully nudging me again!?”

To those that answered no to our lead off question, I commend you, and I would ask a follow-up question: if those purchases aren’t impulsive, are they intentional? This question is important because impulsivity gets veiled by a foggy facade of good feelings. Impulsive carries a negative connotation, so if you feel positive after spending money, you likely won’t attach that label to yourself.

So let’s make a distinction between impulsive and intentional:

Two people can spend $40/week eating out. If one reactively spends the $40 because work was stressful, they were busy, etc — they’ve made impulsive purchases. If the other plans to go out because they know it’s a hectic week — they’ve made intentional purchases. It’s not the category, or the quantity of spend, it’s the deliberate nature that differentiates. 

Intentionality with money makes us feel better, and more in control. When we feel good about money, we make good money decisions. The same is true when we feel bad about money.

I think of impulsive purchases as bright blue butterflies that eloquently float into our field of view. They steal our attention and we helplessly fixate on them. When the desire to acquire a thing occurs, the body is flooded with dopamine in anticipation of the reward for attaining that thing. This chemical response literally pulls us to purchase.

That’s where today’s tool, the butterfly net, comes in. The butterfly net is a framework you can apply to delay or avoid certain purchases. The net is a mental countdown that starts when you first want to make a purchase. I often use 24 hours, but it depends on the magnitude of the purchase.

The idea behind the net is to distance yourself from the emotions that are driving you toward the purchase at time zero. With more time, the cravings created from dopamine subside, and you have space to make a logical, intentional decision.

The net is not a mechanism to eliminate purchases, but to help you be intentional. Some purchases will make it through, others will be stored away.

There are two caveats to address with this framework:

1. Spontaneous is a synonym of impulsive. Spontaneity is good, so this is not to eradicate it, but moderate the negative impact of too much.

2. This tool works better as a rule of thumb, as opposed to a fire extinguisher. For example, “As a rule, I wait at least 24 hours after seeing something (>$30) I want and subsequently making the purchase.”

If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that one day later you often won’t even remember what you wanted to buy.

_{Two quotes on the money paradox:}

There’s a strange paradox with money, and it often goes unexamined: The more you want, the more you’ll need, and the less you’ll have. The less you want, the less you’ll need, and the more you’ll have.

_{Three questions on financial systems:}

1. What systems do I have in place to review my money?

2. What if I automated saving, investing, or paying off debt?

3. What if I saved a fixed amount when I got paid, instead of what’s left at the end of the month?

Which question stuck with you? Questions like these are spotlights for the mind. Reply to this email and let me know which one shined light on a previously dark cave.

_{Four lines of poetry for the point:}

Contact Me:

Content ideas, questions? Reply to this email or reach out to me at [email protected]