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_{Exploring the fluff, more information, and launching}

Happy Thursday! Thanks for reading Intentional Dollar — where we look at old money ideas through a new perspective.

What’s inside?

• One idea to experiment with

• Two quotes from others

• Three questions to dig deeper

• Four lines of poetry for the point

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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_{One idea to experiment with:}

The Fluff:

Are your expenses fluffy?

Sitting down with your expenses, pen to paper, is one of the most valuable exercises you can do to create more monthly margin. The point is not just to make a list. The point is to stress test your assumptions and uncover the fluff.

Start with your biggest expense, rent or mortgage, and work your way down through debt, fixed costs, and variable spending. Write down what you actually spent last month. Not what you hoped. Not what you penciled into the budget. What truly went out the door.

Then, category by category, question every number. Too often we look at the mortgage as an immovable object, a daunting payment that arrives on the first of every month. But it is not a single cash flow. It is made up of taxes, insurance, principal, interest, and maybe PMI.

Could you recast the mortgage and lower the payment with a lump sum? Could you pay enough principal to drop PMI early? Could you shop for better insurance coverage or cut unnecessary coverage? Could you refinance? Rent out a spare room?

Fixed does not always mean fixed. There are more levers than you think.

Take this same mindset to each line. Your gas bill is not just the price of gas, it is a reflection of how you use it. Maybe you drive home for lunch every day. Maybe you’ve never carpooled. Behavior drives our bills.

If you are like me, you have plenty of these fluffy categories. And sure, some things are truly fixed. But until you wring out your spending like a washcloth, you will not know how much extra is hiding there.

Here is the challenge: Grab a notebook, make the list, and see how much margin you can find. Treat it like a treasure hunt. Every dollar you recover is a dollar you can put to work for your future. Even if you have plenty of margin and money is not tight. This is not about scarcity. This is about intentionality. It is about making sure every dollar is working the way you want it to, not being spent with unaccountable frivolity.

You’ve worked too hard to let the dollars drift without purpose.

_{Two quotes on more information:}

Delaying launch, staying in the information gathering phase, is missing the boat. To win, act and iterate. Immediate feedback is on the other side of the launch, not in the info buildout.

_{Three questions on launching:}

1. What am I assuming is true simply because it has always been that way?

2. Where might I be confusing comfort with correctness?

3. Whose opinion or rule am I following without ever asking why?

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]

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice. These weekly posts represent my simple thoughts, a few quotes, and some questions — for educational purposes only.

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