For many years I have played Texas Hold’em with friends and family for fun. From playing Hold’em for pennies with my Dad and Grandparents, to tournament style games in college, and numerous cash games on the various tours on which I have worked. I really enjoy my time playing and have done fairly decent through the years, winning some and losing some, but winning more than I have lost.
Recently, I decided to actually learn how the pros say you are supposed to play, so I picked up a book by poker great Annie Duke. In this particular book, instead of laying out a bunch of rules for the game, Annie focuses on the why behind the rules. She doesn’t want to give you blanket statements of always bet 3X the pot when you have X, or always fold when you have X, but goes through the thinking behind why this advice is routinely given. In this way she allows you the freedom to bet more than 3X when you have X, or actually to play with a hand others say you should fold, because you know the reasoning behind the advice and can see if it applies to your situation. One of the most powerful statements in the book, and why Annie chose to write the book the way she did, is that she wants you to be able to explain why you make every action in a game of poker that you make. She wants you to be able to say more than, “Oh, that’s what everyone says to do” and instead be able to say, “Based on the way the other players were betting, and based on my current position, I believed 3X the bet would weed out the weak hands and would allow me to have a better understanding of what the remaining players have.” In other words, she wants to teach you how to play an intentional game of poker.
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines intentional as, “Intended; designed; done with design or purpose.” While being intentional in your poker playing has the potential to help you win more, being intentional in your spending has the power to save you thousands every year.
Growing up in the church I would often hear the phrase, “Show me your checkbook and I will show you what you value.” While I respect the sentiment, how many of us really think about what we spend money on? How many of us have a design and purpose behind each dollar we spend? How many of you have been surprised at the amount of money you are spending since you have begun tracking your expenses and especially surprised at the categories of spending?
Intentional spending is powerful because it makes sure you have a purpose behind each dollar you are using to purchase an item. While it may sound like a chore when you first hear about intentional spending, aka having to have a reason for every dollar you are spending, in reality it frees you by making sure you are spending money on things that you value and helping you to eliminate the rest. It also helps keep the goal of saving in mind by forcing you to articulate why you are spending money instead of saving it.
Intentional spending also helps eliminate the guilt of spending. Yesterday I went to a BBQ place that I had never been to before and spent $28 on food and then $7 for a beer to go with the food. $35 for lunch for someone claiming to be frugal may sound crazy, but I was intentional in my spending. I had never been to the BBQ place before, and am not sure when I will be in this city again, so I wanted to make sure I was able to try all the highlights. BBQ is also the one food type I always circle back to when I think about going vegan/vegetarian and realize that I cannot give it up, so it holds a special place in my heart. I realized as I was ordering that it was going to be a sizable portion of food and if I was purposeful in my eating I could save half and make it lunch the next day, thereby making it only $14 a day for lunch, a reasonable price when all of your meals are eaten at restaurants. The beer had a very similar thought process. I am a huge fan of sour beers and they had a sour on tap from a local brewery that I had never tried, so I felt the expense was justified. The most important part in all of this spending on lunch though, was that I checked my expense tracker and realized that even with this “exorbitant” spending, I would still have a surplus at the end of the week.
While this is not how she frames it or even her purpose for it, I think Mrs. Frugalwoods 72 hour rule is a great way to practice intentional spending. In summary, Mrs. Frugalwoods states that any time you have the urge to buy something, excluding things like medication and basic necessities for life, write it down and wait 72 hours before purchasing the item. Taking 72 hours between the want of an item and the purchase of an item will give you plenty of time to make sure there is a design and purpose behind every dollar you spend on an item. In my article on purchasing my laptop, I was very purposeful in using the word “intentional” in describing how I bought my laptop. I had taken time to make sure each dollar spent had a purpose. I researched if I needed to spend extra money on a Touch Bar model, or if a non Touch Bar model would suit my needs. I researched to see if there were refurbished models available and if they performed as well as the new models. I researched the different hard drive sizes available and decided which hard drive suited my needs. Taking this time to research, and having a reason behind each decision I made about my laptop, made it extremely easy to drop the thousand dollars plus on my MacBook Pro. If I had just waltzed into an Apple store and bought whatever model the salesperson recommended without researching, I would have probably freaked out about the price, and potentially felt guilty about the money outlay. Buying my laptop intentionally gave me freedom and peace of mind.
Again, the theme of all of this is not to never spend money, but to spend it intentionally and on things you value. The point is not to create mindless drones who all operate the same way, but to create people who can articulate why they are spending every dollar they spend. While it may seem like a chore to have a reason behind every dollar spent, I promise you will be amazed at the freedom and peace of mind it provides. You will also be amazed at the things you realize you do not need in your life when you pause to think about a purchase as opposed to just swiping your card. Let me know any changes you see in your purchasing habits from applying intentional spending!
