Mapped Out Money Newsletter by Nick True
Weekly tips and stories to help you manage your money so you can do more of what matters.
Weekly tips and stories to help you manage your money so you can do more of what matters.
Featured Post
The step everyone skips when budgeting
If you've been keeping up with our podcast, you know we've had a running theme over the last few episodes.
The theme that underpins episodes 83 - 86 is simple:
A clear and compelling vision is the key to managing money well and creating a budget that doesn't feel restrictive.
I've had the honor of personally coaching over 2,000 people on how to improve their finances. Over and over again, I see one core problem continually trip people up...
no clarity or vision for their future.
I can...
Read now
3 months ago • 2 min read
How to make large purchases (3 options)
We're optimizers. One of our hobbies is brainstorming ways to be efficient and squeeze all the enjoyment out of our space at home, our time working vs playing, and of course, our budget. (🤓 You didn't know how cool we are, did you?)
But sometimes it's a little tricky to figure out how to optimize our spending, especially when we have seemingly competing priorities.
So Nick came up with a framework to help us decide what to buy and when to buy it! I think it's especially helpful when we're in...
5 months ago • 1 min read
What money lies do you believe?
In a coaching call yesterday, I asked the group to create a "money manifesto" - a list of things they believe about money.
I wrote my own money manifesto a few years ago, hoping it would generate content ideas and also serve as hiring guidelines for Mapped Out Money team members.
But I never thought to ask my clients to do this, until yesterday.
Most of us have all kinds of subconscious beliefs about money - from our childhood, our friends, our coworkers, and of course, the media we consume....
5 months ago • 1 min read
Better Shoes = Better Friends
Seventh grade was a hard year for me. Shocking, I know. 🙃 But true.
There was this one group of guys I really wanted to hang out with. But every time I tried to get their attention, they just completely ignored me. Better than getting a wedgie, but still disappointing.
One day I noticed they were all wearing the same type of shoes. And my 7th-grade-brain had an epiphany: If I could just get a pair of those shoes, I'd be IN! No way they'd be able to ignore me.
And so, the begging began. And...
7 months ago • 2 min read
You're spending in circles
You're spending at least 20% of your monthly income on things that don't matter to you.
Kind of presumptive for me to say, right? But after analyzing mine and Hanna's budget (too many times to count) and coaching hundreds of clients, I can tell you this was true for us and the vast majority of people I work with.
And you're probably not that different.
It reminds me of a study many people know from Mike Michalowicz's book, Clockwork. The basic gist is that without guiding landmarks, people...
9 months ago • 1 min read
My struggle with envy
Hey there, long time, no talk.
It's been nearly two months since we sent a newsletter and almost six months since we released a podcast or YouTube video. We've been knee-deep in building renovations (Yup, still.), figuring out life in Knoxville, supporting our coaching clients, and planning for 2023.
And for a multitude of reasons, the transition has been harder and taken longer than we expected.
Thus, the long silence.
Throughout this season, I've found myself being envious of others....
12 months ago • 2 min read
How your city affects your spending
Last week I came across an article from Paul Graham that I read many years ago. In it, he argues that all cities (especially large ones) subtly encourage certain ambitions.
Think of it as "social currency" or status. You can find out what your city whispers by asking the question, "What makes you high or low status in this city?"
Here's an example from Twitter:
This seems like a broad-scale application of the quote, "You're the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with."
Here's...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Marriage and Money Lessons from 8 years
Nick and I celebrated 8 years of marriage yesterday. Naturally, we have to share 8 financial lessons we’ve learned so far 🙃:
1. Cast a vision together
Marriage is a team sport, which means we both need to be excited about the vision for our future.
This started really small for us - envisioning life with a dog. 🐶Once we worked together using our budget to achieve that, we cast a vision for leaving our traditional jobs and traveling full-time in an Airstream. And God has continued to grow our...
over 1 year ago • 5 min read
More Wealth => More Dogs
Sunday was pretty exciting.
Team Fluff eked out a slim victory over Team Ruff in Puppy Bowl XVIII. You can "aaawwwwwwwww 🥰" over all the participants here. But beware. You WILL want to adopt a dog on your lunch break.
If your budget is screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO MORE DOGS!" (does yours sound suspiciously like Nick too??)... don't worry! You can live vicariously through Steve Greig, pack leader of The One and Only Wolfgang. He adopts senior dogs - and the occasional pig or turkey - and posts...
almost 2 years ago • 1 min read
I've been missing out...
Hanna here. I have been loving - like L-O-V-I-N-G - Sandi Hester's "Bits of an Artist's Life" YouTube Channel.
In one of her podcast interviews, she alluded to some dark seasons she's gone through with health issues. But she talked about how the Lord has really used those seasons to teach her that there's always joy to be had in the here and now, even when things feel not so great.
So she tries to focus on enjoying the process, whether that's the start-to-finish process of a painting or of...
almost 2 years ago • 4 min read