Just Move One Piece

Finn recently decided to be a chess player. It was an unexpected development in our household, but I dig it. I'm not good at chess, but it's fun to compete with him and watch his little brain work. In the first few games, I had to remind him, "just move one piece." You move one, I move one.

With as complicated as our finances can become, there are a lot of moving pieces. Sometimes, families feel the need to adjust every number every month. They try to focus on all the categories and prioritize everything, then get overwhelmed. Instead, I encourage people to "just move one piece." If there are one or two categories that we need to get better control of, focus more dollars to, or gain more intentionality on, put your energy there.

We shouldn't try to do everything. If we can hone in on one or two things this month, then maybe we can grab another next month. Music lessons and cell phone replacements are two categories for us. After a trial run for drum and electric guitar lessons for the kids, it's time for Sarah and I to build that expense into our budget for the foreseeable future. That's a priority for us, and we need to create margin and consistency with it.

Second, Sarah's phone is in hospice care. We need to make quick decisions, or she'll be living in 1994 again. Therefore, we'll lean hard into this category and find a way to replace her phone quickly.

It's the power of the just moving one (or two) piece(s). We can't move the needle on every goal, every category, and every habit. But we can move the needle on a few, then next time a few more, then eventually a few more.

As one more visual, let's say you have five different priorities, each costing $500. Let's also pretend you have $500 of monthly discretionary income after all needs, wants, and giving have been accounted for. If you prioritize them equally and try to do everything at once, you'll contribute $100 to each of them. At that pace, it will take five months to achieve a win. On the flip side, if you decide to prioritize just one (and contribute all $500 to it), you accomplish a goal in the first month. If you do the same in the second month, you achieve another goal. Constant momentum.

Many financial situations in our lives involve this principle. If we just move one piece, we can move the needle quickly while gaining confidence from the wins.

The new month is quickly approaching. What one (or two) piece(s) will you move?