What Would a White Man Do? Probably monetize these mental models
But...I'm just here to share how I overthink everything. Won't say no if you want to Venmo me $20 if you find this useful though.
My unbook club tried to convince me at our last monthly meetup that I should write a post that details my credit card game. One person even went as far as to say that she’d pay $20 for my thoughts. I was very tempted to call this bluff and put it to the test, but as I’d argued to unbook club, I’m not convinced that I have anything original to add to the treasure trove of credit card content already out there.
As I noodled on this idea, though, I realized that what I do have to share is my mental model for how I think about which credit cards to get. And the longer I sat on that idea, the more I realized that perhaps there are a few mental models that I can share.
Also, before I dive in, let me just say that I truly hated the phrase “mental model” when I was a baby consultant. We were often required to force fit slides into one particular person’s mental model and the force fitting process was often quite arduous. Now that I’m half a decade out of consulting, I’ve come to love the phrase as it encapsulates a pretty handy concept – it’s a succinct way to say, “the math/magic formula/tradeoffs/prioritization/decisionmaking framework that I use for a given type of situation” 😇
Without further ado, I present four mental models, fully free of charge.
#1: Making weekend plans
As more of my friends move in with their partners, I’ve noticed that every household tends to end up with a social captain who makes the majority of the plans. I am undoubtedly the social captain of our little world, and thus I spend a lot of time thinking about what we do, where we go, what we eat, who we do it with, how much it costs and so many other considerations… So many questions, and so little time – realistically, we only have two days a week to slot in all the fun.
Here’s what I typically consider:
There can’t be too much fun because then it doesn’t feel fun – like if we eat out every meal on the weekend, then we’ll feel gross and unhealthy and the last few meals won’t even taste that good. Similarly, if we go to an expensive concert one night, then we balance it out with board games the next night to be more budget friendly.
The activities can’t be too repetitive – who wants to go to brunch and a picnic/park hang two days in a row? (I mean, that could be fun, but variety seems more compelling – mix it up with a show one evening and then a walk by the water the other day.)
How many people are optimal for a given activity? Examples: I don’t mind going shopping alone and often prefer that to going with anyone else. Eating pastries is more fun the bigger the group because you can try more pastries. It’s pretty hard to play board games as a couple, so it’s nice to have 2-3 friends join for those.
Who would like this activity? Not all of our friends share our interests. Some friends have really cool niche interests that we don’t share, but we’re excited to learn about. Based on the activity, I think through who’d get the most enjoyment out of it and ideally, who can impart some interest-specific wisdom.
Now that I’m old and no longer a funemployed person, I also have to leave space to decompress. The weekends require downtime for introvert battery recharging and also for tackling life chores, and getting in a workout.
Also, I look at the big picture – over the next few weeks, do we mostly have busy weekends? Do we need a quiet one to combo break? Do we have quiet weekdays, so we can expend more on a weekend? I try to get a good balance overall so that even if a specific day feels overwhelming, there’s time on each end to gear up for it and to recover from it.
#2: Picking credit cards
As of lately, E has started to say that if we consider credit cards to be my hobby, then when we pay credit card fees, we can just categorize them as “Activities/Entertainment” (one of the categories in our budget). I kind of get that but I also feel pretty strongly about a few things when it comes to premium credit cards that have annual fees:
The benefits have to outweigh the costs, whether you calculate them as the sum of the value you recoup from the points you earn or the other benefits the card offers (or the two combined).
When calculating the “value you recoup from the points you earn,” you have to be realistic about how you redeem the points. There are many ways to optimize for the most cents per point of value, but doing that takes time. If you’re someone who’s happy just redeeming the points as statement credit (which is pretty bad economically 😬) because of the simplicity, do the math and make sure it makes sense for you. It’s not worth earning points that you have no energy and excitement to go optimally redeem – if you just sit on the points and have no path to cashing them out, that’s net worse than hitting the statement credit option…
Generally, this is not a game for the hassle-free folks who like simplicity. If you want to embrace calendar reminders, detailed email reading, the (not so) occasional spreadsheet, and maybe a note to yourself that reminds you which card to use for which transactions, you sound like a good fit. If this sounds awful, then spend your energy on better things! (Or just pick a card that gives you 2x on everything like the Capital One Venture X card…)
You don’t have to be loyal. Yes, having a line of credit open for longer is better for your credit score, but credit scores are resilient to opening/closing credit cards. (Less resilient to other things, like debt…) If it’s not working for you anymore, do the legwork of calling to cancel and getting your annual fee refunded.
Pressure test how much value you can really get out of a signup bonus that sounds great – think about how much time it’d take to find a good redemption, what you’d use them for, and how much that would save you. For example, if using the points for a business class fare is induced demand – i.e. you wouldn’t otherwise fly business – then you have to discount the cash value that you recoup.
Also, seriously, if you’re going to get a Bilt card, Chase card, or Capital One Venture X card, apply using these links. Not charging for my content but will gladly take some referral bonus points.
#3: When to meal prep vs eat out
Our kitchen/living room air conditioning has been broken for the past month and cooking has become a task that I do not take on lightly. Before all this, I’d been trying to meal prep more effectively for the past half year or so. I think I’d made strides in terms of increasing how much I prepped each time I cooked, and I’m trying to keep to those principles even now.
I suspect the following section will be entirely baffling and/or uninteresting to those who don’t cook much at home – I’d recommend you skip ahead. For those who do cook regularly, I’m very curious if any of this resonates.
The mental gymnastics I do each time I cook looks like this:
Do I want to eat healthily today? If yes, then cooking is an obvious answer.
Are there recipes that I’m excited to try, or new ingredients I’ve been curious to incorporate into my cooking? (This makes the cooking more fun.)
How many portions can I prep at once? It feels like these days the answer has to be at least four portions so I get two meals out of it (for E and myself).
Are there side dishes or veggies or other parts of this meal (e.g. rice) that can be prepped all at once, so that I get a head start on other meals later this week? (And also so I can mix and match some of the food that’s prepped.)
How much of this meal can be cooked with a quick sautée or in the Instant Pot? Both of these approaches reduce the extra heat added to the apartment…
How many meals are we otherwise eating out this week? Can I count on leftovers from a meal out to tide us over? Am I going to the office (where I will be fed)?
How much time do I have to prep dinner on a given day based on my work meetings and my workout schedule?
And…if all else fails, do I have time to duck out to Chipotle for the ultimate half-healthy, mostly budget-friendly option?
#4: Setting deadlines at work
Obviously this is applicable only when I have the option to set deadlines for myself. However, this also factors into how I promise people ETAs when I take on different sets of work. I always work backwards:
What forum does this need to be presented/shared in? When is that?
Before that, who needs to review this? Are they likely to provide contentious feedback that requires time to triage and address? Are they more of a “looks good to me” sort of reviewer? How long is their average turnaround time? When will they actually have time to review this?
Based on that, how many iterations do I need to go through?
How long will each iteration take?
How polished does the work need to be for each iteration? Can I cut out any iterations by sharing an outline or something more WIP in advance?
How much time do I need for a first draft? Is this the sort of work that takes as long as I give it (i.e. gaseous), or is it work that requires a high degree of focus and can be done in a concentrated period of time?
Based on that, I figure out when I have gaps in my schedule without meetings, when I have an appropriately sized focus block, and whether it’s a good task to do in the office or at home, and I slot it in appropriately.
In closing, this post turned out to actually be quite long.
Drop a comment or vote in my poll – tell me what resonates or just leave me a friendly reminder that I’m probably overthinking everything in my life, as usual.
lol, I also consider gamifying cards amusement time...you should have a referral bonus though!