♟️ The Metagame #021: The Key to Financial Clarity

Merry Christmas & Happy Hannukah to all who celebrate either (or both, like me) 🕎 🎄

As 2024 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on the year—what went well, what I could have done better, and everything in between. Here’s a quick highlight reel of my accomplishments:

• Built a Wordle-inspired memory game, sequence.games

• Built a Twitter/𝕏 bot to automatically post about insider and congressional trades

• Made $22,302 in poker tournament winnings

• Took some incredible photos of the night sky (check them out at the end)

Now, this isn’t just about my wins. This is also your reminder to take stock of your own. A friend recently told me something that stuck:

If you’re only self-aware about your failures and shortcomings—but never your successes—you’re not truly self-aware.

This is a lesson I’ll be carrying with me into 2025. A reminder of not just where I can improve, but also how far I’ve come.

With that in mind, let’s pivot to today’s topic: money.

Read time: 5 minutes

The Holiday Strain on Your Wallet

The holiday season has been upon us—and so is the annual financial squeeze. Between flights to visit loved ones, pricey gifts that somehow all seem to cost 30% more than last year, and the ever-growing list of festive expenses, it’s no wonder this time of year can feel overwhelming.

This is why tracking your finances might just be the most underrated life skill.

It doesn’t matter if you’re an investor, a student scraping by on ramen, a 9-5 employee, or running your own business. Knowing where your money is coming from—and where it’s going—is the foundation for financial literacy.

Whether you like it or not, money is the backbone of almost everything in our lives.

• Want to grab dinner with friends in NYC? That’ll be $30 for the entrée, $6 for tax, $8 for tip, and a small existential crisis when you realize you could’ve made the same meal for $4 at home.

• Want to stay in and watch your favorite show? Time to juggle between all your subscriptions—Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Max, and your friend’s Peacock password.

• Simply want to read a book? Well, you’re in luck—this can be cheap with the help of a library or discounted ebook downloads, unless you’re neurotic like me and need to own every book you read. Then it adds up.

I’m not saying this to sound grim—I’m saying this to highlight the importance of tracking your finances.

The System That Changed My Financial Life

A few years ago, I started tracking my finances.

In 2024, I leveled up.

Now, I track every single penny in and out.

Yes, every cent.

This isn’t something I invented—it’s a concept I learned from the book Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin. The idea is simple but powerful: financial freedom starts with financial awareness. And financial awareness starts with knowing exactly where your money is going.

Most people dream of financial freedom, but few will achieve it. Why? Because they don’t even know how much they spend—or how much they save.

So here’s what I do:

• Every Sunday, I update my spreadsheet with the past week’s income and expenses.

• At the end of every month, I review everything—down to the last penny.

• At the end of every year, I take a deeper look at trends, patterns, and opportunities for change.

The result? Financial peace of mind.

I don’t stress about unexpected expenses because I know where I stand.

Where My Money Comes From

To give you a peek behind the curtain, here’s how I generate income:

1. 9-5 Job: Stable income, and honestly, a financial anchor.

2. Investments: The power of compounding is real.

3. Poker: High variability—some weeks are incredible, others are… humbling.

4. Put Spreads: Low risk, low reward, highly technical options trading—but a solid strategy for steady growth.

5. Savings Interest: Even at a few percent a year, the compounding adds up over time.

6. Online Business: Not profitable yet—but every project starts somewhere.

Between these income streams, my credit card expenses, Venmo payments, cash, investments, and insurance, I track it all in a behemoth of a spreadsheet that I’ve come to love.

Is it a lot of work?

Maybe.

But for me, it’s worth every penny. (Pun intended.)

Every time I sit down to update my tracker, I get a sense of satisfaction that’s hard to beat. I know where I stand financially, and that gives me clarity and confidence—not just for today, this week, or this month, but for the long-term future.

Why I Care About Money

At this point, you might be side-eyeing me, thinking, “All you care about is money.”

But let me stop you there.

It’s not just about the money. It’s about what money enables:

• You can’t rent an apartment without money.

• You can’t feed yourself without money.

• You can’t clothe yourself, get medicine, or even take the subway to work without money.

Whether we like it or not, money plays a central role in life.

But beyond the essentials, money lets us:

• Visit friends

• Go out to dinner

• Take a vacation

• Try out a new hobby

The ones who say “money doesn't buy happiness” are the ones with a surplus of money—but no inner peace.

For everyone else, money definitely makes a difference.

And ignoring it doesn’t make it less important.

Having financial wealth enables you to achieve all the other types of wealth: time wealth, physical wealth, mental wealth, and social wealth.

I’ll talk more about these in the new year.

Your Financial Challenge for 2025

If there’s one thing you take from today’s newsletter, let it be this:

Start tracking your finances.

You don’t need a fancy app or a complex spreadsheet like mine—start simple. Write down your income, your expenses, and where your money is going.

Because once you understand the flow of your money, you can optimize it towards the things that bring you the most joy and satisfaction in life.

Here’s to 2025—a year of growth, self-awareness, and financial clarity.

Sometimes you just have to look up at the sky and wonder…

Quote of the week

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions, hit me up on LinkedIn or on 𝕏 at @sam_starkman, or feel free to reply to this email!

— Sam