Priorities, Passions, Play, and Problems
How to Practice “Enough” Without Spreadsheets or Guilt
In the latest post, I made the case that enough is the first rule.
Not as deprivation.
Not as a restriction.
But as a starting point.
Enough gives your money a container. It stops resources from leaking in every direction and starts moving them toward what actually matters.
This post is more practical.
If the last one leaned on story and metaphor, this one is meant to give you something you can use immediately without spreadsheets, jargon, or guilt.
Here’s the framework we use to practice “enough” in real life:
Priorities
Passions
Play
Problems
Almost everything you spend time, money, or energy on fits somewhere in these four categories. When they’re named and ordered, decisions get calmer. When they’re blurred together, everything feels harder than it needs to be.
1. Priorities
Survival comes first
Priorities are the non-negotiables. The things that allow you to exist as a human.
For us, that means:
Health
Utilities
Food
Mortgage
Basic transportation
Other essentials that make daily life function
For most people, this category is about survival, and it has to come first. You cannot skip it. You cannot optimize your way around it.
When priorities aren’t covered well enough, every other decision becomes reactive. Stress goes up. Short-term thinking takes over. “Enough” starts to feel impossible because the ground beneath you isn’t stable.
Practicing enough here doesn’t mean luxury.
It means reliability.
Enough to sleep.
Enough to breathe.
Enough that one unexpected bill doesn’t knock everything over.
2. Passions
What turns survival into living
Once you’re no longer just surviving, you get to ask a different question:
What actually matters to me?
This is where passions live.
A simple way to uncover them is to start wide, then apply pressure.
First, make a list of 20 things you enjoy spending money or time on. Don’t filter. Just get them out of your head.
Then narrow that list to 10 by asking yourself a few honest questions:
Would I be willing to work extra hours at my job to afford this?
Would I delay buying something else on this list to fund this instead?
If I could only keep a few of these long-term, would this make the cut?
If your answer is “maybe” or “not really,” that’s useful information.
It doesn’t mean the thing isn’t good.
It just means it probably belongs in Play, not Passions.
Finally, rank your remaining 10 and look closely at the top two or three.
Those are your true passions.
For us, those are:
Financial independence
Education
Travel
These are the things we’re willing to organize our lives around. The things we’ll say no to other options for. The things that move us beyond survival and into something that feels like living.
Because they matter most, we fund them first, on purpose.
In practice, that looks like:
Setting aside money every month for our kids’ education by taking the annual cost, dividing it by 12, and automatically moving that amount into a dedicated account
Saving and investing toward financial independence for years directly out of our paychecks, so we never even see that money
Planning travel intentionally by saving cash and credit card points so larger trips are already paid for before they happen
And here’s the important part: it no longer feels robotic.
We’re not staring at our checking account thinking, “We still need to save for this.” That work is already done. What’s left is truly available.
That’s what enough looks like in practice.
3. Play
Joy without priority pressure
Everything else we enjoy goes here.
For us, that includes:
Concerts and music
Gardening
Amusement parks
Eating out
Smaller, joyful experiences that make life lighter
Play matters. But it’s different from passions.
These are things we enjoy, not things we build our life around.
So when our container is overflowing, play gets funded after priorities and passions are covered.
That doesn’t mean we never do fun things.
It means we don’t accidentally sacrifice what matters most for what feels good in the moment.
4. Problems
The category that wants to expand forever
This is the hardest one.
Problems are real. And they’re constant.
The world and marketing are always telling us:
You should be doing more
You should be upgrading
You’re missing something
This will fix it
That messaging is sophisticated. It’s researched. Companies are very good at getting us to spend money we didn’t plan to spend.
I’ve absolutely gone on Amazon for one thing and bought five. But it happens far less now than it used to.
Why?
Because I know what we’re protecting.
When I spend randomly on something I didn’t plan for, I know it comes from somewhere else. It delays travel. It slows progress toward independence. It trades against education or experiences we care deeply about.
Problems deserve attention.
They do not deserve control.
Practicing enough here isn’t about perfection.
It’s about awareness and containment.
Why This Framework Works
Enough isn’t a number.
It’s an order.
When priorities are secure, passions are funded first, play is enjoyed without guilt, and problems are kept in check, money stops feeling so emotional.
Not because life gets simpler, but because decisions get clearer.
You’re no longer asking, “Can I afford this?”
You’re asking, “What am I choosing instead?”
That’s the shift.
Enough doesn’t shrink your life.
It gives it shape.