Hello All of You Great People and Welcome to a New October Newsletter Wherever You are on Your Financial Journey- it's me again! Steven Donovan aka Even Steven Money!

What’s been going on this month

October has been a month where I was able to be home and get back to my normal (ish) life and routine.

More time was spent with wife, in-laws, walking the dog, cooking at home, in person visits to my gym & garage gym workouts, and bike rides.

It’s been a great month for reading, writing(mostly personal), and reflecting.

My wife and I were able to do a little landscaping around the house, give it another go on a new vegetable garden, and get outside just a little more.

I am proud to say that I am now the plumber of the house!!!👨‍🔧

After a couple YouTube videos I removed and installed a new garbage disposal.

I was also able to add a new showerhead and have plans to replace the shower valve by the end of the month. #screwthePlumber #waitIamthePlumber

It’s funny what time, confidence, and video tutorial can do in your life.

✍Writing On the Blog✍

​Travel Hack to 1st Class with American Airlines​

This was my real life experience as I redeemed some airline miles to fly 1st class from Phoenix to Miami using American Airlines. I’m not a travel hacker but enjoyed flying for a few dollars in a 1st class seat.

​The Really Quite Good Guide to Unexpected Expenses​

I’m all about planning but it’s true unexpected expenses happen. So I walk through what to do and how to prepare for them. I'd label this as a go from good to great with your money type of read.

🗓What’s coming next month🗓

Right now I have a fun survey conducted by Vanguard and how Millennial Investors are reacting during the pandemic. I’m always fascinated by data and surveys as they shed some light on the subject.

Coaching Feedback ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am really happy to share this one as it comes from a reader and friend. In January 2020 I posted on my Facebook page:

“What if you transferred $20 to your savings today? And again every week for the rest of the year. Close to $1,000!”

This month someone reached out and let me know that they have reached over $1,000 saved and what’s even more impressive than that is they have never had a savings account before.

Made my month!

🧛What I Sucked at This Month🧛

• Planning and Preparing

As I look at my October business goals one of things I have failed at is finishing 2020 with purpose. I wanted to brainstorm plans, ideas, and goals for the end of the year and really to start 2021 ahead of the game.

I will do better in November towards this goal.

What's New

🆓Coaching Client Guidance

We have 60+ days till the end of 2020 as I countdown from the 100 days I talked about last month.

With 2 months or 8 weeks remaining in the year I challenge you to update and create new goals for the last of 2020.

Maybe you created goals from last month’s newsletter?! If so now is the time to check in on your progress.

• What does November and December look like for your financial goals?
• Are there any obstacles to keep you from reaching your goal?
• If so, what can you do to overcome them?

Above all create a plan and take action to start 2021 in a better place financially then you are today.

📈Stock Market & Real Estate📈

We are currently on track to finish the month just a little lower than we started. Although some of the heavy hitters of the technology sector report earnings at the end of the month.

Most likely the stock market will end up a little higher as the likes of Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook, etc flourished last quarter, just a guess of course.

My strategy does not change from month to month so again this month we invested in index funds (stocks, bonds, real estate) in line with our asset allocation during the month. Boring yet effective.

One small change that I plan to talk about in a future post is my individual stock portfolio and my move towards a more concentrated portfolio. I began to ask myself do I want to own XYZ stock or Google for the next 10 years.

For the rest of the year I expect the stock market to have more swings some ups and downs mostly because of:

• Election
• Covid-19 globally and domestically
• Potential unrest

In short I expect the election and the happenings around it to be a s*** show regardless of whom is elected.

It certainly seems like globally Covid-19 is on the rise which would make me think we are going to experience something similar.

Without a vaccine, stimulus, and the chance of civil unrest more than likely happening I’m expecting swings in the stock market but flat overall as most investors will just be happy to be finished with 2020.

New slogan let's hope 2021 is better. I mean it has to be right?!

My suggestion is to invest and repeat, although this is the same thing I say every month.

Just remember I’m just some guy on the internet and this is all for entertainment purposes only.

Personal Side of Life & What I’ve Been Listening, Reading, & Watching

I have adjusted my listening/reading in the morning and now listen to Robinhood Snacks daily and then whatever book I’m reading at the time.

🎧Here’s what I listened to:

• ​​Robinhood Snacks Daily-I’m officially hooked. If you like learning about individual stocks, market trends, and enjoy the business side of it all. It’s absolutely for you.
• ​Chasing Excellence-This podcast is from Ben Bergeron who is a top level Crossfit coach. I listened to a couple episodes mostly on nutrition and enjoyed each one. He’s a smart guy who is in incredible shape and coaches world class athletes. I'm sure I’ll learn something along the way.

​📙Book listening this month:

• ​Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park ​​​ (Currently reading)
• ​The Nordic Theory of Everything (In progress)
• ​Essentialism (Great book)
• ​The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy​
• ​Quit like a Millionaire

A few less books than last month but enjoyable nonetheless. So far my favorite book has been Essentialism as this is the book I immediately shared with my wife. I may go back and take notes and see how I am applying this to my life.

📺What I’m watching this month:

• Mostly Sports

The NFL season and fantasy football are in high gear so it’s pretty normal for me to catch a football game during the week especially if the Green Bay Packers or Philadelphia Eagles are playing.

It’s fun to play fantasy football and root for players you normally would not and share a text message with an old friend that you used to see in person every day as a kid but now just once a year if you are lucky as an adult.

CrossFit

Crossfit finished up their season at the ranch with the top five competitors on display. Matt Fraser and Tia Claire Toomey as expected were phenomenal and destroyed the competition.

The rest of the competition I wanted to see Noah Olsen (Miami) do well based on my time at Wodapalooza. He is a really good dude. I would describe him as a humble, happy, surfer minus the surf hipster.

I also was rooting for the youngster Haley Adams a little more than the other ladies but honestly I’m always just amazed at how fit, athletic, and strong the women are. Basically they would destroy me in a competition and I'm impressed by that.

Everything else I have been watching is mostly on Netflix, but I do sprinkle in YouTube and Amazon Prime. We have too many subscriptions.

I’m late to the party but I’m really liking The Last Kingdom. I stayed away because I was worried it was going to be too similar to the show Vikings but surprisingly it’s really only helped understand some of the characters and how they tie together.

🥕Looking Ahead🥕

I’m anticipating more time to relax and spend time with my wife and family.

We have a vacation planned, Veteran’s day, and Thanksgiving so more time off than usual months.

I plan on doing a lot of reflecting on the year and brainstorming what is next for me and Even Steven Money.

🏋Health and Fitness🏋​

The ReNew challenge is in full swing but my diet has not been. I would say I have been more maintenance than the actual purpose of losing weight or getting leaner.

I did make an adjustment to my diet as I am trying RP Diet to get some focus on my eating goals. It’s been very new to me as they focus on macros, planning those macros & meals ahead, and eating between 4-6 meals throughout the day at the recommended time frames.

I’m just now getting an understanding of the ins and outs so we shall see the results as I move forward.

As mentioned above I’ve been going to the gym in person a couple times per week which has been nice. Not only to see familiar faces but also get coached and pushed a little in a live setting. I’m still hitting the garage gym just a little less.

Until next month my friends!

Insert Financial Professional Photo;)

​
​