How I’m Getting Healthier with Money

Be honest with yourself.

Start talking about it. Admit the bad habits and bad relationships with money that you’ve had. Talk it through. Get to the root of why you have them.

Use a budget and tracker.

Start utilizing your budget. I’ve had my budget tracker built for years but I stopped using it which left me fairly blind to my overall expenses. Include all your current bills and expenses, everything!

Create and keep a spending tracker. This is how you get real with yourself on what you’re spending your money on. You know that “I just got paid but I have no idea where my money went” feeling – well now you’ll know. Those $5 coffees add up.

Schedule time to evaluate and manage your money.

Have money dates with yourself. I recently read about this on the Honeybook blog in ‘The Real Reason You’re Not Experiencing More Freedom and Flexibility Right Now“. I love this idea. This is a set time each week, or month that you sit down and take a look at your money and manage it the way it needs to be managed.

Communicate.

Communicate with your partner about all things money. And expect the same back from them. Mark and I discovered all kinds of things when we started talking about finances for real. And the stress became less because we are a team with all of it. Be real, open and honest with each other. Make a vow to work through any hardships together.

Save little bits that add up.

Keep a physical savings jar in plain sight. I call it my dollar jar. Any time I use cash and receive change I put the dollar bills aside. When I get home I tuck them in my dollar jar. It’s a routine that helps me save a little extra money.

Set up automatic savings on paydays. Auto deposit some money into your savings account every payday. It doesn’t have to be tons.

Plan and prepare for special occasions.

Decide how and when you’re going to have special occasions. Keep that in mind when you’re building your monthly budget.

Open special accounts for big events.

We’re getting married in a little bit over a year. We’re paying for a good part of it. We have to save for it. So we’re opening an account dedicated to just that. This is where we will put money, assign money, and pay for wedding stuff out of. All things Wedding will be the name of this account.

I always dreaded money managing stuff. It’s something I used to be good at it, then I got into some challenging times and developed a bad relationship with money. I mention a little bit about that on a blog post I wrote earlier this month, How Your Personal Relationships with Money Matter. I’ve simplified my approach and busted through my bad money feelings. I can’t really tell you how I got through those feelings other than having a breakthrough convo with my fiance. But as a result, I”m back in a good place and I’m excited about our future. And for the first time in quite a while, I feel financially secure.