Enhancing Your Relationship with Money

We’ve used this space to discuss different ways to navigate relationships and money, though the focus has been on your relationship with another person and the ways that money can have an impact. Today, we’d like to offer a fresh perspective and focus on your direct relationship with money, as we believe improving your connection with your finances can lead to healthier habits, attitudes, and understanding. In this article, we will share a few suggestions for enhancing your relationship with money, including:

• Developing Savings Goals for Yourself,
• Practicing Mindful Spending, and
• Review Your Cashflows.

With patience, commitment, and a little extra attention, we think you’ll find that your bond with money can flourish into a lasting love story.

#1: Developing Savings Goals for Yourself

• Developing savings goals involves setting specific, achievable targets for saving money over a certain period. Begin by identifying your financial objectives. What are some of your short-term goals? Medium-term? Long-term? It’s often helpful to have specific and measurable goals to help you establish these objectives, and being able to rank them based on their importance and urgency can help you to dig deeper into your relationship with money. After you’ve established these goals, regularly reviewing, and monitoring your progress will help to track how you are doing relative to what you’re hoping to achieve. And finally, it’s incredibly important to celebrate your achievements, and use it as motivation to stay committed to your goals.

#2: Practicing Mindful Spending

• Staying on top of your financial life can provide you with peace of mind. Cultivating a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity and focusing on opportunities for growth and prosperity can help you refocus your mindset about your own finances, helping you to incorporate mindful spending into your daily habits. Doing so involves being intentional and conscious, setting clear priorities on what matters most to you, and checking in on your feelings towards your spending. Pay attention to your thoughts and emotions around money. Notice any patterns of anxiety, stress, or impulsivity that arise when dealing with financial matters. Instead of reacting automatically, take a step back and observe these thoughts and emotions with curiosity and compassion. As we discussed in a previous Digest Post (“Let’s Talk Money Honey”), being mindful of your state of mind can help you feel more empowered with your financial life.

#3: Reviewing Your Cashflows

• You’re not alone if you prefer to avoid looking at your bank statements to track your spending; it’s often daunting to think about reviewing your finances. However, what many come to find is that having regular and routine reviews of your finances can ease your mind over time and allow you to focus on other aspects of your life more fully. Not only this, but by doing a routine review, you’re able to better identify areas where you may be overspending or where you can adjust to save more money. This awareness is important to help you take further steps towards achieving financial hygiene and confidence. Here are just few items that you may want to include in your own review:

• • Tracking Your Income and Expenses. Many apps, such as Monarch Budgeting, help you to visualize your spending and manage your money across all your accounts, making it easier to do so with less work required!

• • Monitoring Your Account Balances. Doing so can help you make sure that no unauthorized transactions occurred, as well as help you be more aware of your spending habits.

• • Assessing Your Savings Progress. Evaluate your progress towards your savings goals, such as emergency savings, retirement savings, or specific financial milestones. Adjust your savings contributions as needed to stay on track with your goals.

As always, we are here to support you in any uncertainties you may have when it comes to your relationship with money and your financial planning life overall. If you need any assistance at all, feel free to contact us at any time.