What is Financial Self-Care

Financial self-care refers to the practice of managing your finances in a way that promotes your overall well-being and reduces financial stress.

Financial Self-Care Plan

A Financial Self-Care Plan is a set of structured systems and mindful practices used to gain financial well-being and financial stability.

It consists of two main parts:

• Money management Systems
• Financial Self-Care Practices

Financial Self-Care Practices

Much like how traditional self-care focuses on maintaining physical and mental health, financial self-care refers to the practice of managing our finances in a way that promotes our overall well-being. It involves proactive habits and mindful actions to ensure financial stability, security, and growth.

These habits and actions are pulled from your money management systems which is a deeper and wider set of rules, processes and systems for your money. We dive deep into these money management systems every month in my Fempower Initiative community.

I’ve found that it’s best to break down these habits and actions steps as follows:

1. Daily
2. Weekly
3. Monthly
4. Quarterly
5. Annually

 

Once set up properly, at any given time, you will know exactly what needs to get done. This avoids missteps such as missed payments or filing your tax returns late because you can’t find all your documents.

Of note, the following are just some examples of what a financial self-care practice could look like, you may have more, less or different practices.

Daily Financial Self-Care Practices

• Intentional Spending: Refer to your Spending Plan for more details but this could include keeping copies of your receipts
• Practice Gratitude: Refer to you Money Mindset Journey but here are a few examples:
  • Reflect on what you already have, and most times when you do, you will realize that you already have enough.
  • Appreciate small financial wins such as saving money on a purchase or not shopping when you feel stressed

Weekly Financial Self-Care Practices

• Refer to your Goals Setting System and break down your financial goal(s) into 1-2 small actionable steps and just do it!

Example:

If your goal is to have a credit score of 760 or higher, two small, actionable steps for the current week might be:

• • Pull your credit report.
  • Contact the credit reporting agency to fix any errors

Monthly Financial Self-Care Practices

• Money Dates: Set aside time twice a month to review finances. (See your Money Date System for a more detailed list of tasks)
• Organize Bills and Receipts: Use the folders (paper or digital) in your Money Filing System to file and arrange your financial documents.
• Review your Money Organization System: Is it working as it should? Does it need tweaking?

Quarterly Financial Self-Care Practices

• Review Financial Goals:
• • Assess progress towards your financial goals.
  • Update goals based on changes and action steps previously taken.
• Check Credit Reports: (only if you need to do it more frequently than annually)
• Review the following and update if needed:
  • Balanced Budgeting System
  • Debt Repayment Plan and
  • Savings Plan

Yearly Financial Self-Care Practices

1. Tax Preparation:
   • Review and organize folder containing tax documents
   • File your tax return
2. Meet with your financial advisor or planner to review your products
3. Review and update if needed: estate planning documents (Wills, Powers of Attorney).
4. Check Credit Reports: (may also be done quarterly)
   • Review your credit report for accuracy
   • Dispute any errors or inaccuracies

 

Incorporating these financial self-care practices into your routine can lead to greater financial stability, reduced stress, and improved overall well-being.