When not properly managed, our finances can be a huge source of stress in our lives. So it makes sense to consider financial wellness an important part of self-care. When we take good care of our finances, we take good care of ourselves.
In fact, taking care of our finances has been shown to result in better mental health and even better sleep.
In our last blog, we wrote about How saving money can be the most rewarding form of self-care.
This week, we’re giving you practical tips to make financial wellness a regular part of your existing self-care routine so you can spend more time enjoying your life and less time worrying about money. This week’s financial self-care tips include:
- Journal about your finances
- Budget with self-kindness
- Do a 30-day savings challenge
- Read books about personal finance
- Plan a financial wellness date with a loved one
- Improve your credit rating while saving money
- Remember to treat yourself
1. Journal about your finances
Journaling is a part of many people’s self-care routines. Journaling can be helpful for improving mental health because it allows you space and time to explore, process and let go of your emotions. Journaling can also help you brainstorm positive plans and strategies to improve your daily life and outcomes for the future.
Therefore, we recommend spending some of your journaling time writing about your finances: your experiences with money, your financial stress, your fears about money and perhaps most importantly, your financial goals.
Writing about your past financial experiences can help you understand why you deal with money the way you do. Your past experiences with money – whether from childhood, as a teen or even as an adult – often dictate your current financial habits and decisions. Uncovering those formative experiences can help you make more intentional choices regarding your finances in the future.
Additionally, journaling about your goals can inspire you to create a plan and start taking action to reach those goals. When you write down your financial and lifestyle goals, they feel more real and tangible. And once they’re written down, rereading your goals can provide the motivation you need to keep going with your action plan, even when it feels tough.
2. Budget with self-kindness
To most people, budgeting sounds more like a chore rather than an act of self-care. That’s why we believe you should always budget with self-kindness in mind. Budgeting should never feel restrictive or cause you to feel shame or guilt about your spending.
Instead, budgeting should provide you with clarity and empower you to make decisions with your money that put you in total control. If you’re just not sure about budgeting, read our post titled 6 benefits of budgeting for a life with less stress. We promise that when you budget as an intentional act of self-care, budgeting doesn’t have to feel like a chore.
3. Do a 30-day savings challenge
Self-care enthusiasts everywhere celebrate the fun and effectiveness of 30-day challenges. You may have tried 30-day fitness challenges, 30-day glow-up challenges, or even 30-day social media cleanses to help you build healthy habits or just try something new.
How about a 30-day savings challenge? A 30-day savings challenge lasts just long enough so you can see a real difference in the amount of money you save, without being so overwhelming that you’d have to give up something you love for a long period of time.
You can design a 30-day savings challenge to work for you. For example, you could decide not to spend money on a single category from your budget for 30-days (that could be dining out, alcohol, sweet treats, clothing or something else!). Or you could plan to transfer a set amount of money from your checking to your savings account every day: $1, $5, $25 – it’s up to you!
4. Plan a financial wellness date with a loved one
Spending time with friends, family and significant others is a great form of self-care. Our loved ones provide us with the community and support we need to feel connected, keep going and stay positive when the days feel tough.
When you’re implementing financial wellness into your self-care routine, consider planning a money date with a loved one you trust to talk about financial stress, fears and goals. Your money date doesn’t have to be with a significant other (but it can be!).
Use this time to learn about each other’s financial habits and support each other on your goals. Dealing with personal finances can feel isolating and scary, so partnering with a loved one on this journey can reassure you that you are not alone.
If you like this idea, plan to make your money dates a recurring event so you and your loved one can talk about progress and pitfalls, as well as hold each other accountable to your goals.
5. Read books about personal finance
Reading is an excellent way to unwind and relax. So if reading is part of your self-care routine, sprinkle in one or two books about personal finance throughout the year. Personal finance books can help you learn more about how finances work in general as well as illuminate your own financial frustrations and worries.
You might be familiar with some classic personal finance titles such as Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill or Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. These books are great, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea. For more ideas, here’s a list of 17 of the best personal finance books in 2021.
6. Improve your credit rating while saving money
One of the best ways to take care of yourself financially is to improve your credit rating. Better credit ratings open up more opportunities for you to reach future goals, goals like:
- Moving into a nicer rental property
- Buying a home
- Receiving better terms on loans
- Enjoying cheaper insurance premiums
- Gaining a better job
- And more!
To improve your credit rating, consider a tool like Loqbox. Loqbox is a free platform that allows you to build better credit while also saving money. To begin, you’ll decide how much money you want to save per month for a year. Loqbox then finances the full amount with a 0% APR loan.
Each month as you make your payments, Loqbox reports them to the credit bureaus. As long as you make your payment on time and in full, this helps build your credit.
And when you hit your savings goal, you receive every dollar you’ve saved back for free when you open a new account with one of our partner banks. (This helps us to keep Loqbox free.) Or, you can transfer your savings into an existing savings account for a small fee.
If you want to save more money this year and improve your credit score, learn more about how we work today.
7. Remember to treat yourself
When it comes to financial self-care, it’s so important to remember to treat yourself. White-knuckling through a savings challenge or making yourself feel guilty about “unnecessary” purchases is not self-care. Intentionally allowing yourself to spend money on well-deserved treats and pleasures can help you develop a more positive relationship with money.
And developing a more positive relationship with money will allow you to take the best care of yourself financially. So with that being said, choose one or more of these financial self-care tips and enjoy the increased relaxation you experience from taking positive actions to reduce financial stress.
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