Ways to Practice Financial Self-Care

Self-care has become one of those buzzworthy phrases, and you also know what self-care entails, right? What about our financial self-care routines? Taking care of ourselves financially shows we care about our financial future by making peace with our past money mistakes and learning to make better choices. Keep reading for ways to practice financial self-care:

1. Plan a Financial Date Night

Plan a date with yourself where you sit and do my overall budget for the month, plan around paydays, and reflect on the past month’s choices. 

Get a glass of wine ready, and some music! Have a good time budgeting and seeing how you can control my money.

2. Invest in Yourself

Take investing in yourself very seriously. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying “It Takes a Village…to Raise a Child”, but I would also argue that it “takes a village” to help guide us through life, as we shouldn’t feel like we have to or should navigate life on our own.

 Just like you can invest in yourself by hiring a personal trainer for your physical goals, or doing shadow work to touch on childhood traumas, you can invest in a career or financial coach to take your finances to the next level. You can also read books on personal finance, invest in webinars/classes, and watch YouTube from successful personal finance professionals/influencers to learn for free! Not only are you investing in yourself, but this form of self-care will make you feel a special sense of fulfillment.

3. Set Some Financial Goals

Now, as previously stated, I usually do my financial goals during my budget date nights, but making financial goals should be done whenever you have time. Most importantly, it’s about making sure those financial goals are SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant/realistic, and time-bound. Also, don’t forget to categorize them – as short-term, mid-term, and/or long-term. Categorizing your financial goals will automatically make them more realistic and time-bound because you can now take some action steps.

In addition, breaking your goals into bite-sized goals will let you see that the “only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time”. If the goal is to save $5,000 in a year, my goal is to make sure I save the monthly amount each paycheck that will help reach that main goal!

4. Reflect on Your Relationship with Money

Do you find yourself feeling guilty or ashamed about money and your financial situation? Give yourself grace and know that you can take the reins in this area and change your mindset.

5. Treat Yourself!

I decided to end with the most fun tip: Treat Yourself! What is the point of financial self-care when you can’t even enjoy the best life you can budget for? One of the reasons why I love this CGS community so much is that we can make sacrifices for our goals, but we can also budget for those splurges that make us come alive! 

I know a lot of people choose to splurge on morning coffees, some splurge on beauty services, and some choose to splurge on travel. Is it Friday night, and the last thing you want to do after a long work week is cook? Look at your budget and treat yourself to sushi or tacos! Did you just get a promotion at work? Dump that loser partner of yours? Treat yourself to a facial or quick mini-vacation!

6. Make an Extra Debt Payment

Think of it like, doing your homework way in advance, one extra move will make you feel better.

There are different strategies to pay off debt, paying more than the minimum payment due (when you can) will bring you that much closer to freedom.

7. Notice Your Emotions

What gives you joy? And what makes you feel guilty or shame? Just noticing how your emotions change around money decisions can be a powerful way to grow in your self-awareness.

8. Embrace Your Bank Account

OK, yes, it’s easy to ignore your bank account and credit card statements and can seem stressful to review your finances. But is it more stressful than not checking your balances and letting anxiety take over? Embrace the bank account

Getting your finances in order while on your self-love journey is how you take steps toward reaching financial freedom!

Article Credit: https://citygirlsavings.com/5-ways-to-practice-financial-self-care/ https://www.boldermoney.com/blog/10-tips-to-practice-financial-self-care