Money Monday: Financial Self-Care

It’s time for another Money Monday, and this one is all about everyone’s favorite activity - self-care! With the popularization of self-care Sundays, drinking wine, and bingeing your favorite TV show, more and more people are prioritizing taking care of their mental and physical health. This includes financial self-care, which is essentially developing financial habits that work for you and move you toward your short and long-term financial goals. Practicing financial self-care can be easier said than done, but it’s never too late to set yourself on a healthy and beneficial financial path for achieving monetary stability. Keep reading for a few of our tips on how to develop helpful financial self-care habits!

Review Your Budgets & Accounts Weekly

Take a block of 30 minutes or any amount of time you see fit, every week to review your budget and various monetary accounts. This is one of the most important ways you can financially care for yourself. Whether it’s an increased payment on your credit card or a smaller paycheck, changes in your finances can often happen quickly and frequently. If you’re constantly checking in on your finances and adjusting your budget accordingly, you’re less likely to miss payments or overdraft.

Prioritize Paying Off Debts

School loans, credit cards, personal loans - they can slowly chip away at your bank account, especially if they have high-interest rates. If you’re in any kind of debt, prioritizing paying off those debts will save you more money in the long run. This means paying over the minimum until you complete payment. You can start with the debt that has the highest interest rate first and then work your way through the rest.

Create An Emergency Fund

We’ve all experienced a financial emergency now and again, whether it’s a sudden need for a car repair or a rent increase. In the chance that happens, an emergency fund will always come in handy. Work your emergency fund into your monthly budget, where each paycheck you set aside a chunk of money, even if it's as small as $20, to contribute to your savings. You can work your way up over time and it will give you peace of mind that you have a backup plan in case of a financial emergency.