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Optimal Finance Daily - Financial Independence and Money Advice
3571: Financial Reset - Setting New Financial Goals by Andrea Joy of Saving Joyfully on Setting Money Goals
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Andrea Joy explores how a “financial reset” can go beyond a temporary no-spend challenge and become a complete lifestyle shift toward healthier habits
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This is Optimal Finance Daily Financial Setting New Financial Goals By Andrea joy of savingjoyfully.com what is a financial reset? How do I begin to evaluate and reset my finances? This month my husband and I are once again embarking on a no Spend Month Challenge. This no Spend Month challenge will be similar to the last one I participated in with sarah from lemon blessings.com the rules will remain basically the same as our last no Spend Challenge. We will pay our bills, buy the essential groceries, and pay for gas. Anything within our normal monthly budget, but nothing more. This time, our no Spend Month Challenge is more of a reset for the new year. The purpose of this personal financial reset, as I will call it, is to get our financial life on track. What is a personal financial reset? A personal financial reset is a reevaluation of our financial lives and our overall spending. Wondering why this personal financial reset works? Basically, my husband and I will be spending more time during our no Spend month analyzing our financial futures. We'll begin considering ways that we can cut spending overall and also begin to restructure our lives overall. We had a brand new baby last year in June and she's now eight months old. As with all new babies, our life has dramatically changed throughout this change. We've made a lot of the changes that are not necessarily helping us reach our goals financially. We've also had some setbacks taking care of ourselves physically due to stress and changes in our routines. We realize that we're also needing to make a change in that area as well. We're going to kick our unhealthy eating habits this month and begin exercising more. What better time to focus on this than during a no Spend month challenge? Why would you need a financial reset? The purpose of a financial reset for us is to get our financial life back in order and set better financial goals. Just like a no spend month, this financial reset helps limit spending and analyze ways to improve the one difference is a no spend month ends and a financial reset adds a different level of accountability for our financial future that doesn't end with a no spend month. This is far more beneficial when you not only limit additional spending for a month, but also discover new ways to save money overall and challenge yourself to continue moving forward. I've heard many people say a no spend month challenge doesn't work because I'll just spend more later. This is what I believe can help to make a no spend month successful. We need to set some goals during that month that we carry forward. We need to make sure that when the no spend month ends we don't fall into bad habits as a result of the spending freeze. Don't consider a no spend month your excuse for overspending either before or after that month. If you do, you basically make the no spend month concept useless. What are the goals we have set for our personal financial reset? Spend no additional money outside of our normal budget. Develop a consistent sustainable workout routine. Eat healthier and cheaper at home. Plan more easy healthy meals that stretch our budget. Spring clean our home and get organized. Donate or sell unnecessary items. Spend more quality time with our daughter. Get more rest which is definitely a tough one with a new baby. A personal goal of mine will be to work more on savingjoyfully.com and to bring you more helpful money saving content. Click call in our car and renters insurance and verify that we still currently have the best rates available. This saved us so much money in the past and can save a whole lot throughout the year if we have the best possible rates. How do we plan to accomplish these goals? The no spend month will eliminate spending and eating out, therefore saving us more time and money on weekends. We will set workout goals at a consistent schedule moving forward. We've done this in the past and have been successful. We will create a shopping list and stick to it. The shopping list will also be combined with a menu for the week, helping us stay on budget yet plan easy healthy meals and we'll set a consistent scheduled time we go to bed each night whether the baby likes it or not. How will accomplishing these goals enhance our lives financially? We will save more overall monthly physically we'll be in better shape which will most likely cost us less overall in healthcare related expenses. Planning for healthy eating will eliminate unnecessary spending on unhealthy food and beverages on the go and at work, we will develop a sustainable and less stressful schedule by planning and working together to reach our goals. These goals and choices will benefit the entire family's health and well being. Are you looking to do a financial reset or no spend month? These are my suggestions. Before you get started. Make sure to develop a plan, set goals and rules that are manageable and sustainable. I believe eliminating unnecessary spending is very similar to a diet and if you don't have a healthy plan, you'll most likely fail. Rules are great and saying no is going to be a huge part of a no spend challenge. Remember that understanding your budget and absolute necessities in advance is very important to staying on plan. The most important part is not spending nothing, it is decreasing spending overall. Remember that one slip up during the month is not a failure and it can still produce great results overall. Just keep trying and you will still be successful at eliminating unnecessary spending. Things that worked for us during our last no spend month Number one Having friends and family over instead of going out. You don't have to be completely antisocial during this month and you might actually enjoy hosting someone for a change. Try having a friend over for dinner instead of going out for dinner. This also might make it easier to do something similar in the future, therefore cutting spending further this year. 2. Looking for fun new recipes to try in place of eating out? We even tried making the meals together instead of just one person cooking, which can also help make the experience more enjoyable. 3. Utilize your local library more to rent movies and books for entertainment. Number four Make a mental note or list of frequency cards or free beverages you might have that can help you redeem fun freebies during your no spend month. I have a few favorites like the Speedway Speedy Rewards Program, Tim Hortons, Panera Rewards, and Starbucks Rewards. These programs offer frequent food or beverage rewards that you can save up to use during this time. These can really help just in case you get a craving or need a quick beverage while out. 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code OFD Dell PCs with Intel inside are built for the moments that matter, for the moments you plan and the ones you don't. Built for the busy days that turn into all night study sessions. The moment you're working from a cafe and realize every outlet's taken, the times you're deep in your flow and the absolute last thing you need is an auto update throwing off your momentum. That's why Dell builds tech that adapts to the way you actually work, built
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with long lasting batteries so you're not
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scrambling for the closest outlet and built in intelligence that makes updates around your schedule not in the middle of it. They don't build tech for tech's sake, they build it for you. Find technology built for the way you work@dell.com DellPCS built for you.
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A no spend month is a great example of self imposed restriction with the goal of strengthening a skill set, in this case strengthening those frugal muscles. I think self imposed frugality has a different flavor to it when you're forced to be frugal because you've maxed out your credit cards and simply don't have the funds to make ends meet. I can see how that would feel like deprivation, but I think when you willingly experiment with frugality and use it as a way to test your assumptions about what you need and don't need, it can be a very freeing experience. The key here is choice. Experiment with frugality on your own terms and you're more likely not to find yourself in a position where it's forced on you. I also liked how this article tied personal finance goals to other personal development goals. For me personally, this connection supercharged my efforts to improve my finances. By replacing mindless consumption with healthy eating, exercise, and prioritizing sleep, I was essentially replacing spending with self care and I was using my other most important resources of time and energy in a more productive way. When it comes to pursuing any goal, financial and otherwise, our mental and physical health plays a huge role. If you've been listening for a while, you've probably already heard one of my favorite quotes from Jim Rohn, but it bears repeating. Your level of success will rarely exceed your level of personal development because success is something you attract by the person you become. End quote. That'll do it for today. Thank you for listening. Have a great rest of your day and I'll be back for tomorrow's show where your optimal life awaits.