Financial Wellness Routines

Highly successful people have many things in common, but one attribute that stands out above the rest is their ability to set and stick to routines. Routines can be daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. They help individuals have focus, clarity, and be as productive as possible!

The importance of routines can also be applied to your finances. Creating financial wellness routines can help with promoting good money habits and help you achieve greatness. It’s important to know that what works for you might not work for someone else. Money habits look different from person to person and family to family.

Set And Review Your Financial Goals

Setting aside 10-15 minutes a week to create, review, and check the progress of your financial goals is a great financial wellness routine to start. If you don’t have financial goals, there is always time to brainstorm and create a few! Setting goals can help you stay motivated and work on having positive money habits.

For the best success, make sure they are “SMART” goals. When you use this framework, you reduce confusion and gain clarity. Setting a “SMART” goal will help you understand exactly what you need to do (and when you need to do it) to achieve your desired outcome.

Smart Goal Examples:

Specific – Decide what you want and be as specific as possible.
- “I’d like to save enough money to make a down payment on a home in three years.”
Measurable – Identity what success is.
- “I’d like to save enough money to put 20% down on a house. This means I need to save $20k.”
Achievable — Set goals that are reasonable. If you are hoping to purchase a home within three years and to be able to put 20%, you will need to focus to make that happen. Use a budget calculator and decide how much you can reasonably save monthly.
- “I will save $556/month so that I can reach my goal of saving 20% on a house by year three.”
Relevant — What realistic steps do you plan to take to achieve your goals?
- “I will cut out some expenses from my budget and find ways to earn extra income to reach my goal.”
Time-bound — Give yourself a realistic time frame to reach your goal. It will keep you focused and encourage you to follow through.
- “I will start saving this week and save for the next three years so I can have a down payment for a house.”

Check In On Your Spending

If you keep a monthly budget, then you are probably a pro at this routine. If not, it’s suggested that you keep a close eye on your spending. Depending on your money-spending vibes, you might want to set this routine daily, weekly, or monthly. Also, be sure that you aren’t spending everything that you earn! You want to make sure you are making headway with increasing your savings.

The TWO most important questions to ask yourself about this routine are:

Are you successfully sticking to your plan?

Do you know where your money is going each week/month?

If you can say yes to both of those things, then GREAT job!

Automate Your Finances

Paying your bills on time and saving isn’t easy for everyone. Why stress when you can be a total tech rockstar and set things on autopilot?!

Here are THREE areas where you can automate your finances!

Bills & Expenses — This is an easy thing to do to ensure you pay your bills on time, avoid late fees, and help keep your credit score on point! Go through your bills and expenses and automate everything you can. Always leave a little wiggle room in your budget for the bills that fluctuate throughout the year like water and gas.

Savings — You can easily automate a percentage from your income to set aside for your savings or specifically for your emergency or rainy-day fund. You have the choice to add to your fund weekly, monthly, or bimonthly. It’s up to you what works best with your financial situation. In any case, it will be helpful to have the funds automatically deducted from your account in case of a job loss, illness, or an unexpected flat tire.

Retirement — This might seem far away, but there is a lot you can do now. The sooner you start, the better. A 401(k) is a great way to save the maximum amount of your income before taxes and allow that savings grow over time thanks to compound interest!

Learn Something New

Setting aside time for a few minutes daily, or weekly, to learn something new is a fantastic thing to slip into your groove! Continual learning is key to being financially successful. It’s easy to listen to podcasts while you are on the go and multitasking OR be sure to check out the NuMooa News Feed for articles and content on all topics of financial literacy. Not only will you become more familiar with financial terms, but you will learn valuable things to apply to your financial situation.