Bring awareness to your finances.

I’ve been actively working on trying to rest and do things I enjoy during “downtime”. With a toddler, downtime is limited. When he is sleeping, there is a lot that needs to get done around the house, for my business, and for the other endeavors in our lives. I had a rare bit of time this week and I decided I’d spend it drinking wine and watching TV. I came across a show called “Get Organized with The Home Edit.” Apparently, I’m late to this cultural phenomenon – these two ladies who make up The Home Edit have 5.5 million followers on Instagram and their celebrity clientele regularly have them reorganizing pantries, closets, playrooms, and garages. It’s lighthearted TV watching, inspiring (but not so much that you want to get up and organize immediately – perhaps it was because I was a couple of glasses of wine in already because I did organize the pantry the next day), and has some nuggets of humor and wisdom thrown in. 

While cleaning out and reorganizing one family’s office, one of ladies commented on the difficulty of organizing and the reason why we often don’t get to it. When cleaning out and organizing, we must face things we might not want to – things we have shoved away because we weren’t ready to deal with them. This makes the process emotionally challenging and therefore logical that we avoid it. 

We face the same challenge with our finances. It’s easier to keep money issues behind closed doors. When we’re not mindful with our spending, we spend money in response to our emotional state. If you’re experiencing a challenging breakup, you might justify various purchases due to that event; if you’re tired, you might grab takeout for convenience; if you’re happy, you may spend just as a release that matches that emotion. Bringing mindfulness to your finances allows you to shed light on the emotions which fuel you to spend in ways that might be contrary to your values and goals. 

Bring awareness to your finances

Bringing awareness to your finances begins with one simple step – track what you spend your money on. When we track our spending, we are forced to bring our financial issues into the open, to shed light on them, and to pay attention to what they are and what they are telling us. I have created an easy-to-use tracking template which you can download here. Begin tracking your expenses several times a week. It will only take a few minutes each time you do it and it gets easier as you go (and harder to do the longer between times of tracking). Look through each of your methods of spending (credit cards, debit cards, cash, check) and note the items you purchased. Be as specific as possible. 

Use this awareness as an opportunity to reflect. Bring light to those areas which are challenging for you. Acknowledge those areas which you are keeping well organized, so to speak. From this clarity, you can better maintain your financial space in a way that aligns with your values and goals.