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Most people don’t consider their finances a form of self-care. I would very much disagree and argue that it is a huge form of self-care. Finances are a source of stress and anxiety for a lot of people. I know I have been there when I didn’t want to check my bank account or my credit card balances!

My parents taught me very early on to respect money and how to handle money. In college I threw all that out the window and opened up every credit card I could! Together my husband and I had to work through all my credit card debt. It wasn’t fun! My husbands story with money is a little different. While I had a bank account since I was little, my husband didn’t even have one when we first started dating. He did everything in cash and had absolutely no credit cards!

Flash forward to now, we have a joint bank account, business bank accounts, savings, minimal credit card debt, a budget that works for us, and big plans for our financial future! It was a journey to get here and we still aren’t done. Our finances are not perfect but I don’t think anyone’s really is!

There were quite a few bumps in the road and quite a few things we have learned on our financial journey that I want to share with others to help them out!

1. Understand What Your Goals Are

This is really important especially if you are sharing your finances with someone else. When Justin and I first got married, we still had two separate bank accounts. Our money was shared, but we kept our money in two separate accounts mainly so I could hold more control over the money that was used to pay bills. Since I already had processes in place, it was kind of natural for me to do the majority of our finances. It’s something that Justin doesn’t necessarily want to deal with and it’s something that my control freak ass loves to do.

Because Justin gave me the reigns on the finances, I just assumed everything I was doing was the best for both of us! We had to really sit down and discuss where our finances were and where we wanted them to be. While I wanted to pay off debt as quickly as possible, Justin wanted to move forward with buying things that I sometimes didn’t think we were ready for. For example, I didn’t think we were ready to buy a house but we did and I’m really glad it’s something we discussed because I love our house!

When we sat down and went over our goals, I also showed Justin all our processes. How I pay the bills and our budget spreadsheet. He doesn’t use them or typically pay the bills, but I think it’s important for him to understand how I am doing things and also important for me to understand where he wants our finances to go so that we are building our financial goals together!

If you are single and you’re the only one who manages the finances, I would write out all your goals and where you want your finances. Even though you don’t have to collaborate with someone else, sometimes it’s really nice to just get your goals out there and written down so you can get super focused!

2. See Where Your Finances Are

This part can be painful and not so fun. I know when I first started paying down debt, It was really hard to see the balance of some credit cards and then the total as well. I know it is hard, but this step is essential!! This is what you need to do:

• write down every single credit card, record the balance, minimum payment due, and due date
• write down any other debts you have (student loans, private loans, etc.)
• write down any monthly bills you pay (cell phone, mortgage, rent, utilities, etc.)
• write down anything that is a typical expense and about how much it costs (groceries, hair cuts, etc.)
• write down the amounts in your bank accounts (checking and savings)

Now, I hope this hasn’t freaked you out! When I first did it, it really stressed me out. My advice, instead of letting it stress you out, let it be the kick in the pants you need to get your finances on track!

Also, one other thing I would like to point out, if you own a business with expenses and a separate bank account, do not lump that in with your personal finances. My husband owns his own business and we do not mix accounts!!

3. Create a Budget

Creating a budget is one of the best things you can do to keep you on track and see where your money is going. I create my own budget in excel that lists out everything I have to pay in a yearly overview, a monthly overview and then I have a page in the back that I track purchases made on our debit card! This way I know how much money we have at all times and I can make sure we aren’t going to go into the red.

I do plan on uploading a template of my budget on here but I am working out some kinks so that will be up soon!

4. Eliminate Debt

Debt is not something you really want. Yes I know it can creep up on all of us, but it’s an unnecessary stressor that I would work on eliminating first. If you don’t have any debt, just skip this step!

Once my husband and I had written down all of our debts (okay, my credit card debt!), we had a little over $10K in credit card debt! I thought for sure we would never get out from underneath it. Now I know that some people have quite a lot more than $10K in debt and I know that some feel like that’s an outrageous number! And let’s not forget, that was all credit card debt and didn’t include our monthly bills, monthly expenses, and my student loans! The point is, don’t compare what you have to what other people have because in the end it’s not going to reduce your debt at all.

To start paying down our debt, we used the snowball method. This is a concept where you take your debt with the lowest balance and start paying that down. You pay as much as you comfortably can, and then move on to the next credit card with the lowest balance. When you move onto the next credit card, you roll into it the amount you were paying on the first card. So lets say I had a credit card #1 and I was paying $50 a month. Once that is paid off, I move to credit card #2. Credit card #2 has a minimum required payment of $50. So when I go to start making payments on this I would pay both the amount I was paying on credit card #1 and the minimum for credit card #2. In total I would pay $100 a month for credit card #2. Then you just keep snowballing this until all your debt is paid off!

I first learned of this method from Dave Ramsey and his book, The Total Money Makeover. It is an amazing book that can really help with finances. I would highly recommend it!

5. Savings

After you have paid off all of your debt, it’s time to save! It’s a sad fact, but a lot of people do not have savings! While sometimes it seems tempting to spend money than save it, in times of need, you will be so glad that you have that savings!

When thinking about your savings, you need to decide how much savings you want to have in your account. This is all up to personal preference. I know some people like to save a certain percentage, some like to save three months worth of expenses, and others just aim for a certain amount.

For me, I do two of them. My husband and I are still growing our savings account, but my goal is to get it to $10K to feel secure. Once we are at $10K I plan on still saving 10% of what we make. When my husband started his own business, our savings account saved our butts but now we are working hard to bring it back up!

6. Start Thinking About Retirement

I know for some people this seems like forever away, but it is never too early to think about retirement. I would 100% take advantage of whatever 401K packages your work has. If you are self employed, I would look into IRA’s. I am invested into my works 401K and this year we are planning on setting up an IRA for Justin, if not for both of us.

When it comes to your 401K, I would make sure you understand how it works and how much your employer is matching. If you can swing it, maximizing that amount your employer is giving you!

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No matter what phase you are in on your financial journey, I think these tips can help! I hope to get the budget template up on here soon so check back for that!