How Having a Regular Money Date Can Change Your Life and Business
A money date is a review of your financial situation and a plan with your next steps. It can be done as often as necessary (I do it monthly) and it’s all about sitting with your money and taking a look at all the numbers so you can assess everything and take decisions from an empowered place.
Benefits of Having a Money Date
Money dates are highly beneficial for business owners who want to grow their revenue, couples who want to budget smarter, or individuals who want to spend less and save more.
Here are some of the ways having a regular money date can help you:
- Clarity – you get all your numbers in one place and can see how you’re doing financially. There can be a lot of discomfort, but numbers speak for themselves and we need to listen. Your first money date might be the first time you ever take such a close look at your financial situation, it can be both eye-opening and scare. But know that you’ll soon get a grip on your finances if you keep doing his practice.
- Empowerment – I include a money affirmation in my money date, I set an intention, and I approach it from an empowered state. I also add things I’m grateful money provided for me last month, and this helps me focus on the abundance, not on the lack. That allows me to plan my next month and financial goals with confidence.
- Stay on top of your finances – if you don’t control your money, it controls you. To get a grip on it, you need to know exactly how much you’re earning (especially if you’re a business owner with irregular income, like me), what your recurring expenses are, how much you spend monthly, whether you can decrease your spending and instead invest and save more, and so on.
- Prepare for future expenses – during a money date, you can write down what big expenses might be coming for you next, and make a plan on how to prepare them. Even keeping them in mind and being reminded of them often is enough to help you save for them (and say No to other things that will cost you more but aren’t necessary).
- Plan for big purchases/life goals – the same goes for big purchases, from a new phone to a mortgage or even having a kid. During your money date, you can create a budget for it and aim for that number after X weeks, months or years. Again, seeing that number during every money date allows you to keep it in mind and be ready when the time comes.
- Feeling good about money – how you feel about money is crucial. Most people avoid looking at it, spend more than they save, make impulsive purchases, feel horrible when new bills arrive, and are often stressed about money. But your money dates can help you feel more comfortable with money, feel in control of it, and become grateful for it. Bills and expenses shouldn’t scare you, they can feel neutral for you. And you can even get to a place where you’re thankful for them as what you pay for gives you so much in return (eg, roof over your head, warm water, etc.)
I talk more about all this inside my 3-Day Money Magic Training. Feel free to check it out. There you can also find a money date checklist, wealth practices, abundance rituals, and exercises to help you overcome your limiting beliefs about money and be in the high-vibe energy that attracts money so you can transform your financial situation.
How to Have a Money Date
Decide on the time of the month/week as well as how often you’d like to have it.
Mine is once a month, in the beginning of the new month. I don’t have a specific day for it, but ideally, it’s done in the first 3-5 days of the month.
Next, create your template – an outline of the sections you’ll write down during your money date every time.
It won’t be perfect the first time, but you can adjust it every next time as you find out new elements you’d like to add or sections you’d like to remove or combine.
Here’s my current one.
My Money Date Template [for business owners]
Part 1 [reviewing the previous month]
Numbers (at a glance):
- Bank:
[list your bank accounts + the current amount in each]
- Investments:
[list your assets + current value]
- Expenses:
[list significant expenses from last month + what you can optimize] (eg, spend less on new clothes)
- Lack/Abundance:
[list situations in which you either felt/experienced/acted from a place of abundance or lack. Reflect on these and plan how to feel abundant more often regardless of what your current situation is.]
Gratitude:
[list a few things you received, did, used, enjoyed thanks to money last month + truly feel gratitude about them]
Part 2 [plan for the new month]
- Affirmation:
[eg: Money is always available to me.]
- Recurring expenses:
[list ALL current recurring expenses so you can see them at a glance and decide if you’d like to remove any. If so, do it right away.]
- New purchases + benefits:
[list some things you plan to buy, invest in or subscribe to this month and how they will make an aspect of your life better. Make sure there’s a good reason for that.]
- Ways to grow wealth this month:
[list at least one way in which you plan to increase your wealth this month. It could be a new investment, a new business idea, a new source of traffic for your blog, a new way to promote your products or services, a new offer you’d like to release, a new side hustle you want to try, etc.]
- Money Allocation:
[Money allocation at the beginning of the month leads to managing our money better. You can divide your income into a few categories, such as taxes, bills, spending, salary (money left for you to spend. This also works if you’re self-employed and want to imitate paying yourself a salary.), savings, investments, etc.]
Take action on this right away too. That means investing the funds planned for this, adding the amount you want to your savings account, leaving the rest for expenses, etc.
If you’re with a fixed income, you can automate some of this.
- How do I want to feel about money this month?
Do you want to feel confident making financial decisions, comfortable with money, or abundant?
Do you prefer to feel safety around money, to feel calm when making payments and receiving bills?
Write that down and actually practice it this month.
For more help with that, check out the 3-Day Money Magic Training I mentioned.
Ready to plan your first money date?
I hope this guide helped. You can now schedule your first money date and use the template above or create your own.
Turn the date into a ritual, light a candle, clean and organize your desk before you sit, and be grateful that you get to do this. This is another way to practice personal growth, invest in yourself, and show some self-love.
Enjoy and let me know how it goes.