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Is it bad to be checking your money on a daily basis? Actually, I think it’s essential. In a recent post, I wrote about the tasks I practice on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, but I didn’t go into too much detail about the quick-check actions that I perform each day. And recently, I had a conversation with someone who asked me why I was doing these things every day.
This person was worried that my actions were coming from a place of fear, and that this could show that I didn’t trust the universe, which in turn could block my flow of money and abundance. Respectfully, I disagree.
Checking my money every day is not a fear-based practice but rather a quick, functional process to check my accounts and see what’s going on. These actions don’t need to involve any emotion, blame, or fear of what you might find. If anything, you’re looking after your money in the same way you would look after your loved ones. Checking in, making sure everything is in order. So, here’s a breakdown of the small tasks I do each day, to keep me on track with my finances.
Daily Money Rituals
The following practices are a great way of keeping everything tidy and ensure you’re not overspending, while the last two really help to keep you in line with your future goals.
Money ritual 1: Checking Bank Accounts
Every day (generally first thing) I make a cup of tea and take five minutes or so to check my bank balance, to make sure that all the outgoing transactions are as I expected. This is based on bills due, which I track on a weekly basis in my planner.
I know what’s coming up for the week, and if there’s anything that doesn’t look right or I’m not sure about, it’s an instant flag. Usually, it’s a case of backtracking, which results in a recollection of a recent purchase. Once that’s done, I can be confident that everything is in order. If not, I can do something about it.
There’s a safety element to this practice, too, as a few people in my community found recently when they did this with their credit cards statements. They began noticing little transactions that they hadn’t made and were then in a position to be able to put an immediate stop to the fraud and get their cards protected.
Of course, I’m not saying you need to be constantly fearful of such occurrences, but it does pay to be aware. Another reason to regularly check your account is to spot any potential subscriptions you signed up for but forgot about it — especially if a payment is taken every four or six months, for example. If you’re no longer using the service, you can take steps to cancel it.
Money ritual 2: Tracking Spending
The next thing I do daily is to track my spending. I’m not perfect at this; sometimes I forget, because life is busy! But making an effort to do this every day does mean it’s more likely to be done than not. If I’m out and about, I’ll perhaps use the Notes function on my phone to keep a little note of what I’ve spent that day.
When at home, I’ll use the dedicated section of my Healthy Money PlannerTM for that month to track all of my spending. It’s particularly useful for unplanned/unbudgeted spends as it means I’m able to capture any trends.
Money ritual 3: Income Tracking
When I receive either physical money or freebies, I track this as income in my planner, as an acknowledgement of wealth. I think sometimes we don’t realise when our lives are filled with abundance, and it’s important to recognise this.
For example, our parents might buy us a little gift, or a friend might shout us a free lunch. All of these things are little acts of abundance which are happening in your life all the time. It’s nice to acknowledge that, and actually see our wealth and abundance in all its forms.
Money ritual 4: Daily Affirmations
I like to use affirmations on a daily basis, which involves writing them into my calendar with an alert so that they pop up as appointments at different times of the day. Which means each time one pops up I’m prompted to read it. By doing this, I receive a daily dose of feel-good positive statements, and I love reading them.
The affirmation could be anything, like “Money is coming to me in unexpected ways,” or, “My bank account is always growing,” and “I’m getting better and better every day.” You can tell yourself these affirmations (and others) as well for a daily motivational boost.
Money Ritual 5: Vision Board Check-In
For some people, using a vision board may seem a bit “woo”, along with the affirmations, but I think it’s important to keep a focus on where you’re heading. Having a vision board allows you to keep in touch with your goals and dreams on a regular basis. I have some very specific things that I want my life to look like; what kind of house I want to live in etc., and as a result I like to check in with it daily.
When I first began using a vision board, I used Pinterest, but it was a bit cumbersome to keep going into Pinterest every day. Plus, sometimes I’d forget. But somebody recently showed me a way to set up my iPhone, so that I can see my Pinterest board pictures flash up on a rotating basis.
If you don’t have an iPhone or don’t have this function, there may be another way that you can do something similar, or you could perhaps change your wallpaper settings each week so that you have a different inspirational picture.
Tools and Support to Help You
It’s very easy to get caught up in the minutiae of everyday life. But actually, if you keep an eye on the future as well as the day to day, you have a clear vision of where you’re heading. You can see all the positive changes that you’re making, like getting out of debt, saving money, growing your investments. They’re all significant contributions to your bigger goals and your life vision. It will literally take just 5 to 10 minutes a day to do these things once they’re all set up, making the process really easy. Here are a couple of ideas to help you:
Apps
There are so many apps available now, such as Monzo, or Starling Bank, that give you a visual representation of your spending habits. For example, the Monzo app has a little green bar which shows you if you’re staying within budget. As soon as you start spending too quickly, it turns amber, then red if you’re running out of money. Apps have some really clever features nowadays to help you stay on track, and visually see where you are.
You can also use apps like Nozbe and Insight Timer to put each money ritual into a list so you don’t forget to do them and tick them off every day!
The Healthy Money Planner™
I first launched the Healthy Money Planner™ in 2020, and I am over the moon with how it’s going and how it’s changing lives – not only through money management, but through planting trees too! For the price of 1 coffee every month for 12 months, everyone can afford to try this out and see how it can change their life too. You’re 10 times more likely to achieve a goal if you have a plan, and a further 3x more likely to achieve your goal if you have it written down. You can buy planners for cleaning and planners for Christmas – so why not your money too?
If you’re interested in looking inside the planner, check out the “flip book” on this page. Using the planner is a great step in getting organised with your finances.
Final thoughts
So that’s it! I hope you found this useful. Big money changes do not have to be in big leaps – in fact, it’s much more realistic to do this in small steps. Daily money rituals are the foundation for your financial future – use my suggestions, and come up with some of your own. Future you will be so happy that you did!
Speak soon,
P.S. If you enjoyed this one, why not try:
