Money. It’s like fight club. We don’t talk about it (but we do fight about it). So let’s not talk about money, but how organisation and tracking can help in 5 ways so you can master your money. That is, how you can use a planner to help you be a master of your money, and not a servant to your funds.
Setting money goals
Having a yearly goal based around finances or money is very common. Writing down a goal can help make your financial aims more visible. Then you can act towards your goals but setting up purposeful habits (automatic wherever possible) for the year. Money goals might include saving a certain amount (for a holiday, or to have 6 months salary saved). It might be paying off a debt like a mortgage or credit card. Or it might include short term goals like completing paperwork to set up salary sacrifice into super. Or investing a certain amount of money each month into EFTs for future income.
Tracking your money
Depending where you are at, you may use blank pages in a planner to track your monthly budgets, documenting where you are spending your money. Or you might set up a motivational page to track how much you are saving and putting away each month with a jar or thermometer to colour in.
Check-ins for assets
It can be helpful to know your total assets – but don’t track these too often. Checking-in once a month can be helpful to get a big picture of where your money is at. You can use the Finance Check-ins page for this. We recommend checking-in on the balance of your savings, super, any investments and big debts like a mortgage.
Future Dreaming
You can have yearly goals, but these (especially when we’re talking about money) often sit within longer time goals. It’s not like a mortgage disappears within a year! We like working in 5 year time blocks, as it’s long enough to make a difference (like paying off a mortgage or saving for a house deposit), but not too long to forget. We’re currently in Year 5 of a 5-year plan to pay off the mortgage and are on track to see this goal achieved in 2024. We will also use a blank planner page for Future Dreaming – imagine yourself in 10 years time. What do you look like/have done/are/have achieved? Work backwards from there with your yearly goals so that you can grow into the person and life you want to have.
Micro-level organisation
A planner can also help with reminders on the micro-level of mastering your money. Like remembering to pay bills on time, or claim for invoices. The weekly page spreads with to-do lists and bill payment trackers are great for keeping up with the day-to-day management of money that you can’t automate or direct debit.
