5 Steps to Financial Self-Care: Creating a Weekly Money Ritual

I've got a pretty serious morning routine. Each morning, I walk outside, face east, and offer water to the earth in gratitude. Then I drink a cup of water myself, exercise, do some breathing exercises, and meditate. After that, I make my favorite cup of tea and sit down to journal and plan out my day.

I know it sounds intense, but without my morning routine, my whole day feels off. With my morning routine, I feel ready to conquer anything. The same thing applies to our finances. Having a weekly money ritual is a form of financial self-care, and it will set you up to achieve whatever you want financially.

5 Steps to Set Up Your Weekly Money Ritual

A weekly money ritual is an hour that you've set aside each week to check in on your finances. But it is so much more than that. It’s a form of financial self-care.

1. List five reasons you’re spending time on your finances

If you know why you're doing anything, it makes it so much easier to stick with when it feels hard. So, before we even get into designing the actual ritual, I want you to take a step back and ask yourself, why do you care about taking control of your finances? What are your five reasons?

Your reason could be something like:

• Spending more time with your family
• Minimizing the stress and anxiety that comes up around money
• Being able to work less and travel more

Write your reasons down somewhere you can review them easily. At the start of your ritual, you’re going to read these reasons to remind you why this is important.

2. Figure out how to make it enjoyable

Part of the reason I love my morning routine is that it's pleasurable. I follow a workout video that's challenging but not too hard. Breathwork exercises make me feel energized. And I end by drinking my favorite tea.

We want to set up the same experience for your weekly money ritual. So before we get into the nuts and bolts of the actual ritual, I want you to brainstorm some ways to make it pleasurable for yourself.

Some things our Million Dollar Year babes do:  

• play music
• light candles
• pull a goddess or tarot card
• reward yourself afterward with a bath or with your favorite dessert

3. Decide when, where, and how to do your weekly money ritual

After you've decided how you're going to make it enjoyable, then you'll choose exactly when you’re going to do it. Remember: your weekly money ritual should take an hour. So, find out where in your calendar you can find an uninterrupted hour each week to sit down and do this.

Then choose where you're going to do it. Are you doing it at a coffee shop? At your kitchen table? In your bed?

When you're creating a new habit, consistency is key. So, find a day and time that you can commit to each week. Put it in your calendar, set an alarm, and — you know — do it.

4. Find an accountability buddy

If you want, you can also find a friend to do your ritual with. You don't necessarily need a partner, but an accountability buddy makes this more fun and increases the likelihood that you'll stick with it.

This person will help cheer you on to your goals, keep you on track, and call you out when you don't stick to it. (We all need that sometimes, right?) Especially when we're trying to make a significant lifestyle change, it can help to find someone to support you through it.

If you need help finding an accountability buddy, you can join our free Facebook group. We have a whole community of women who are looking to take control of their finances, ready to encourage you on your own financial journey.

5. Get started!

The final step is to put it all together and actually do your routine. Set a timer for 60 minutes and prepare your space with whatever you decided to make it enjoyable. Then read the five reasons why you're taking control of your finances. Finally, complete your financial to-do list, like checking your credit card or bank statements.

If you need more ideas, download our Weekly Money Ritual: Financial Self-Care Checklist with a whole list of things that you could do during your weekly money ritual.

And don't forget to reward yourself when you're done!

When you put consistent effort into managing your money, it helps you feel more confident and in control of your future. We like to say around here, it's okay to suck. It's not okay to skip. So, give it a try!