Routines are proven to help reduce stress and anxiety, plus give you more time to relax, according to Northwestern Medicine. This is a triple win! Let’s dive into my weekly money routine. Find out four simple things I do with money every week, and you can too!
What exactly is a money routine?
But first, let’s talk about routines in general. A routine’s defined as a “a standard or regular way of doing something.” A money routine is simply developing a few habits you can put on autopilot with your finances. Managing money is hard AF. It’s easy to get stuck in overwhelm mode and not make progress.
A routine takes the guesswork out and you can battle analysis paralysis. Ditch bad habits, like impulsive shopping, when you develop a solid money routine.
My Weekly Money Routine
1. Get weekly cash
My first weekly money routine is to go to my ATM and get weekly cash! Normally on Friday’s, I take out a set amount of cash ($120) for my day-to-day spending. Dun & Bradstreet, found people spend 12-18% more when using credit cards instead of cash.
Having a set amount of cash to spend takes the guesswork out of budgeting. My fixed expenses, like rent or insurances I pay automatically online. Then I use cash for purchases like food, gas, small gifts, clothes, and entertainment. Limiting what I spend on the little things, then frees up cash to make bigger flex or variable expense purchases like vacations or car repairs.
Kim, Best Money Class Ever student described weekly cash as her “magic pill.” She said, “Weekly cash changed my life.” For her, she was able to pay more to debt and ultimately pay off $45,404 in 28 months.
Here’s more on how to budget your expenses with cash.
2. Meal plan
The next weekly money routine is I meal plan and think through what I’ll eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, and dessert for the upcoming week. Initially this sounds like a lot of upfront work, but meal planning helps save time and a ton of money.
Money expert George Kamel explained the average cost to eat out is $13 a meal versus $4 to prepare at home. Eating out is 325% more expensive!
Once I know what meals I’ll make, then I’ll check the recipes and write down a list of ingredients I need to pick up from the grocery store.
You can check out more on how to meal plan (for beginners).
3. Meal prep
After I’ve planned what I’ll eat and shopped for the ingredients, then the next money routine is the meal prep. Typically on Sundays, I’ll batch make my meals in advance for the week. Again, this sounds like a lot of work, but after an hour or two of chopping and cooking everything’s ready to go for the entire upcoming week.
This routine of making my meals ahead of time allows me to come home from a busy day and simply reheat the food without constantly wondering, “what’s for dinner?” Or overspending on take-out.
4. Track spending
The last weekly money routine is I track my spending. I write down what I spent from the previous week with my cash spending and if I made any extra purchases with my debit card. Knowing where my money goes is powerful and helps keep me on track.
Here’s eight reasons why I track my spending.
What a money routine isn’t about!
A money routine isn’t about perfection. You’ll have expenses you don’t expect or you’ll meal prep and then last-minute a friend will want to grab dinner. These routines are little habits you can make and then adjust throughout the week as life happens.
In a nutshell, my default weekly money routine is to get cash, meal plan, meal prep, and track my spending from the previous week. These little habits helped me pay off over $35k in debt and save $100k by the time I was 26!
If you want to stress less about money, then start a weekly money routine.
Check out the Best Money Class Ever Financial (day) Planner! Get yours for FREE when you enroll in class.
