#221 – Healthy Financial Systems in 2024 Part 2

Hey, money boss, parents and Anna Sergunina here. And welcome back to the Money Boss Podcast. We are diving into the part two of healthy financial habits and systems. And in this episode, we're going to talk about systems. And what do you need to have in place in order to guarantee that the goals that you set for yourself, and things that you're trying to achieve this year are actually going to be true when you get to the end of the year. So tune in as we continue to explore tools and systems that we see are popular for our clients, as well as how do you finally get this consistency thing? Down? Because let's face it, we all struggle with it. All right, until further ado, let's tune in. We are thinking about goals. We know that they need to be smart goals. And I already forgot all the little pieces that Catherine mentioned. But we have the slide for that. They need to be specific. We know that we're going to take baby steps or small steps with making sure that we do something every day. Like I think Vita correct me if I'm wrong, but I think James Clear talks about this like being 1%. Better. Right? I think it's from from the from the book that you mentioned, Atomic Habits, that helps you like it kind of equates to that one small step that you take to get toward whatever it is you're trying to accomplish. Yeah,

that's right. He definitely talks about that. And this is not about you know, trying to come in and make this sweeping drastic, you know, recreation of yourself, right. This is about just making little little steps forward. Yeah,

Yeah, we'll make sure when we send that out, but it's a little bit clearer and bigger. So we're sorry about that. I do think I love that this like it being called the model that applies across the board in so many different situations, but especially in finances or financial planning, there's so much in terms of our feelings, either preventing or fueling actions, whether it's the markets going crazy, or you know, whatever the case may be, there's so much that goes into that where we have to go back to the plan and also reminding ourselves what the goal is. So yeah, the circumstance being things that we can't control, like the market or like the housing market, or whatever the case may be, it's a good reminder that we can only do what is in within our control. So totally. Yeah, so we're gonna talk about, we're gonna talk about automating some of our financial processes. So more so focusing on some of the systems that we have, and I know that we did recently put out an article about different you know, budgeting apps, such as monarch and tiller and all those sorts of things, but we're gonna kind of zoom out and talk on a big picture like what systems are there? What polls are there and how they might be able to work for you. And I would love if you have one that you, you know, that works for you that is not on here that you'd share it with us. Yep. So because, you know, we can, we've heard of a lot of different things. But I think sometimes a lot of our best suggestions come from our clients and what works best for you guys. So

That's what I was saying earlier, we have gotten so many great ideas from clients, and this specific one, he has a personal day for himself every month, so and the the day that he uses is the date of his birthday. So if your birthday is on the 28th every 28th of the month, or if your birthday is on, you know, whatever day of the month, so it kind of aligns with the same time every single month, and it's meaningful. So you'll remember it or the goal is to remember it, he sets aside time so that he can sit down and look at everything. So not just finances, but it's things that he needs to get done for that month, or goals or a time to review or plan for the next month. But it's a specific day that he sets aside to kind of review where he's at with all of his goals. And even with the finances. So if it's reconciling your budget, or checkbook or whatever works for you, maybe that's something that resonates or will stick with you setting aside a day of the month, maybe alignment with the day of your birthday, and have that via a treat. Like it can also be a money date with yourself or, you know, do something fun on the same day that you take care of all of the business side of things in your life that you've been putting off or need to review and get done. So I loved that. And I think it's a great tool. So yeah, he's He has lots of great ideas, that was a good takeaway.

Yeah, so that's pretty much what we had for this afternoon. I know we there looks like maybe there's a question or two in there. We'll take a few minutes to take any questions that remain. But I do hope that you've gained something from this presentation, whether it's focusing on a SMART goal or something specific that you want to accomplish this year, or whether it's focusing on something more big picture, like, what are your values? And how will that impact what goals you set for this year and for years to come. And I know for me that's helpful with aligning what I want my life to be about. And a lot of times that does tie back to our finances in a huge way. So I certainly have really enjoyed enjoyed this time and enjoyed even preparing for it and hearing about what betas learned and the books they read, and even other members on our team who have learned a lot and have a lot to offer in terms of habits and things as we do this as a profession. But we love working with you guys and helping you align what your values and goals are and helping you get there and accomplishing them. So if you aren't already a client of ours, if you're interested in just hearing more about how you can set yourself up for success this year, you know, we always offer a free 30 minute consultation. Anytime you can go to our website, mainstreetplanning.com. Or you can you know, give us a call, you know, our website, our numbers on our website, and all those sorts of things. But we would love to connect with you. And if you if you do have questions, I don't know, either. And if there's anything that's come in anything afterwards, you feel free to reach out. Okay. There is a question. Yes,

I think I think we should talk about like, we brought this idea of of consistency and like having having some actions that we can, like really be proud of. So like if we wanted to use the money date idea, because I feel like both Vita and I talked about that. How often should somebody have a money date? Yeah,

that's a great question. I know, you said you did it weekly, I think if you have never done it before, a good time to set, a good goal could be to set it up for even doing it once a month. So maybe even just for January. I know there's a couple of weeks left, set yourself up to even just do it once a month and then maybe reevaluate in June. But I do think I like the idea of doing it every week. But if that feels overwhelming, maybe starting smaller and using the date of your birthday, and setting up for once a month, what do you think? Yeah,

I think that's great. But also, you know, something to think about is doing it on a weekly basis takes more of a like kind of commitment on your calendar. But you might have like to spend less time if you do it once a week. If you do it once a month, you know, then, you know, transactions build up, it'll take you a little longer to kind of get through the tracking process. So, you know, that's just something to consider as you're building out your money date.

That's a great point.

That's a good question.

Yeah. Yeah. Or if you want to put in the q&a, kind of what what's, you know, one thing that you're excited about maybe trying out from, from what we talked about today, whether it's, you know, going through in establishing the SMART goals or building you know, really getting in touch with your values, or maybe one of the techniques that we went over as well.

Yeah, I'll definitely take away some of these and we can wait a minute and see if we get some Oh, we got some answers.

It's a good one. Someone shared making spin new decisions based on values. I think that's what I took away as well, which is kind of funny because this is my job. But I think I'll probably incorporate that too as I talk to clients of focusing on that more because I think it does help inform what your goal should be. So I love that. I'm so glad. Yeah.