4 Tips to Maintain a Money Mindset

I got my mind on my money, my money on my mind. I'm about to smash these money goals by keeping my money on my mind...Or whatever Sean Paul said.⁠
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The main point is that you do not lose sight of the bigger picture. ⁠

• You want to pay off that high-interest credit card, Do it!⁠
• You want to buy a new car in cash, Do It!⁠
• You want to stop living paycheck to paycheck, Do it!⁠
• You want to have a fully-funded emergency fund, Do it!⁠
• You want to travel the world debt-free, Do it!⁠

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The best way to accomplish these goals is to maintain a money mindset.⁠

Write down obtainable goals ⁠

I feel like I talk about goal setting every week! And I talk about it all the time because goals are important. Not only for your personal life but for your finances. Often times the goals relate.

Personal Goal: Kitrick and I have a goal to buy a house in about four years.

Finance Goal: Kitrick and I have a goal over the next four years for our future house.

Obtainable goals are goals that you can measure. Planning to buy a house in four years gives us enough time to save for the down payment, closing costs, and buying furniture to decorate the house after we leave. 

Take a few moments and think about 3 obtainable goals that you want to accomplish in the next 3 to 5 years. 

Set spending alerts on your banking apps

I love and hate getting alerts! I love it because I know when purchases over $50 are made on my card but I hate knowing how many times I spend more than $50. Like why I went shopping so much?

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But trust me when I say these alerts will keep you honest. Alerts are a great option for people who do not check their banking apps every day.

Yes, I check my banking app every day to identify how much money we have, what we have been spending our money on, and if there is any fraud happening on the account.

Open your phone and set 2 alerts on your phone.

• One for purchases made at a low dollar amount such as $50 to $100. 
• Two for purchases made at a higher dollar amount such as $500 to $750.

Other than groceries and occasional shopping, I tend to keep my purchases under $75.

Check your progress at least twice a month ⁠

Checkins are great for your financial health. Checking your progress towards reaching your goals is something that should be done on a frequent schedule. I recommend twice a month but you can definitely check more frequently than twice a month..

How far off are you from reaching your goal? Are you behind? Maybe you spent more on food than your should or you went shopping and bought a few things on a whim and now your budget is paying the price. 

A set back happens to all of us but it is not the end of your story. When I first started my journey to financial freedom I made a few setbacks. Somehow I ended up making it over to the a few outlets with great sales that contributed to my credit debt. 

Set aside 2 dates on the calendar and add reminders to your phone to review your money mindset goals that you created last week. Don't forget to checkout the What is Money Mindset? blog post so that you can set your money mindset goals. 

Reassess your goals every quarter ⁠

Checking in on your progress is not enough to determine success. You must also reassess your goals in the first place. A quarterly schedule is a good timeline to keep as your ambitions and goals can change over time. 

Let us go back to the buying a house example, saving $40,000 to buy a home in Area A could sound great when we first set out our goals but 2 years into our journey we realize that Area B would be better. Area B would require us to save $60,000 instead of $40,000. Now we have to reassess how much money we need to save each month over the course of the next 2 years. 

This is just one example of how you have to be on your toes when it comes to planning out and securing your financial future. Just in case you was wondering, set an alert each quarter. 

Let me know how you stay focused.