Welcome to Be Your Own Date - a space dedicated to all things self-care and wellbeing. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to take a look at my other posts; I hope you’ll like them and find them useful too! 

What is conscious spending?

Let’s return to the Be Your Own Date series on financial wellbeing and personal finance checklists. This post is all about conscious spending and by that I mean raising awareness of how much you spend, what you spend your money on and being more intentional with your spending for greater financial success. All of which is supported by planning ahead as much as possible. This is why I love to budget so much and to be guided by my personalised budget plan, which I adjust on a monthly basis. This is also why my first ever post in the financial wellbeing series was deliberately focused on sharing my Budgeting Checklist, followed by another post about my take on how to budget effectively during the pandemic or a difficult time.

Tip: Watch out for how easy it is to spend money online and consider removing your details from the auto-fill forms. That way you might think twice before pressing ‘purchase’.

Why I am committed to personal finance education 

First and foremost, personal finance does not have to be dull!

Think about your goals and your achievements. This will help keep you motivated and make money management feel soooo much more rewarding. I previously talked about one of my goals - a big one - to repay my student loans, which I am proud to share has been achieved. 🎉 No more student debt. Yeehaa! I also had a few smaller goals: to purchase a new oven and beautiful mirrored wardrobe - no more exposed rails, more light and a tidier bedroom, which now looks bigger. I saved for both items throughout last year and earlier this year. Next on my list is a slim dishwasher! It’s the small-ish things too, right?

Increasing my financial knowledge has helped me to build my financial awareness, resilience, confidence and, most importantly, a healthier relationship with money. Being in better control of my personal finances makes me feel more secure and is one less thing to worry about. It also enables me to thrive and reach my goals quicker - so, for me, taking care of my personal finances is a key life skill that needs to be practised regularly. 

Growing up, I was torn by the idea of making money, yet was raised to be independent and have a strong work ethic. I have now come to realise that it is no bad thing. Instead, it is what I do with my money that counts and this is what I choose to focus on. Therefore, I am unapologetic about my desire to make a living and adopt a ‘money mindset’, to earn a sustainable income, and to ultimately create generational wealth and free up more time in my day-to-day life to concentrate more on doing the things I love, often referred to as financial freedom or financial independence. And, for me, a thoughtful and mindful approach to budgeting, saving and spending is fundamental, hence my idea to share these checklists with you. Think about it, self-care includes taking care of our personal finances, which is why my blog considers wellbeing in all its forms - a holistic perspective - including the impact of financial wellbeing on all areas of life. 

Let me be your cheerleader!  

Whilst personal finance is a universal theme, I also recognise that the skills required to manage our personal finances effectively do not necessarily come naturally. I've learnt soooo much about personal finance over the last few years, in particular, and would love to share my knowledge with you. I've never felt better about my present and future because I have goals and plans in place to help me achieve them. So, I am keen to open up the conversation on financial wellbeing through providing accessible information and to share what I have learnt (and continue to learn, as a lifelong learner). I want to empower other people to feel better about their finances, and help guide them in their personal finance journeys - this includes you!

So, alongside being a blogger dedicated to all things self-care, wellbeing and personal finance, think of me as your personal cheerleader (coach and mentor). I am here to support you to achieve your goals, share my knowledge and draw upon my own experiences. I got you!

Look out for some exciting news that I have to share soon...

Be Your Own Date Conscious Spending Checklist (6 Ways to Spend Smarter) ✓

As you may well know, I just loooove to write a list, so here's another one just for you with a focus on spending smarter - no matter your income level. Here are 6 key principles to consider...

1. Create a budget plan and stick to it! Thinking about how I plan to spend my money in advance encourages me to consider all my expenses and others extras coming up that month so that I can spend more consciously, according to my plan. As someone recently said to me, “I live in my spreadsheet!” So, whether you’re spending on food for your weekly shop, your next big trip - or more likely staycation - use your budget plan!

2. Pay yourself first - this is important psychologically because I am paying myself first and ensuring all my needs are met before paying my bills and spending money on other things. It’s the order of payments being made that is important here. 

3. Automate bills - setting up automatic bill payments to leave my account soon after I get paid reduces the chance that I will spend that money elsewhere. 

4. Set your limit and track your spending - I regularly check my spending to help me stay on track, with my budget plan firmly in mind. I have also set up a spending tracker with my main card so that I receive an alert when I am approaching the amount that I have selected. I find this prompt very effective together with the visuals of keeping an eye on my account. Not to mention, if I end up spending more than planned one week, I can then try to hold back on my spending the next week, so that I can stay within my monthly limit. That being said, there’s no need to check your spending ALL the time; you have your life to live! 

5. Create a vision board - I was talking about this to a dear friend recently. Dream big (or small) and visualise your goals to help motivate you to achieve and even prioritise them. It’s useful to keep the vision board in a place that you access regularly and I currently have mine in my kitchen. I simply cut out images from old Vogue magazines that inspired me or represented some of the things that I’d like to achieve, and I update the board now and then. You could even go one step further and attach some timelines to the different goals or pieces within your overall vision. For tech lovers, Pinterest is also great for this!

6. Wait before making pricey purchases - I try to wait a while before making big or pricey purchases, like 48 hours or, even better, 72 hours. I mean, ask yourself - do I really need it? And sometimes I forget the item altogether, which speaks for itself! For example, I’m currently attempting a NO spend on clothing for the rest of the year, or more likely LOW spend. Ha! Let’s face it, that’s easier said than done! The idea is that I’ll only spend money on buying essentials or replacing items of clothing. So unless it has a hole in it, and even then I could just sew it up, I'm trying not to buy anything new that I do not absolutely need. The exception being the guilt-free spending built into your budget, as suggested in my Budgeting Checklist. I also intend to continue to give or sell things before buying something new... more on side hustle ideas to make a little extra money in a future post.

My mantra: The more conscious you become of your spending, the more intentional your behaviour will be. This mindset or way of thinking helps me to stay on top of budgeting and my goals that underpin it, as well as embrace the small changes in my behaviour that are required to actually stick to my budget and, ultimately, spend less and save more!

Would you add anything to my checklist? Let me know in the Comments section below and connect with me on your socials.

I hope this post has got you thinking about how you might spend more consciously, little by little. Don't put it off, you can do it! 

💎 My Personal Finance Gems 

These resources have proved invaluable in my personal finance journey:

Books

• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

• I Will Teach You To Be Rich (2nd Edition) by Ramit Sethi

• Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez

• Unf*ck Your Finances by Melissa Browne

• Money School by Lacey Filipich

• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

Research

• Financial literacy research by Professor Annamaria Lusardi

Save money online

• I use TopCashback when shopping online. It's a free service enabling you to gain cashback from a variety of shops. Sign up to the website using my referral code, at no extra cost to you. See the disclosure statement for more details

1:1 Wellbeing Coaching ☀️

I am delighted to share that I can support you with your life and work transitions through 1:1 Wellbeing Coaching.

Curious to know more? Read about my unique approach, personalised coaching programme and what to expect while we work together. 

When you are ready to get in touch, submit your interest in personal coaching sessions or pass this information on if you think it might benefit a loved one.

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Feel better about your finances. Be kind to yourself. Be Your Own Date.

~ Amy-Jo ☀️

Disclaimer: I am not a Financial Adviser, just a regular gal sharing my experiences and encouraging others to feel better about their personal finances. The content of this blog is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.