Welcome to the final Master Your Money Bootcamp, where we learn how to stick to the plan we've established. This week we're checking in.
Exercise 1: Check in
We've covered a lot of ground since our first Master Your Money Bootcamp kicked off earlier this year — from tracking down all of our financial accounts and passwords, to putting a price tag on dreams, to setting investments and savings on autopilot.
The goal for this week: To examine our progress so far.
1. Start with the basics: Check in with how you're feeling about your money. Do you feel overwhelmed and anxious, or generally in control? Do your goals still feel achievable and realistic, even if they're going to take some time?
More practically, do you know how much of your income goes toward expenses every month? What's your credit score? Has it improved meaningfully since you started paying attention to your money? Has your debt load increased or decreased?
2. Next, consider where you are on the path to accomplishing your high-priority goals. You should be somewhere beyond the starting line. Have you paid off a debt balance? Made it more than halfway toward your savings goal for a new car? Started contributing 10% of your paycheck to your retirement account? Recognize how far you've come.
3. Lastly, look at your net worth now and compare it to six months ago, or one or two years ago if you have those numbers.
While it's not a perfect financial measurement by any means, your net worth is a big-picture snapshot of your wealth. What you're looking for is an upward trajectory, however incremental it may be. Setbacks are expected (the pandemic was a big one for many people), but if your systems are working as they should, your net worth will gradually increase.
As a reminder, here's what you'll accomplish in this month's Bootcamp (we'll link to each exercise as it goes live):
For each exercise, you'll get a detailed explanation of how to complete it and why it's important. Use the hashtags #MasterYourMoney and #MasterYourMoneyBootcamp to share your thoughts, progress, and connect with others across our Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram as you make your way through each exercise, then join us for the live events.
