How to create healthy financial self-care habits

There is a lot of talk of self-care these days – putting time aside to care for your physical and mental health. A soak in the tub, daily meditation or some mindless doodling are all great habits for relaxation and focus. But don’t neglect your financial well-being. Self-care should include regularly checking your finances to give yourself a feeling of control. Let this be an opportunity to get into a fresh financial self-care routine.

1. Understand your spending habits

The first step to making or breaking a habit, is to identify where you tend to overspend. Put aside 30 minutes each month to look through your spending for the month – easy peasy with the Woolies app. Here you can see all your Woolies account statements in one place. See if you can drill down into the triggers that caused you to overspend (anxiety? boredom? lack of planning?). Make a list of things you can do to catch yourself in the moment. For example, stock up on small gifts to avoid splashing out on lavish presents. You can also check if you have any unused Woolies vouchers on the app, which you can use towards unexpected expenses.

2. Relook your budget

It can be easy to stick your head in the sand when it comes to your monthly expenses but there is no getting away from a budget. List every single expense and be very honest with yourself about where your money goes every month. If you find it hard to stick to a budget, try something like the ‘envelope method’ for a week – only spending cash that you’ve budgeted for that week.

3. Set goals (but don’t forget about your debt)

Part of a self-care routine is to set yourself goals, whether it’s getting more sleep or eating a plant-based diet. Similarly, set yourself financial goals every week and month – e.g. saving R500 a month towards a rainy day fund or saving R300 this week by not getting takeaways.

If you feel stressed about mounting debt, break these up into manageable chunks and time periods. E.g. give yourself six months to pay off one account. Find novel ways to do this like having garage sale or getting a side hustle to earn some spare cash.

4. Pay yourself first

Self-care is all about putting YOU first, which is why the age-old method of pay-yourself-first is so relevant. Just like you have to pay the home loan, insurance or school fees, see yourself as a bill to pay – one that is just as important (if not more so). As soon as your salary is paid, make a point of putting some money aside to pay your debt or grow your retirement fund. This should be a priority, not an afterthought. Future you deserves it!

5. Be on the constant lookout for smart savings

There are lots of savings to be made with a little bit of planning. By using one card for all payments – instead of different bank cards – you can make the most of incentives such as with a Woolies Credit Card, where you get up to 3% of your spend back in quarterly vouchers each time you pay with your card, you even get rewarded for paying for fuel at any service station.

Want to take better control of your finances? Help is at hand with a range of financial solutions to make things easier for you. Visit us online here.