Date Night Club (January 2022): Crafting Your Recipe for Financial Wellness

Start the new year off on the right foot by taking some time to dream about what you want to accomplish and creating a recipe to make that dream a reality.

Take a Bite:

• Fast forward to January 1, 2023: Looking back, what you do you hope you'll say about 2022?

  Think about where you'll be living, what job you'll have, what goals you will have accomplished, how you'll feel about your financial life, etc. This is your chance to dream. What will have changed and what will have remained the same?

DATE NIGHT MATERIALS LIST:

• Copy of your budget

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15 MINUTE SNACK: CREATE YOUR FINANCIAL RECIPE FOR 2022

Take the vision for 2022 that you dreamed about in this month's teaser and begin to think about how you'll bring that vision to life by creating a recipe:

• Ingredient List: What ingredients (and how much of them) will you need to make this vision a reality? Think not only about the income sources you'll need but also the habits you'll need to develop, behaviors you'll need to change, and attitudes you'll need to bring into the new year. For instance, if student loan debt repayment is part of your vision you might say: 12 on-time monthly payments, 1 extra large work bonus, a heap of side hustle income, a sprinkling of optimism, and a pinch of fairy dust from President Biden to make the repayment process easier.

• Start on the Steps: Once you've put together all of the ingredients you'll need for your vision. Chart out the first three steps you'll need to take to bring this vision to life.

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If you like, you can take this month's topic deeper ...

MAKE IT A MEAL: APPLY WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

Continue writing out the rest of the steps for your recipe. Finding you'll need some extra income for some of those ingredients? Here are some ideas:

• Audit your financial life to get a lay of the land and see where you might be able to save some money

• Use these quick and easy tips to stash some cash fast - whether it's for an emergency fund or another goal

• Ask for a raise at work

• Take some time to negotiate your household bills

MONTHLY BUDGET CHECK-IN

Take a moment to look back at last month's budget together.

• Did you stay on track?

• If you got off track, what 1-2 steps can you each take to get back on track again?

• Did any surprises come up - positive or negative?

• Take a look over the expenses, did the way you used your money align with your values?

• What changes will you make for next month?

• How are we doing with the things we decided to continue doing, start doing, and stop doing?