We don’t need New Year’s resolutions to cultivate financial wellness. Every day is a great day to try something new and set yourself up to win!
Here are some ways to win:
1) Create A Dopamine Menu
Another way to set up sinking funds is by assigning larger amounts of incoming cash to a sinking fund. A tax return, bonus, inheritance or gift received can be put in a separate account, with your intention of how to spend it already set. This helps prevent mindless spending of large influxes of cash.
I recently came across the concept of a dopamine menu, and loved it, so had to share.
The “dopamenu” concept was created by Jessica McCabe, author of “How to ADHD”. “As someone with ADHD, McCabe originally coined the dopamenu for those with ADHD who may experience decreased levels of dopamine and need more stimulation.
However, anyone can benefit from making their own dopamenu, whether you have ADHD or not. If you’ve simply been “going through the motions” in life lately without much spark, it could be a beneficial exercise for you.”
Dopamine, also known as the feel good hormone, can make you feel happy, motivated and energized. A “dopamenu” is a list of activities that you curate for yourself for those moments when you are feeling a bit low, and want to avoid falling into cheap dopamine traps like scrolling for hours, binging tv until you have a hangover, or shopping mindlessly online.
I worked a dopamenu with a client a few weeks ago and here is what she came up with (shared with permission):
- Yoga or breathwork–even if it’s just 5 minutes (I love yoga with Adriene for free beginners videos)
- A brisk walk
- A shower
- Listening to music
- Read in bed
- Writing or journaling (link to journaling prompts for self -discovery)
- Cooking a favorite meal
- A warm cup of tea
What would your menu look like?
2) Create Sinking Funds
The beginning of the year is an excellent time to start your sinking funds. You can use this same system to plan for things you will need or want. Things like: winter tires, getting your hair colored, a trip, or summer camp for the kiddos. Those are all things that you know will happen and approximately when, but they don’t fall into your regular month to month expenses.
Preparing for the one-off larger purchases can be the first step to getting out of credit card debt. We tend to put what doesn’t fall into our reoccurring expenses on a card. Get out of this cycle by setting aside a little money each month to be able to pay for those things when they come up.
For example, lets say you just spent $500 on Christmas for gifts, travel, decorations etc. Start by setting aside $50 a month now, and by Christmas, you can buy everything you need to with ease rather than stress or guilt.
Another way to set up sinking funds is by assigning larger amounts of incoming cash to a sinking fund. A tax return, bonus, inheritance or gift received can be put in a separate account, with your intention of how to spend it already set. This helps prevent mindless spending of large influxes of cash.
3) For Renters: Consider Bilt
With the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® you can earn flexible rewards on rent payments –Cardholders can earn rewards on rent payments with virtually any landlord without paying an annual fee. Just make sure you are able to pay the balance off each month, I would not recommend trying this if you have ever been late with rent in the past.
Here is a Forbes article detailing all the pros and cons. This may not work well for all renters, and not everyone should get a new credit card, but I thought I would share it, because it can be great way to earn rewards on a large monthly fixed charge.
4) Do A Subscription Audit
Go through all your subscriptions and cancel those you don’t need. Low hanging fruit–go get it!