This post was last updated on 24 January, 2026.
If you’re a money nerd like me, you’ll love creating your own little “holiday” for it – Money Day! I originally got this concept from J.D. Roth’s blog, Get Rich Slowly. Our annual Money Day has evolved over the years, but it’s a great forcing function to keep us on track financially.
This also gives me an excuse to nerd out and annoy my lovely wife with money talk for a day. To be clear, she plays a huge role in Money Day and our financial success – she just doesn’t like talking about money like I do. Bottom line, you can’t afford NOT to take some time to plan out your personal finances.
Pick a Date for Money Day
The first thing you need to do is pick a date for Money Day. We used to pick a day I have off, like the 4-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We want to make sure it’s at a time when my wife and I won’t have any distractions and can take care of things.
We break it up into smaller meetings sometimes as well. In previous years, when our to-do list was longer, we might actually spread money day over a couple days or even weeks. Now we’re in a routine, so most tasks are just about checking progress and making smaller adjustments.
Have a Money Day Agenda and Structure
I always prepare an agenda and make a separate Money Day folder on my computer for each year. This helps me to get everything organized and ready to make the most of Money Day. Also, my wife has a low tolerance for me nerding out about money, so I need to be efficient and avoid giving her “money burnout.”
I actually keep a Word document throughout the year and add or remove topics from the previous year. This only takes me a few minutes to an hour to prepare the agenda. I’ll touch base with my wife and see if there are any concerns or items she wants to discuss.
If you don’t have anything like this, you can always use my free Get Started Checklist ™ as a guide. You can download the checklist and my “Mother of All Financial Spreadsheets (MOAFSP) here (or use the buttons below).
Big Ticket Items for Money Day
Here are some of the “big ticket” items on our Money Day agenda every year.
Resetting the Budget
We always go over our budget, double-check that prices haven’t changed, and adjust for any raises. To reset the budget, we look at our savings, our grocery budget, subscriptions, and any other regular monthly bills. You can use the list in the spreadsheet template to get you started.
Yearly Expenses Budget
We keep track of our big, one-time yearly expenses and save a little bit each month to cover these. These are items that tend to creep up on you if you’re not careful. We include items such as our Amazon Prime membership, contacts (you save when you buy in bulk), Cub Scouts dues, and clothing/back-to-school shopping.
Christmas Budgeting
We track our Christmas expenses in a Google Form and use it to help set aside money each month in our Christmas account. Whatever our spending was last year, we add 10% and then divide by 10 to get our monthly savings goal. We use 10 because we want to have all the money we need by November, when we typically start buying things.
Recalculating Our Net Worth
We recalculate our net worth every year to track our progress toward our goals and ensure we’re on track. I don’t set specific dollar goals per se, but we want to see year-over-year growth. Once again, we track this with a spreadsheet (included in the MOAFSP linked above).
It’s really fun to see our net worth slowly increase over time. It was really cool when we went from a negative net worth to a positive net worth. Then you can watch compound growth do its thing and see your net worth grow to $100k and beyond. It’s really fun to see!
Trimming the Fat
We always look for ways to save money. In previous years, we’ve switched some streaming subscriptions and adjusted our vehicle insurance deductibles. I always check for cheaper car insurance. For instance, you can compare the cost savings of paying your vehicle insurance annually or semi-annually. I already do this for my motorcycle.
You might be surprised at how much you can save just by reviewing your expenses and considering ways to cut costs.
Setting Goals
Next, we make some goals for the upcoming year. In the past, this has been beefing up our emergency fund and my retirement transition fund. This year, our goal is to save up and purchase a newer vehicle (in cash) to buy me a truck.
If you have a goal of paying off debt, now is a great time to write it down and commit to it. There’s something really powerful about writing down specific goals. Make sure you’re serious about it, because you’ll be reviewing this next year.
Actually, that’s part of how we set our goals. We look at the goals we accomplished (or didn’t) and analyze what made us successful or not. Then we use that data to help refine and adjust our goals for the next year. This is part of my personal mission statement – Perpetual Improvement.
Planning Big Expenses
We try to plan out all of our anticipated large expenses for the year. Whether we’re planning a beach trip or other travel this year, we set aside money for that. We’re always anticipating replacing vehicles, so we’re continuing to save for that.
One year, we discussed replacing some of our worn-out/hand-me-down furniture. It seems like every other year, I’m getting a new dress uniform or new camouflage pattern (make up your mind, Army!), so that’s been on the list before.
Planning My Leave Days
Although this isn’t specifically about money, our trips are tied to how much leave I can take. My S-1 (Admin/HR) thinks I’m crazy, but once we complete Money Day each year and set our budget, I submit leave for the entire year.
It’s actually much more efficient to do it this way and ensures I’m requesting leave way in advance. Of course, things do come up, and I have to adjust; that’s just the military. Some commanders might not be as willing to approve leave that far out (which is their prerogative), so keep that in mind.
Making a List of Due-Outs
At the end, we each have our own list of due outs. Mine is usually longer because I manage most of our personal finances. Here are some of the items that are always on my list:
- Rebalance all portfolios
- Update automatic transfers (based on changes during the budget review)
- Initiate new savings deposits/allotments (based on new goals/budget)
- Check for cheaper insurance
- Create a new Money Day folder for the following year (I literally copy and paste, then change the dates to keep a template going)
- Update/reset passwords
- Review wills (need new ones this year)
Here are some items from previous years:
- Open a Roth IRA for My Wife
- Create a separate “Gifting Fund”
- Open a UTMA for my son
- Open a 529 for My Son
- Find and Open New High-Yield Savings Accounts
- Shift allocations to be more conservative in my retirement transition fund
- Open a Separate Business Checking Account
I know it seems like a lot at once, but these don’t all have to be done all at once. We often spread these things out over the year to make things more manageable.
Take Action!
None of this matters if you don’t take action! Make a plan to implement all the great things you’ve decided to do. Don’t let your Money Day go to waste. Get started and continue improving your financial life today!
I’d highly suggest picking one thing and focusing on completing it soon, then another, and another. Once you get some momentum and start seeing the positive change, it gets easier and easier. Good luck and happy Money Day!
Once again, all the resources I’ve mentioned can be downloaded here (or use the buttons below).