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 serves as an excuse for me 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.
Pick a Date for Money Day
The first thing you need to do is pick a date to have Money Day. We usually pick a day I have off, like the 4-day weekend for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (our scheduled day this year is 12 January). 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 (and a weekend so she can have wine).
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 habit and routine, so most tasks are just 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 so we’re making 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 burn out.”
I actually keep a Word document throughout the year and add/take away topics from the previous year. This way it only takes me a few minutes to an hour to get the agenda ready. I’ll touch base with my wife and see if there’s 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 ™ to use as a guide.
Big Ticket Items for Money Day
Here’s 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. This year we’ll be increasing some of our savings and our grocery budget. I also have a free budget template (the exact same one I use) if you don’t have one already.
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 things like 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 using a Google Form and then use this to help set aside money each month into 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 so we’ll have all the money we need by November when we typically start buying things.
Recalculating Our Net Worth
Before you ask, I have a free net worth tracker template too. We recalculate our net worth every year to track our progress on our goals and to see that we’re on track. I don’t set specific dollar goals per se, but we want to see growth year over year.
Trimming the Fat
We also look for ways to save money. For instance, last year we switched up some streaming subscriptions and changed our vehicle insurance deductibles around. I always check for cheaper car insurance. This year, I’m going to look at what cost savings we can get by paying our vehicle insurance annually or semi-annually. I already do this for my motorcycle.
You might be surprised at the money you can save just by looking at your expenses and thinking about ways to save.
Setting Goals
Next, we make some goals for the upcoming year. This year we want to continue to beef up our emergency fund and my retirement transition fund. Last year our goal was to save up and purchase a newer vehicle (in cash) to replace my wife’s van (which we did).
If you have a goal of paying off debt or other purchase, 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’re going to review 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. We’re planning a beach trip this year, so we’re setting aside money for that. We are also planning on replacing my car at some point, so we’re continuing to save for that as well (probably not buying this year though).
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 (thanks, Army!), so that’s been on the list before. Actually, I’m finally getting the new Army Green Service Uniform (AGSU or “Pinks and Greens”) this year. I made a deal with myself that I’d buy them if I got promoted. I was promoted in January of 2023 (starting my final 3-year clock!), so I committed to buying yet another new dress uniform. Enough about uniforms though.
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 completed Money Day last year and set our budget, I submitted 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
Once we go through the whole agenda, reset the budget, and recalculate everything, we each have our own list of due outs. Mine is usually longer because I manage most of our personal finances. Here’s 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 new Money Day folder for 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’s some items which we have that are unique this year:
- Complete a Roth Conversion for my wife’s Traditional TSP
- Create a separate “Gifting Fund”
- Open a Roth IRA for my son
- Shift allocations to be more conservative in my retirement transition fund
- Explore different/better high-yield savings accounts (our current provider has become less and less user friendly/competitive over the years)
I know it seems like a lot at once, but these don’t all have to be done right now. And we don’t do everything all at once. We spread these things out over the next few months (or possibly longer depending on what they are).
Take Action!
None of this hard work 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, and then complete another one, and another one. Once you get some momentum and start seeing the positive change, it gets easier and easier. Good luck and happy Money Day!