Financial Wellness for Women Over 40: Review Your Spending
How does money make you feel? I know for me, that is a loaded question. As a woman over 40, I feel that I should have it all figured out by now in terms of my feelings around money. But, as with most relationships, the one I have with my finances is evolving constantly.
How about you? Do you have a healthy, balanced, mutually respectful relationship with money?
If this brings up questions for you–if you feel more anxious about money than comfortable–then perhaps it's time to evaluate your relationship with your finances. And that is okay. I am right there with you. I recently met a financial wellness coach, Laurie Wood. She has generously shared some of her knowledge and experience with me–and I wanted to pass it on to you, my dear reader.
You may want to consider hiring a financial coach like Laurie if you too, are uncomfortable with financial topics and want to really hone in on what it is that is keeping you stuck. When Laurie and I met for lunch the other day, she told me about a client of hers and shared this blog post that she wrote with me. It shares a story of a client that she began to work with. You may find some of the areas in which her client struggles to be very relatable.
“One of my clients was in a secure job, making a good salary– and from the outside, she appeared to be doing great. Yet, she told me she often felt uncomfortable when friends share informal advice on saving, investing, or any financial topic. She felt unable to join in the discussion because she didn't understand some of the terms being discussed and wasn’t comfortable making financial decisions for herself. She didn’t know how to engage in the discussions and didn’t want to look stupid.
She needed a safe place to learn more about financial topics and to discuss goals. She wanted to feel more confident with her decisions and could build a financial plan she could stick with. We ran into each other - I told her about my business and she decided to give me a try. After only a few months of working together – she is now the person who initiates those financial discussions with friends and shares the tips she’s learned!
So - what is the best way to become more comfortable with your finances and financial topics? I recommend spending time on the basics and building from there.
What do I consider a “basic” – first it is to complete a Spending Review. A Spending Review includes looking at all the ways you make money and how all that money is spent (or saved).
Here are the details on how to do this!! Straight from Laurie herself.
Expenses can be categorized into 3 main classifications:
Essential – The things you need to live – housing; food; utilities; transportation; savings; debt payments; and similar items.
Non-Essential – The things you could do without and might be considered optional like Cable TV, Gym Memberships, coffee out every day on the way to work.
Luxury – The items that if we can afford them make life more enjoyable – like hiring a house cleaner, lawn services, salon/spa treatments – you get it.
How would you get started on a Spending Review?
You can start by using paper and pen or you can download Lisa’s simple excel spreadsheet. LINKED HERE. If you are making your own document, list the categories above and itemize how you spent every dollar of your money in the last month.
(I know, agony!)
Look at your credit card statement (if you look online most of the transactions will be categorized for you), review your debit card transactions, PayPal/Venmo, Apple Pay. If you withdraw a lot of cash, try to recall what you used it for and write it down.
Here is a tip from Laurie:
“What you may notice as you work through this exercise – is you are spending money that may not be necessary or in alignment with goals you may have. For example, you may find you have some subscriptions on your credit card that recur every month that you are not using. There may be a lot of money spent on picking up breakfast on the way into the office that you could cut down by eating at home a few days a week, and so on. Itemizing and reviewing our spending habits is a great way to start to determine if what we are spending money on is our highest priorities.“
This is a great first step in beginning to change your relationship with your finances. If you find that your goals are not really aligned with how you are spending money–now is the time to take some action around that. Contact Laurie if you want some help. You can schedule a free Clarity Call with her at Evolution Financial Coaching –here.
As a woman in midlife, I have been through lots of changes in my life and my financial situation. Divorce, loss of a spouse, kids in college, aging parents, all of these life transitions can take a toll on our finances and our abilities to do what we want to do with our lives. Don’t bury your head in the sand like I tend to do. Let’s wake up to our financial futures together and take control over what we can do something about.
I share about all things related to midlife and living a healthy well balanced life as a woman over 40 here on my blog, and I share a newsletter that offers up lots of things that I am learning about, reading, watching, and eating. Sign up here to be invited to my events, to get a fun recipe, and to generally stay in touch. I would be honored to keep the conversation going.
