Blog — Sisters for Financial Independence

What is Journaling?

If you’ve been to a bookstore recently, like Barnes & Noble, you will notice a special section or table that has multiple journals or notebooks. Journaling has been gaining popularity in the past few years, but it is an ancient tradition that has been done by many successful people. A pen coupled with paper can serve as a powerful life tool. A journal allows you to release your thoughts and emotions allowing for clearer reflection. It can be a way to document life. In fact, many of us have probably been journaling since we were kids, first documenting our summers, then moving into a diary of some sort. Whether it’s a diary of daily life or a journal of current thoughts and dreams, writing things down helps us to remember them and provides us a snapshot of a time and place. In this day and age, journaling is now more important than ever as it allows one to move slower into an analog space where the only distraction comes from the thoughts in your head.

What is a Money Journal?

A money journal can be a diary of sort that tracks your daily spending habits. It may be a list of expenses. It may be a list of money goals and your progress. It may be a list of debts. For many, a money journal can just be a ledger of money coming in and out. Instead of relying on an app, Excel or monthly statements from a bank or credit card, a money journal can be a record of accounts. A money journal can be started on any plain notebook. The most important thing with a money journal is to do it consistently. This is where you will learn to see patterns on spending or doing deeper, patterns on emotional spending. It’s imperative that you review your journal often and write down your thoughts and feelings about recent money moves. This will inform you of where you money mindset is at this point in time.

I would encourage you to start your own money journal. Grab a notebook and a pen. Start with tracking your daily spending habits. After each day, document how you felt with certain purchases. Were all the purchases necessary? What was the reason for the purchase? Did anything come up from your past that made you buy? Continue doing this for at least 30 days. Consistency is the key here. After a few days, you will start to notice patterns in your money thoughts and spending. Don’t change anything yet until your 30 days are over. After 30 days, create a plan of action on how to address those patterns.

What makes The Money Journal from Sisters for FI unique?

The Money Journal that we created provides the ability to track daily money habits, but also the opportunity to reflect on those money habits. One of the most powerful thing about a journal is in it’s ability to allow you to reflect on what you’ve just written down. We’ve essentially combined a money book, money workbook and personal money journal into one. We created one with over 90 pages of content. There are sections that provide quick money lessons. There are areas that require you to track daily money habits. There are pages that provide you clear action items on what to do next. Lastly, there are sections called “Free Flow” where we ask you to reflect on what you’ve just learned or the last few exercises to see where your mind is when it comes to money.

Money is simple. It’s the emotions that we tie to money that make it complex. Unfortunately, it’s also the emotions that keep us from executing on our money goals. The Money Journal can help you sort through any money hangups you have and provide you a plan for execution. The Money Journal is also very succinct so it provides you only the top money topics. When you are ready, there’s a whole section at the end that provides you resources to expand your money knowledge.

We believe that if you complete The Money Journal today and complete another one next year, you will see a drastic improvement not only in your money mindset, but also in your habits and in your savings goals. There’s no greater feeling than to see progress.

If you are interested in The Money Journal, read more about it here.