The Financial Dimension of Self-Care, one of LivingUpp’s 8 Dimensions of Self-Care, focuses on your financial well-being—how you allocate your financial resources. This dimension of self-care helps you establish health spending habits, maintain a savings plan, determine how much you can give to others, create a retirement plan, and more.
In this article, you’ll learn how to develop and maintain an aligned financial self-care practice that helps you secure a solid financial future.
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What is Financial Self-Care?
Financial self-care is any action you take to improve your financial well-being. Over time, the small choices you make every day can have a big impact on your life.
LivingUpp defines self-care as a preventive health strategy involving actions and behaviors that improve, restore, or maintain good health. By implementing a holistic self-care practice, you’ll spend less time and money on sick care and more time living your life.
Examples of Financial Self-Care
Here are some financial self-care examples to help you design a healthy lifestyle:
Goals
Knowing what “enough” looks like for you is the first step to setting financial goals. When you think about how much you really need to be healthy and happy, what exactly do you require? How much does your lifestyle cost today? And how much will the one you’re designing cost in the future?
Financial self-care activities that support financial goals:
- Identifying your future goals
- Meeting regularly with your financial planner
- Hiring a personal bookkeeper
- Defining what “enough” looks like for you
- Taking a self-study financial course
Spending
Your spending habits have a direct impact on your financial well-being—both in the short-term and the long-term. Reigning in your spending may be the single-most important thing you can do to improve your financial well-being.
Financial self-care activities that support healthy spending:
- Giving yourself a regular allowance
- Cancelling unused subscriptions
- Downsizing your home
- Cooking at home more
- Downsizing your possessions
- Reviewing your bank and credit card statements regularly
Budgeting
A budget can help you improve the health of your finances. With a clear picture of what’s coming in and going out gives you a snapshot of the resources you have to work with. This will help you make better financial decisions. Creating a budget may just give you the reality check you need to make some changes.
Financial self-care activities that support budgeting:
- Downloading a budgeting app
- Meeting with your banker
- Taking a self-study budgeting course
- Creating a spreadsheet to monitor your spending
Debt
Eliminating debt frees up your time, energy, and financial resources so you can redirect your focus to what’s most important.
The stress and anxiety related to financial concerns can take a physical toll on your health and put a strain on your relationships. Left unchecked, it can even carry over into your work life as well.
While it does take some planning and a strong commitment, reducing debt opens up new opportunities, giving you the freedom and confidence to live in alignment with your values.
Financial self-care activities that help eliminate debt:
- Meeting with your financial planner
- Creating a plan to become debt-free
Credit
Establishing good credit is critical for your financial well-being.
Financial self-care activities that build credit:
- Checking your credit report regularly
- Comparing credit card rewards programs
- Comparing insurance policy rates
- Paying more than your minimum balance, and paying on time
Saving
Having a solid emergency fund to fall back on helps reduce stress and anxiety when unexpected expenses or changes in life circumstances occur. Getting into the habit of squirreling away small amounts of money can really pay off in the long run. It’s never too late to start saving.
Financial self-care activities that support saving:
- Establishing a savings plan
- Consulting with a CPA to maximize tax savings
- Opening a health savings account (HSA)
- Creating an automated transfer within your bank account
Giving
Once you’ve laid your financial foundation, you can create a giving plan. Giving is an expression of gratitude that enriches the lives of others. While giving doesn’t necessarily require a financial commitment, it is one way you can have a positive impact on the lives of others.
Financial self-care activities that support giving:
- Identifying charity organizations that align with your values and interests
- Setting up an automated giving plan
Using the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care Framework
The 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework simplifies the healthy lifestyle design process. Using the 8-dimensional self-care pinwheel, you can easily develop a holistic self-care practice that supports the key areas of your life.
Here’s a quick overview of the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care:
- The Systemic Dimension of Self-Care: How you eat, move and rest
- The Emotive Dimension of Self-Care: How you express yourself
- The Luminescent Dimension of Self-Care: How you illuminate your inner truth
- The Financial Dimension of Self-Care: How you allocate your resources
- The Cognitive Dimension of Self-Care: How you think
- The AptitudinalDimension of Self-Care: How you contribute to the world
- The RelationalDimension of Self-Care: How you connect with others
- The Environmental Dimension of Self-Care: How you harmonize with nature
If you’re looking for some structure to help bring self-care into your daily life, the Lifestyle Design Planner incorporates the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework and the Rate Your 8 self-care assessment tool into its daily planning pages. This makes it easier to prioritize and plan your self-care rituals.
How to Support Your Financial Dimension of Self-Care
The Financial Dimension of Self-Care plays an integral role in maintaining good health. To design a financial self-care practice, choose specific self-care strategies that strengthen your financial well-being.
You may need to experiment with different forms of self-care to determine what is and what isn’t effective for you. Over time, you’ll be able to develop a solid financial self-care practice that supports your financial future.
What are your favorite financial self-care activities? Share in the comments below.
Information on this website should not be interpreted as providing or replacing medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content is intended for adults over the age of 18. LivingUpp is a participant in affiliate programs, which means we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases on links to Amazon and other sites at no additional cost to you.
Originally published 3/20/2020
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