Financi-FI Coach

While I primarily focus on cash flow, money management, and money mindset with clients, I'm seeing a lot of online chatter about last week's events and how they're impacting current stock prices. Personally, I'm a buy-and-hold investor. While my husband and I plan to FIRE (our personal take is: Financially Independent, Recreationally Employed), we don't expect to significantly withdraw from our retirement accounts for at least a decade. Historically, that's plenty of time for our assets to recover from any downturn or recession.

I have two end-of-month traditions. One is to check the balance of all of our bank accounts and investment accounts and input them into our family's net worth tracker. The other is to look back at the last month's spending. These two activities help me keep a pulse on our finances from both the long-term and the short-term perspective.

When you look back on January's spending, does anything in particular stand out to you? Does one category seem surprisingly high? Is another category lower than you thought? Share your observations in the comments below!

I recently had an incredibly productive Discovery Call with a new client who felt empowered, not restricted, after we created a plan to make her money less stressful. For me, a budget isn't about cutting out lattes, it's about intentional spending.

What do you think of when you hear the word "budget"? Post your thoughts in the comments below!