This article explores the importance of taking the first step in your investing journey, as initially shared in the November How To Money newsletter (sign-up here).

Dear How To Money Reader, 

I hope you’ve had a wonderful month and are enjoying the lead up to Christmas!

In today’s monthly wrap, I discuss the overused term self-care, a term that’s now commonly used as a justification for spending money. Don’t get me wrong, I love getting a massage and ordering take-out, but self-care shouldn’t always be equated to spending money and indulging.

In our modern day world, where we label nearly everything as self-care, the word has become an easy way to justify things we want to do and buy, even if they’re not the best for us longer term. 

Want a pizza? Self-care!

Splurge on that expensive dress you just saw? Self-care!

Binge watch Netflix? Self-care!

Well, I think you get my gist there. The thing is, to truly care for our future selves, we need real self-care.

The catch is that real self-care usually feels more like work in the moment. Whether it’s calling your grandparents, taking an online course, going for a run, making an awesome salad or joining a choir, you’re not always going to appreciate what you’ve done until further down the track. 

It’s about caring for yourself…like really caring.

An essential part of looking after yourself now and into the future, is by taking control of your personal finances. It may not be fun, Instagramable or something you want to tell your family about, but it’s so much more important than you think.

I know the idea of budgeting, saving money, and maybe even investing, doesn’t really sound exciting. But trust me, spending 30 minutes a week learning to manage your money better is one of the kindest things you can do for yourself. 

Can you imagine a future where money doesn’t make you uncomfortable? Where you can pay for your next big purchase from your savings account, and you know how to use money as an effective tool in your life?

That’s something I want you to imagine. And the wonderful thing is, you can turn this into reality.

So here’s what you’re going to do, to ensure that working on your finances becomes part of your weekly self-care routine:

1) Set a recurring calendar event, putting 30 minutes aside (or whatever you can spare) to work on your finances each week.

2) Borrow a finance book from your local library, enrol in a free financial education course, and subscribe to a podcast (like ours), to slowly start discovering the basic concepts of personal finance.

3) Set yourself one tiny task to action each week, which will make your finances 1% better than the week before. Whether that’s downloading a budgeting app, setting up a new savings account or meal-prepping, these small actions will have a snowball effect throughout your life.

Trust me, working on your finances is the type of self-care, that’ll pay dividends for decades to come.