1 00:00:00,114 --> 00:00:02,214 Hey, did you ever start a new financial habit? 2 00:00:02,304 --> 00:00:04,239 Maybe it's tracking or budgeting. 3 00:00:05,034 --> 00:00:07,555 Only to have it fizzle out a couple of days or maybe 4 00:00:07,555 --> 00:00:08,904 even a couple of weeks later. 5 00:00:09,774 --> 00:00:12,384 The question for today is how do you keep that momentum going? 6 00:00:12,834 --> 00:00:15,984 So today we're talking about the simple routine that helps 7 00:00:15,984 --> 00:00:17,514 you keep the plan alive. 8 00:01:01,872 --> 00:01:04,392 Hello again, and welcome to Your Daily Ask Ralph. 9 00:01:04,452 --> 00:01:05,022 I'm Ralph. 10 00:01:05,022 --> 00:01:08,022 Thanks so much for making this podcast part of your day. 11 00:01:08,502 --> 00:01:11,622 We're building great momentum in our series, the Joy of 12 00:01:11,622 --> 00:01:13,032 Living Below Your Means. 13 00:01:13,482 --> 00:01:17,262 We continue in our pursuit of breaking that cycle of financial shame. 14 00:01:17,622 --> 00:01:19,002 And doing it with confidence. 15 00:01:19,368 --> 00:01:21,582 Now, yesterday we conquered the grocery list. 16 00:01:21,912 --> 00:01:23,892 Today we talk about consistency. 17 00:01:24,522 --> 00:01:28,022 So maybe you've taken some great steps this week perhaps you started praying 18 00:01:28,022 --> 00:01:30,122 more specifically about your finances. 19 00:01:30,452 --> 00:01:34,172 Maybe you've defined your enough, you've started tracking your spending. 20 00:01:34,172 --> 00:01:38,252 You maybe even made a budget or even try to cash envelope system. 21 00:01:38,672 --> 00:01:39,542 That's awesome. 22 00:01:40,262 --> 00:01:43,262 But maybe there's this nagging voice still in your head saying, 23 00:01:43,742 --> 00:01:45,452 how long will this really last? 24 00:01:46,202 --> 00:01:47,762 Have you ever had that experience before? 25 00:01:47,762 --> 00:01:52,112 You start with great intentions, but then life just gets busy. 26 00:01:52,622 --> 00:01:54,812 The initial motivation starts to fade. 27 00:01:54,812 --> 00:01:56,762 You forget to track your expenses. 28 00:01:56,762 --> 00:02:01,412 The budget gets ignored, and slowly you start to drift back into your old habits. 29 00:02:02,072 --> 00:02:05,342 Well, that frustrating cycle of starting strong, but failing to 30 00:02:05,342 --> 00:02:09,512 sustain good financial habits, that drift back into autopilot 31 00:02:09,512 --> 00:02:11,252 because there's no regular check-in. 32 00:02:11,672 --> 00:02:14,012 That's the single pain point we're focusing on today. 33 00:02:15,032 --> 00:02:20,072 Here's the thing, managing money well isn't usually about one big heroic effort. 34 00:02:20,762 --> 00:02:24,572 It's about consistent small actions taken over time. 35 00:02:25,112 --> 00:02:27,932 See, faithfulness is built through regular practice. 36 00:02:28,472 --> 00:02:30,062 The Bible talks a lot about this. 37 00:02:30,062 --> 00:02:31,322 It talks about diligence. 38 00:02:31,322 --> 00:02:35,102 It talks about accountability and testing our actions. 39 00:02:35,342 --> 00:02:39,512 Look at Galatians, chapter six, verse four, talks all about that. 40 00:02:40,112 --> 00:02:44,282 So just like we need to have regular time with God to keep our spiritual 41 00:02:44,282 --> 00:02:48,212 life healthy, our financial plan needs regular attention to stay 42 00:02:48,212 --> 00:02:50,372 alive and to stay effective. 43 00:02:51,077 --> 00:02:54,767 The truth is, without this scheduled review, it's just far too easy 44 00:02:54,767 --> 00:02:58,937 for those urgent things of life to crowd out the important task 45 00:02:59,177 --> 00:03:01,037 of managing our resources well. 46 00:03:01,787 --> 00:03:04,907 So you might be asking, Ralph, how do we break that cycle of fizzling 47 00:03:04,907 --> 00:03:09,660 out, How do we ensure our financial plan doesn't just gather dust? 48 00:03:10,290 --> 00:03:11,280 Well, here's my solution. 49 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,740 The single essential solution is this. 50 00:03:14,310 --> 00:03:18,660 You gotta schedule a regular non-negotiable and brief money 51 00:03:18,660 --> 00:03:20,100 check-in each and every week. 52 00:03:20,610 --> 00:03:23,520 Think about like a quick team huddle for your finances. 53 00:03:23,610 --> 00:03:24,570 Doesn't need to be long. 54 00:03:24,570 --> 00:03:27,000 Maybe five or 10 minutes is often plenty. 55 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,380 During this time, you want to intentionally first review where you're 56 00:03:31,380 --> 00:03:35,154 at, briefly look at your spending from the past week and ask yourself, 57 00:03:35,274 --> 00:03:37,104 how did it align with my budget? 58 00:03:37,599 --> 00:03:39,129 The second thing you're gonna do is track. 59 00:03:39,129 --> 00:03:42,819 You're gonna update any tracking or, or check your cash envelope 60 00:03:42,819 --> 00:03:44,649 balances if you decided to use that. 61 00:03:45,189 --> 00:03:47,199 The third thing you're gonna do is adjust. 62 00:03:47,469 --> 00:03:49,929 Ask yourself, did anything unexpected come up? 63 00:03:50,199 --> 00:03:53,949 Do you need to tweak any budget categories slightly for the week ahead? 64 00:03:54,369 --> 00:03:57,009 Which leads me to the fourth thing you're gonna do, and that's plan. 65 00:03:57,369 --> 00:04:00,369 You're gonna look ahead at the coming weeks, see what's going on, and are there 66 00:04:00,369 --> 00:04:02,799 gonna be any unusual expenses coming up. 67 00:04:03,429 --> 00:04:06,249 And then fifth and last but not least, I want you to celebrate. 68 00:04:06,549 --> 00:04:08,049 Or we can call it course correct. 69 00:04:08,499 --> 00:04:12,699 You gotta acknowledge your progress or maybe you gotta identify where things 70 00:04:12,699 --> 00:04:14,079 went off track just a little bit. 71 00:04:14,229 --> 00:04:17,319 And I don't want you to judge yourself so much, but just make 72 00:04:17,379 --> 00:04:19,329 a plan to get back on course. 73 00:04:19,539 --> 00:04:22,569 And if you're married or partnered with somebody, this is crucial. 74 00:04:22,779 --> 00:04:23,349 It's crucial. 75 00:04:23,349 --> 00:04:28,509 This is a time to connect, to discuss, and stay on the same page because 76 00:04:28,509 --> 00:04:31,299 the end, the solution is consistency. 77 00:04:31,794 --> 00:04:33,174 Schedule a weekly check-in. 78 00:04:33,654 --> 00:04:35,904 Alright, well here's your one action step for today. 79 00:04:36,174 --> 00:04:38,034 This is about setting up the habit. 80 00:04:38,034 --> 00:04:39,534 The habit is what's so important. 81 00:04:39,834 --> 00:04:42,984 So what I want you to do right now, I want you to open up your calendar. 82 00:04:43,134 --> 00:04:46,554 I want you to pull up your phone calendar or maybe use a, a planner. 83 00:04:46,704 --> 00:04:51,534 And I want you to choose a time, you know, look ahead, find maybe 10 or 15 minutes 84 00:04:51,654 --> 00:04:53,814 this week and put a slot on your calendar. 85 00:04:53,814 --> 00:04:57,204 If you've got a spouse, make sure you include them in it and make 86 00:04:57,204 --> 00:05:00,534 sure you can realistically protect every single week this same time. 87 00:05:00,849 --> 00:05:04,659 Maybe it's on Sunday evening after the kids are in bed, or maybe on Saturday 88 00:05:04,659 --> 00:05:08,949 mornings be before things get hectic or, or maybe it's that Friday payday. 89 00:05:09,249 --> 00:05:12,829 But I want you to pick a specific day and time, and then I want 90 00:05:12,829 --> 00:05:16,279 you to schedule it, put it on the calendar, make it re a recurring 91 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:18,109 appointment, and then set a reminder. 92 00:05:18,109 --> 00:05:22,219 And I want you to treat this like any other important meeting that you have. 93 00:05:22,564 --> 00:05:26,014 And the fourth thing I want you to do is I want you to develop a quick plan. 94 00:05:26,374 --> 00:05:29,014 You know, briefly decide what you're gonna cover in this 10 95 00:05:29,014 --> 00:05:30,724 minute or 15 minute meeting. 96 00:05:30,724 --> 00:05:34,744 Maybe it's reviewing last week's spending, maybe it's checking your budget status 97 00:05:34,744 --> 00:05:36,664 or, or looking at next week in planning. 98 00:05:37,034 --> 00:05:40,214 It's so important that you keep it simple and actually do it. 99 00:05:40,604 --> 00:05:43,784 You might be asking, Ralph, why do I even need to schedule this? 100 00:05:44,534 --> 00:05:47,924 Because the truth is, it directly combats that pain of drifting off 101 00:05:47,924 --> 00:05:50,564 course and, and letting good habits die. 102 00:05:51,104 --> 00:05:53,894 It truly builds accountability because it keeps your your 103 00:05:53,894 --> 00:05:56,594 financial plan relevant and active. 104 00:05:57,014 --> 00:06:01,904 And by doing it weekly, it allows for quick adjustments before small deviations 105 00:06:01,904 --> 00:06:08,054 become huge problems, and it turns those good intentions into a sustainable system. 106 00:06:08,594 --> 00:06:09,614 Well, how about we pray together? 107 00:06:09,614 --> 00:06:12,974 Father God, thank you for the call to be faithful stewards. 108 00:06:13,379 --> 00:06:18,149 Lord, we confess that consistency can be hard and it's easy to let things slide. 109 00:06:18,779 --> 00:06:22,679 Lord, I pray for my friend listening as they choose, and schedule a time 110 00:06:22,679 --> 00:06:24,449 for that weekly money check-in. 111 00:06:24,989 --> 00:06:28,319 I want you to just give them the discipline to protect that time Lord, 112 00:06:28,619 --> 00:06:30,629 and the wisdom to use it effectively. 113 00:06:31,139 --> 00:06:33,989 And if they do it with a spouse, Lord, grant them unity. 114 00:06:34,379 --> 00:06:38,429 Grant them grace, and, and Lord, give them the ability to have good communication. 115 00:06:39,194 --> 00:06:43,184 And Lord may this regular habit bring order to their lives and reduce stress and 116 00:06:43,334 --> 00:06:47,204 help them stay aligned with the financial plans that you've helped them create. 117 00:06:47,774 --> 00:06:49,604 Lord, thank you for your faithfulness. 118 00:06:49,694 --> 00:06:53,204 That inspires our faithfulness In Jesus' name. 119 00:06:53,774 --> 00:06:54,224 Amen. 120 00:06:54,674 --> 00:06:56,714 Okay, we'll get that check in scheduled. 121 00:06:57,044 --> 00:07:01,004 Protecting that small amount of time each week is a game changer for 122 00:07:01,004 --> 00:07:02,834 staying on track for the long term. 123 00:07:03,194 --> 00:07:06,704 'cause here's the truth, you're building a solid foundation. 124 00:07:07,184 --> 00:07:10,814 Now as you start reviewing your budget regularly, you might need to make some 125 00:07:10,814 --> 00:07:15,104 decisions, so be sure to check with me back here tomorrow on graph, because 126 00:07:15,104 --> 00:07:19,244 we're gonna tackle a really core concept for living below your means. 127 00:07:19,514 --> 00:07:20,744 I'll share that with you tomorrow. 128 00:07:20,894 --> 00:07:24,824 We're gonna cover action item number 11, and if this episode has helped 129 00:07:24,824 --> 00:07:26,774 you think about staying consistent. 130 00:07:26,839 --> 00:07:27,949 Please share it with somebody. 131 00:07:27,949 --> 00:07:31,309 There are a lot of people that can really benefit from this, and 132 00:07:31,309 --> 00:07:34,279 I'm also going to encourage you to consider supporting this show. 133 00:07:34,279 --> 00:07:38,779 You can do that by going to ask Ralph podcast.com/support. 134 00:07:39,079 --> 00:07:43,579 So until tomorrow, schedule that check in and keep seeking him first. 135 00:07:43,669 --> 00:07:46,339 Stay financially savvy and God bless you. 136 00:07:47,029 --> 00:07:47,779 Have a great day.