Most of us have good intentions about how we spend our money. We say family comes first, health matters, retirement is important, and we want to make time for the things that bring us joy. But what matters to us is often hiding in plain sight.
In our calendars.
Our priorities show up in the appointments we keep, the errands we run, the events we attend, and the purchases connected to all of it. That, combined with your bank statements, can give you a surprisingly clear picture of what you're actually investing in, not just what you say matters to you.
Try a Six-Month Lookback
Pull up the last six months of your calendar along with your bank and credit card statements. You don't need a spreadsheet, a complicated budgeting app, or an entire Saturday afternoon. You're simply looking for patterns.
Start with your calendar. Where did most of your non-working time go?
Maybe you see frequent dinners with friends, weekends visiting your adult children, regular trips to help an aging parent, golf every Friday, or several vacations sprinkled throughout the year.
Or maybe you notice something different. You keep saying you'd like to travel more, but there hasn't been a trip on your calendar in months. You've been meaning to exercise, but your calendar is packed so tightly that there's rarely time for it. You want to spend more time with your spouse, but almost every weekend seems to be committed to someone else.
Now Follow the Money
Next, look at your spending during the same six-month period. Again, you're not trying to account for every cup of coffee. Look at the bigger picture.
What categories stand out? Travel? Restaurants? Home projects? Helping your children? Gifts? Entertainment? Healthcare? Hobbies?
Then compare what you see with your calendar. You might discover that the things you genuinely enjoy are receiving plenty of both your time and money. That's useful information. Your financial life may already be supporting the life you want to live.
But you may also find some disconnects.
Maybe family is one of your biggest priorities, but a significant portion of your discretionary spending is going toward maintaining a house you no longer particularly enjoy. Maybe travel is important to you, but you continually postpone trips because you're worried about spending—even though your financial plan suggests you can afford them. Or maybe you're spending a surprising amount of both time and money helping other people, leaving less available for your own goals.
That's where this exercise gets interesting.
Your Calendar Can Reveal Financial Tradeoffs
Financial planning is often presented as a numbers exercise: How much are you saving? What's your investment allocation? When can you retire?
Those questions matter. But ultimately, your money is there to support your life. And your life happens on your calendar.
Every financial decision involves some kind of tradeoff. Money spent renovating a vacation home can't also fund additional travel. That $300 you spent at TJMaxx? That could have been a plane ticket. Financial support for adult children may affect how much you can give to charity, leave as a legacy, or spend during retirement. Looking at your calendar alongside your finances can make those tradeoffs much easier to see.
There's another pattern worth watching for: the “Someday” Problem.
Someday we'll take that big family trip. Someday I'll cut back at work. Someday I'll spend more time with my grandchildren. Someday we'll finally use the vacation home more often. Someday I'll take that class, join that organization, or get back to the hobby I used to love.
If something has supposedly been a priority for years but never seems to make it onto your calendar - or into your spending - it may be worth asking why.
Turn the Exercise Into a Few Questions
Once you've reviewed the past six months, ask yourself:
- What am I spending both time and money on? Those are probably your clearest current priorities.
- Where am I spending money without getting much value or enjoyment from it?
- What matters to me but rarely makes it onto my calendar?
- Am I consistently spending my time or money on other people's priorities instead of my own?
- Is there something I keep postponing even though I may already have the financial ability to do it?
At C. Beach Brown, we can help you step back and look at your entire financial picture: your resources, responsibilities, goals, and the people who matter to you. Together, we can identify where your money supports your priorities, where it may pull you away from them, and what adjustments could give you more freedom to spend your time the way you want.
Your calendar is already telling a story about what matters to you. Let's make sure your financial plan is helping you write the one you want. CLICK HERE to start the conversation.