Lifestyle Metamorphosis Enhance Your Financial Fitness in 40 Days

By Francesca Gervascio-Franzen

This financial wellness program has been formatted so that it can be completed over Lent, because we believe that starting at a more psychologically significant time may help you to be more successful. Our goal in creating this course is to teach you the skills you will need to improve your financial situation over time by developing healthy financial habits that will result in permanent lifestyle changes during the next forty days. Of course, to truly be successful, you will want to incorporate these strategies on a continuous basis.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646704125

Book preview

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Lifestyle

Metamorphosis

Enhance Your Financial Fitness in 40 Days

Francesca Gervascio-Franzen

and

Matt Gunter

ISBN 978-1-64670-411-8 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64670-412-5 (Digital)

Copyright © 2020 Franzen & Gunter Enterprises, LLC

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

Introduction

Supplies Needed

Commit to Succeed

Day 1

Awaken Awareness

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Sagacious Spending

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

Savvy Saving

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

Day 26

Day 27

Day 28

Day 29

Day 30

Implement Investing

Day 31

Day 32

Day 33

Day 34

Day 35

Day 36

Day 37

Day 38

Day 39

Day 40

Dive Deeper

Supplemental Day 1

Supplemental Day 2

Supplemental Day 3

Supplemental Day 4

Supplemental Day 5

Supplemental Day 6

Supplemental Day 7

Supplemental Day 8

Supplemental Day 9

Introduction

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

—Proverbs 14:23

This program has been formatted into a total of five modules spread over forty days.

Commit to Success

Awaken Awareness

Sagacious Spending

Savvy Saving

Implement Investing

You can certainly start this program at any time; however, starting at a more psychologically significant time may help you to be more successful. In her article titled Making Changes During Lent¹ published on February 18, 2018, psychologist Dr. Stephanie Smith notes the following:

"But Lent gives us the perfect situation in which to make changes to our lives:

The things we give up are typically really specific—i.e., soda pop, Facebook or frozen yogurt (yes, these are all things I have given up over the years)

The 40+ day time frame is perfect for successful behavior change: It’s not so long that it drags out, but it is long enough to form new habits and routines

It comes at a great time of year when there isn’t much else going on—not too many distractions"

The goal is to teach you the skills you will need to improve your financial situation over time by developing healthy financial habits that will result in permanent lifestyle changes during the next forty days so that this program can be completed over Lent, which is the forty-day period from Ash Wednesday to Easter, not inclusive of Sundays. To truly be successful, you will want to incorporate these strategies on a continuous basis.

Depending on your current financial situation, it may take you longer to complete some of the activities. Remember, it is better to take your time to implement each step completely than to rush through them. If you have a firm awareness of your financial strengths and weaknesses and have a perfectly organized household already, you can skip the module titled Awaken Awareness (Days 2 to 10) and then complete the supplemental module Dive Deeper at the end. This final module provides an additional nine days of activities so that you can still cover the forty days of Lent using this alternative option."

Supplies Needed

Before you begin this program, you should gather the following basic supplies:

Pencils

Notebook

Calculator

Account Statements

A Positive Attitude

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¹ http://www.drstephaniesmith.com/making-changes-during-lent/

Commit to Succeed

Day 1

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

—Proverbs 15:22

Participating in a financial wellness program can be helpful whether you are trying to dig yourself out of debt or save for retirement. Perhaps you are already doing well financially but still feel that there is room for improvement.

Regardless of your reasons, improving your financial health requires dedication, hard work, and commitment. The basic concept is simple: much like counting calories to lose weight, increasing your sense of financial well-being starts with realizing that you need to spend less than you earn.

Once you get the hang of implementing this primary concept, you can move on to saving and investing to tone up your finances. However, like starting a new diet, implementing a new financial fitness program on your own can feel overwhelming at times.

It may on occasion be tempting to throw in the towel and give up, but just like hiring a personal trainer can help you achieve your physical fitness goals more efficiently, you may find that hiring a Certified Financial Planner professional can help you stay accountable and on track. We have put together a daily financial wellness program to help you get started, but ultimately, your success is up to you.

Once you have mentally committed to improve your financial health, write out your commitment goal. Then read it out loud to yourself and your family. It’s time to start becoming accountable!

Activity

In the space below write your financial commitment pledge. Make sure that it is specific enough to be measurable and achievable and it contains a deadline. It could be something as simple as the following examples:

I commit to be debt-free by the end of the year. or I commit to building a three-month emergency fund over the next twelve months.

I commit to:

List the people you read this commitment to:

Awaken Awareness

Day 2

Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

—Proverbs 24:27

Before you can really begin to make progress, you need to know where your money is going and where your weaknesses are so that you can target and address them. It is vital that you do not deceive yourself during this process, regardless of how desperate your spending habits are, you need to face them. As Aristotle wrote, Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

Go through all your financial records for at least the last three months (though reviewing a full twelve months will give a more accurate picture).

Total up what you have spent using the following categories: taxes (federal, state, local, property, employment, etc.), groceries, housing, insurance (health, life, auto, home, etc.), basic utilities (gas, electricity, water, and trash), medical (out of pocket costs beyond the insurance premium), transportation, student loan debt, consumer debt (any debt that was not already accounted for in another category), discretionary utilities (phone, cable, Internet, etc.), punitive fees (late payment, insufficient funds, overdrafts, etc.), and Junk I wanted (everything else).

Make sure to write down every purchase, even those made with cash. You may have a few gaps and need to estimate on some of the cash spending, so remember to round up when in doubt. It is better to overestimate expenses.

Activity

Record your spending totals for each category below:

Taxes: $

Groceries: $

Housing: $

Insurance: $

Basic Utilities: $

Medical: $

Transportation: $

Student Loan Debt: $

Consumer Debt: $

Discretionary Utilities: $

Punitive Fees: $

Junk I Wanted: $

Final Total: $

Day 3

Wisdom is a shelter as