How to Do a Monthly Financial Reset When Your Money Feels Out of Control

First... Breathe.

I know that the nature of your current financial position may come with a sense of shame and feelings of overwhelm.

You may have made financial decisions that felt good in the moment but ultimately moved you further from your goals, leaving you wondering whether you'll ever get back on track. But acknowledging your current reality, and having the desire to change it, makes you the perfect candidate for a Financial Reset.

This is your opportunity to choose to start again. And this time, you're moving with intentionality, developing discipline, and accepting accountability for your financial decisions.

That's where change can begin. It's time to Steward Well

What Is a Financial Reset?

At Steward Well Advisory Group, we define a Financial Reset as the intentional decision to assess where you are financially, take accountability for what brought you there, and make disciplined decisions that move you toward where you want to be. It doesn't require you to have everything figured out. In fact, the entire purpose of the reset is to stop, assess what's happening with your money, and determine what needs to happen next. 

The first step toward better financial stewardship is awareness. You have to know where you are before you can decide where you're going.

1. Awareness: Know Where You Are

Avoiding your finances won't fix them. You cannot make an informed financial decision based on numbers you haven't looked at. You may know how much money you're bringing in and how much money is going out, but understanding your finances also means knowing where the money is actually going.

• Did it go toward eating out?
• Was your grocery bill higher than usual this month?
• Were all of your fixed expenses covered?
• What periodic expenses came out of this month's income that you may not have to worry about next month?
• Did you add to your debt?
• Did you make progress toward your savings goals?

Pull your recent bank and credit-card transactions and actually review them. Categorize your spending and look for patterns.

But here's something important: don't automatically assume that high spending means bad spending.

Maybe your grocery spending increased because your realistic grocery budget needs to be higher. Maybe an annual subscription renewed. Maybe your car needed an unexpected repair. Or maybe, after reviewing your transactions, you realize that eating out, shopping, or another discretionary category received significantly more of your income than you intended.

Ask yourself:

Was this spending necessary? Was it unusual? Is it recurring? Did I underbudget for this category? Is there room to realistically reduce it?

The goal isn't simply to criticize what you spent. The goal is to understand the story your transactions are telling you. Once you understand where your money is currently going, you can begin deciding where you need it to go in the future.

2. Set Financial Goals: Decide Where You're Going

An important part of moving forward in your financial stewardship journey is developing financial goals. But make sure you're creating a financial goal, not simply making a financial wish.

A financial wish is a statement that lacks clarity and measurable direction.

For example:

“I want to save money.”

That's a financial wish.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to save money, but how much are you trying to save? What are you saving for? When do you want to accomplish it?

A financial goal should be S.M.A.R.T.:

Specific. Measurable. Achievable. Relevant. Time-Bound.

Instead of saying:

“I want to save money,”

your goal could be:

“I will save $1,000 in my emergency fund by December 31.”

Now you have a specific amount, a purpose, and a deadline. But this is where the awareness you developed during your Financial Reset becomes important.

Let's say there are three months remaining until your deadline. After reviewing your income and necessary expenses, you determine that you currently have about $250 available each month.

$250 × 3 months = $750.

Based on your current income and expenses alone, saving $1,000 within that timeframe may not be realistic. That doesn't mean you abandon the goal. You have options.

You might adjust the amount and aim for $500 by December 31. You could extend the deadline. You may identify spending that can reasonably be redirected toward the goal. Or you may decide to pursue additional income to make up the difference. Adjusting the plan doesn't mean abandoning the goal. Your financial goals should challenge you, but they should also be grounded in the reality of your finances.

Now that you know where you are and where you're trying to go, you need a plan to connect the two.

3. Create a Realistic Monthly and Payday Budget

The key to building a budget that you can stick to is including your real numbers, not the numbers you want to see.

To create a solid monthly budget, begin by accounting for all of the income you expect to receive during the month. This may include income from your job, side hustles, business income, support or aid, and other sources.

Next, list your fixed expenses, variable expenses, and any periodic expenses you expect during the month, such as birthday gifts, holiday spending, annual fees, car maintenance, or other irregular costs.

Your monthly budget gives you the big picture of your expected inflows and outflows for the entire month.

Your payday budget, however, tells each individual paycheck what it needs to accomplish.

For example, if you're paid on the 7th and won't be paid again until the 21st, your payday budget for the 7th should account for the expenses that need to be covered between the 7th and the 20th.

But don't stop with your bills. Go back to the financial goals you established earlier. If you're working toward an emergency fund, paying down debt, building a sinking fund, or accomplishing another financial goal, determine what portion of your available income can realistically be assigned toward that goal.

Your financial goals shouldn't exist separately from your budget. Your budget is how you begin funding them. A budget isn't simply a list of bills. It gives your money direction and an assignment.

4. Use the Stewardship Decision Filter™ Before You Spend

Creating the budget is one thing. Following it when you're actually making financial decisions is another. Before making a purchase, develop the habit of putting that decision through a filter.

At S.W.A.G., I call this the Stewardship Decision Filter™.

Before spending, ask yourself:

• Is this a need or a want?
• Does this purchase align with my financial goals?
• Did I plan for this expense?
• Will this purchase move me closer to, or further from, financial freedom?
• Would making this purchase demonstrate good stewardship over the resources I have?

If you find that a purchase isn't a need, wasn't planned for, and doesn't align with your financial goals, it may be something you choose to postpone until it makes more sense within your budget. But understand this: a want isn't automatically a bad purchase.

If the purchase fits within your budget, your necessary expenses and financial priorities have been addressed, and you've intentionally planned for it, enjoy it. The Stewardship Decision Filter™ isn't intended to leave you standing in the checkout line for 15 minutes trying to decide whether you're allowed to buy a candy bar. The goal is to develop a habit of intentional decision-making.

As you become more familiar with using the filter, asking these questions should become a natural part of how you approach spending.

5. Review, Adjust, and Reset

Your Financial Reset doesn't end when you create the budget. At the end of the month, come back and review what actually happened.

• Did you follow your budget?
• Where did you overspend?
• Where did you spend less than expected?
• Did you make progress toward your financial goals?
• Did an unexpected or periodic expense appear that you need to prepare for in the future?
• Was your budget actually realistic?
• What worked?
• What didn't?

And most importantly: What needs to change next month?

Sometimes your review will reveal a spending behavior that needs to change. Other times, it will reveal that the budget itself needs to change. If you consistently budget $200 for groceries but your necessary grocery spending is closer to $250, the lesson may not be that you “failed” your budget. Your budget may simply need to reflect the reality of what groceries currently cost you.

The purpose of reviewing your finances isn't to force reality to match the numbers you wrote at the beginning of the month. It's to use what actually happened to make a more informed plan for what happens next.

A Financial Reset Isn't a Punishment

Financial accountability and financial shame are not the same thing.

You can acknowledge that you overspent without deciding that you're terrible with money. You can admit that you made a financial decision you shouldn't have made without believing that you'll never reach your goals. You can miss a savings goal and still determine why you missed it, adjust the plan, and keep moving forward.

A Financial Reset isn't about punishing yourself for what happened last month. It's about learning from it. Accountability asks you to acknowledge your decisions and their consequences. Stewardship asks you to use that information to make better decisions moving forward.

The numbers aren't there to shame you. They're there to inform you.

Your Next Month Doesn't Have to Look Like Your Last One

Maybe last month didn't go according to plan. Maybe you overspent. Maybe you didn't save what you intended. Maybe your debt balance didn't decrease as much as you hoped. Maybe life happened and your carefully planned budget went completely out the window. You cannot change the financial decisions you've already made, but you can decide what happens next.

Review the numbers. Identify the patterns. Set realistic goals. Build a budget around your actual finances. Make intentional spending decisions. Then come back at the end of the month and do it again.

Financial stewardship isn't about achieving perfection. It's about developing the awareness, accountability, intentionality, and discipline to continue making better decisions with the resources in your hands.

Your next month doesn't have to look like your last one. You can reset. And you can Steward Well.

Ready to Complete Your Own Financial Reset?

The S.W.A.G. Financial Reset Dashboard was created to help you put this process into practice.

Use the Dashboard to bring your income, expenses, debt, and savings together in one place so you can understand where you are, track your progress, identify where adjustments may be needed, and make informed decisions about where you're going next.

Know your numbers. Make your plan. Steward Well.

Explore the S.W.A.G. Financial Reset Dashboard →