As part of our 2025 New Year, New Financial Era Challenge, we posted 7 days of small actions you can take to save money and participate in financial activism.
With the increase in the frequency and severity of climate crises, it’s never been more important to vote with your dollar and make sure your spending aligns with your values, especially when it comes to giving money to companies who are actively harming the environment.
Money is one of the greatest tools we have to make our voices heard in this country, so even if these 7 steps don’t feel like they make a difference, every person who makes these small changes will help influence the culture at large.
Financial Revolution Checklist
Day 1: Go on an unsubscribe-spree!
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Unsubscribe from every single shopping email list (there are apps that can help you do this!) and take your cards off of IG, TikTok Shop, PayPal, Link, etc. so you aren’t tempted.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 1 video on Instagram.
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Day 2: Watch Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy on Netflix.
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Bonus: cancel your Amazon subscription and close any fast fashion accounts.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 2 video on Instagram.
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Day 3: Review and calculate your expenses from the past 6 months.
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Make two lists:
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1. Fixed Expenses (aka the bills you have to pay for every month).
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2. Variable Expenses (estimate the average amount you spend for each category – food, transportation, household goods, self-care products, etc.)
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Sign up for our 2025 New Year, New Financial Era Challenge to get free worksheets that will help you calculate your fixed and variable expenses quickly.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 3 video on Instagram.
Day 4: Make a “No Buy List.”
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Identify the things you spent too much money on over the past 6 months that you didn’t need and put them on a “no buy list.”
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Bonus: redirect a portion of that amount to your emergency savings with a monthly automatic transfer!
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 4 video on Instagram.
Day 5: Make a Financial Resilience List
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A Financial Resilience List is a list of things you can do when you feel the urge to shop/scroll TikTok or IG looking for things to buy. It can be anything that takes your mind off of wanting to spend.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 5 video on Instagram.
Day 6: Prioritize building emergency savings in a high-yield savings account.
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If you are trying to pay down debt, but you don’t yet have enough emergency savings to cover you for 3-6 months (or longer), make your savings a priority.
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Subtract your fixed and variable expenses (Day 3) from your monthly income to figure out how much you have left each month → Automatically transfer 70% to emergency fund and 30% to high-interest debt
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Bonus: Open a high yield savings account if you don’t already have one. Click here for a list of FinGym-Approved HYSA’s.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 6 video on Instagram.
Day 7: Plan your monthly or quarterly “fun money” treat.
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Give yourself a fun purchase either every month or every quarter. Make it a goal to spend time thinking about the purchase prior to buying so you know it’s something you really want and is aligned with your values.
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Click here to watch our Financial Revolution Day 7 video on Instagram.
You can find the full Financial Revolution Checklist here. Click on the checklist to download a PDF version to your phone for later!
If you participate in the 7 Days of Financial Revolution, post about it on Instagram and tag us @TheFinancialGym! We love to see the changes you all are making financially, plus it’s a great way to influence your friends and family to make a positive impact as well!
Ready to make 2025 the year you take your financial goals seriously and make an impact with your wallet?
It’s not too late to sign up for our 2025 New Year, New Financial Era Challenge and catch up on all the free workshops you’ll need to feel financially confident this year.
