GRIT in Integrity (and money management)

Shauna Barfuss, Empowering Financial Wellness Program Coordinator

​Have you ever noticed the word GRIT is in the word INTEGRITY?  It’s kind of crazy to me, I have written the word integrity countless times, but not until recently when a friend & coach pointed it out, did I realize that integrity contains GRIT! GRIT...mental toughness and courage, as Mirriam-Webster defines it. 
 
Since that moment, I have pondered on and appreciated this thought a lot: my money management integrity takes GRIT!  To look even closer... how about we dive into the word GRIT focusing on the letter R! It takes GRIT to: 

---

​Reflect, by taking an honest look at what expenditures we have been making, and realizing what were the real reasons behind making those purchases? Was it an emergency, need, or want? How did foreseeing making purchases make us feel? Relief? Robust? Realm of peace? 
 
Respond, without judgement to the reflection and return to the present. 
 
Reset and Regulate A great way to do this is to *automate or regulate our income into separate accounts.  By making a separate automatic savings payment to ourselves (even if it’s a small amount) every month, we will start to really raise our money management confidence!
 
Refocus We can do this by setting aside a personal allowance for ourselves. We can decide on an amount of money (once again, it can be just a small amount) that we can *feasibly spend on ourselves after our bills and savings are paid. This is the money to help us refocus, recreate, relax, or take a rest (like going out to dinner, buying yourself a treat, going with a loved one to the movie, or other entertainment!).  A great tip is to take this money out in cash every month and when it’s gone, it’s gone and we won’t be tempted to spend more, but we can enjoy the relief that we did self-care and we are worth it! 
 
Recover with our Resource *Download the PowerPay App in the app store or use www.powerpay.org. It is a free resource where we can enter in all debts and see how long it will take to pay off those debts by choosing either highest balance first, lowest term first, or some other options that you can choose! It will also show you the difference with or without power payments and explain what a power payment is!