Can you believe that we’re already halfway through the year? 😱 Seriously, where does the time go! June is the perfect month to refresh your finances and plan ahead for summer (and another very important time of year 🎅). Whether you’re aiming to save more, spend less, or pay down debt, setting focused money goals now can help you stay on track for the second half of the year. The messy middle is so real. It’s easy to give up on hard-to-achieve goals when we get to the “slog,” but it’s vital that we persevere and don’t give up. So let’s keep going with our money goals!
Here are 9 essential money goals to consider for June—and how to make them happen.
1. Refresh Your Monthly Budget
If you’ve been following along with my other Monthly Money Goals posts, you may have noticed that this one keeps repeating itself as being number one. That’s because it’s the most important goal. Our money changes all the time, so we’ve got to stay on top of managing our budgets if we’re going to succeed financially.
Take a few minutes to review your budget and make adjustments for seasonal changes. Think about increased utility costs, summer travel, or childcare expenses. A quick refresh now can prevent overspending later.
Action step: Adjust your categories and set new spending limits where needed. For more about managing and planning for summertime expenses, visit this blog post.
2. Review Last Month’s Spending
If you’ve never done a spending review before, now is the best time to do it. For many, we’re coming to the end of the school year and the beginning of summer. After the craziness of May and all things end-of-school-year, we have a tendency to put certain things on the back burner. And one of those things can be paying attention to where our money is going.
So, before setting June’s goals, look back at May’s spending. Identify what worked, what didn’t, and where your money really went.
Action step: Highlight subscriptions you don’t use, unnecessary fees, or categories that need trimming. This blog post provides a more in-depth guide to conducting a spending review.
3. Set a Realistic Savings Goal
This is another goal you’ll see repeated often, and that’s because saving money is a strategy. It’s not just a place we throw money at to build a big pile of it. It’s a strategy that has to change as circumstances and life change. Setting short-term savings goals keeps motivation high.
Try these ideas:
Save $250 toward vacation
Add $100 to your emergency fund
Start a “summer fun” sinking fund
- Start a “Christmas” sinking fund (seriously, Christmas is closer than you think!)
4. Plan for Summer Expenses
Weddings, road trips, and camps can sneak up on your wallet. Get ahead of them by listing out all known expenses. Then, research ways to lessen the burden of paying for these things.
Ideas on ways to save:
- Utilize apps like Upside to get cashback on fuel purchases.
- Use sites like Groupon to find the best deals for travel and summer fun.
- Use a Sinking Fund for “wedding” if you’re going to have to travel for the wedding, or especially if you or someone else in your household is in the wedding.
Action step: Add a “Summer Expenses” line item to your budget or create individual sinking funds.
5. Complete a Mini Money Challenge
I’m a huge fan of Weekly Money Moves (I share mine every Friday on Instagram) as they help keep us accountable and actionable. And there’s no better way to kickstart our progress (and to get out of the messy middle blues) than to do a quick mini money challenge.
Small wins can build big momentum. A short challenge adds a little excitement to your routine.
Challenge ideas:
Cash-Only Weekend: Leave the cards at home and carry only cash for the weekend.
Grocery Budget Reset: Do a pantry challenge. Avoid going to the grocery store as long as possible and use up everything you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry.
10-Minute Bank Audit: Dive deep into your finances and decide which expenses can be eliminated altogether, which ones can be temporarily put on hold, and which ones you can reduce.
6. Make an Extra Debt Payment
If you’ve read my book, Getting Good with Money, you know that my husband and I became debt-free “$5 at a time.” Or rather, that was our mindset—every time we had any extra money, which usually was around $5 because our budget was so tight, we would apply that extra $5 to the debt that we were working to pay off. We repeated this process over and over again, even as our budget gained more wiggle room.
The habit counts more than the dollars and cents. Small wins add up to big wins. Even a small additional payment can reduce your debt and change your mindset.
Action step: Pick one bill or loan and round up your payment. Use any leftover budget or side hustle income.
7. Automate One Thing
Now, I’m not a fan of automating everything regarding our finances because I think when we automate things too much, we allow ourselves to become complacent and lazy. But I do believe that automation can be helpful with some things. So, look over your finances – would it be helpful to you to automate $20 every paycheck to a specific sinking fund? Would it be helpful to automate an extra debt payment of $50 every paycheck to the biggest debt you have? Or do you have a bill that’s the same amount every month that you can automate payment for?
Start with: Auto-transfer to savings or schedule recurring bill payments.
8. Check Your Credit Report
It’s important to know what’s on your credit report even if you have excellent credit. And mid-year is a great time to check in on your credit. Catch errors early and see where you stand.
Action step: Visit AnnualCreditReport.com for a free report.
9. Revisit Your New Year’s Financial Goals
Remember those goals you set at the beginning of the year? Well, it’s time to look at them again. Are you on track? Do any of the goals need to be adjusted? Or do you need to remove any goals because they are not really ones that serve you and your family well? There’s nothing wrong with deciding that a goal is no longer applicable to your life or season.
Small tweaks in June can pay off by December.
Action step: Choose one milestone to reach by August 1 and write down the steps to get there.
June is more than just the start of summer—it’s a fresh financial checkpoint. ⚑ These small, strategic goals can help you feel more in control, reduce money stress, and set you up for a financially confident summer.
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