4 steps to get money fit in just 20 minutes a week

It can be easy to get overwhelmed with big plans especially when money is involved. The good news is you can fix this without any money knowledge and it takes next to no time. If you can block out 20 minutes of your weekly schedule, you will be money fit and back in control, shares finance expert and money coach James Millard.

Here are four easy weekly steps you can take to find your money fitness.

Spend just 5 minutes on each of these to overhaul and master your personal finances:

Start your money buffer

Take 2 minutes to review what you’ve spent your money on this week. As boring and sometimes depressing as it sounds, this step is vital. It ensures you become inherently conscious of what’s going out. Be aware of your regular “outs” and take notice of the extras you’ve spent.

Secondly, and this is more of a one-off, work with your pay cycle and find a manageable amount to put away each period. Have this direct debited the day you get paid and sent to a separate account with a strong interest rate and NO CARD ACCESS. If in Australia, Google “high-interest savings accounts” and set the filter to match your needs. Look for bonus interest payable for regular contributions. Use your extra three  minutes to tweak this and increase where possible.

Keeping up to date with money matters is as easy as reading one article or blog per week.

Automate this by having the articles delivered to you so you don’t waste time searching for them weekly. Ideally you’re getting various newsletters sent to your inbox regularly. If you’re more likely to be found on the socials, follow some money bloggers there too (we’re @roadtosufficient on Insta).

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Simplify your money

This is no joke. Most of our inability to take action in life comes from being disorganised and having a bunch of crap get in the way right when you’re ready to leap. Life’s better when your finances are fully decluttered.

Get off the couch and get money fit by doing one or two of these each week:

• Automate your bills
• Make sure bills are emailed not posted
• Turf all the paper and scan the important things using Evernote
• Close unnecessary bank accounts
• Consolidate debts
• Consolidate super
• Automate your savings
• Review insurance policies
• Review bank statements for unnecessary memberships or subscriptions you no longer use – we did this recently and saved $180/month!

Chip away at your long-term plan

If you want to remain money fit, then you need to be working towards something important. I tell my clients all the time, there is no point having money if you don’t have a motivating plan of action to use it. This could be retiring at 40, starting a business, buying the dream car or home, or taking a month in Spain (definitely on our list) – just make sure it’s your plan not someone else’s.

It’s vital that your big plans are broken down into smaller bite-size pieces that you can work on regularly. Spend 5 minutes a week visualising the plan and reviewing your list.

If you haven’t written your plan down yet, then read this now, and don’t do anything else until you’ve made the list! Finally, speak to a professional if you want to get rolling on your bigger plans and don’t know where to start.

This article was updated on February 10 2025.

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