007. Starting 2026 with a clear financial plan

Hello Wealth Builder,

Welcome back to your favorite personal finance blog: Money Diaries.

Today we are going to talk about: 2026 Financial Plan.

Even before we start 2026, it is a winning strategy to know in advance how we want this year to be.

And I mean, specifically, in numbers. Saying "I want to earn more" or "I want to invest" is too generic and hard to implement. 

Here is your blueprint to launch 2026 as the strongest and clearest Financial Year you have ever had.

1. Define your top 3 financial priorities

   Yes, only 3. Too  many priorities mean no priorities. Think and choose, what are the 3 aspects you want to focus on 2026. Examples of options could be:
   • Save an Emergency Fund 
   • Pay off your car loan
   • Invest every month
   • Assign budget for fitness activities

2. Set a number for each priority

   Now that you have clarity on your top 3 financial priorities, assign them a number. For example:

   • Save an Emergency Fund of 3 months of expenses (e.g. 6,000 EUR if your expenses per month are 2,000 EUR)
   • Pay off your car loan (insert here the remaining amount of the debt for your car)
   • Invest every month (define a fixed amount you want to invest, let´s say 100 EUR per month)
   • Assign budget for fitness activities (according to the activity you want to do, go to the gym, attend pilates classes, assign a number according to the activity you selected, maybe 50 EUR per month)

3. Create your Action Plan: your baseline budget

   Your baseline budget is your north star. It is breaking down where you intentionally want your money to go. If it is to investments, savings, expenses. Your budget will enable you to prepare the plan so when the moment comes to execute, you already know what to do.

   If you do not have a budget yet, it is a great moment to prepare it. You can use the Monthly Budget Template to have a guide on what to do. It is an excel template that I personally use to monitor and control my money. In this template you can make your 12 month plan, set annual targets for income, savings, investments and expenses and monitor your monthly expenses. If you do not know your normal monthly expenses, have a look at your 3 last months of your bank statements and group the expenses by category. Then you will know how much you normally spend on each category like food, rent, transportation, leisure, etc. You can always adjust your expenses at your best convenience to hit the priorities you set in the previous step of this article.

4. Execute the Plan

   Once you have your base line budget for the whole 2026, you literally only have to execute it. Follow the plan every single month. It is easier to hit your targets if you have a plan to follow.

5. Prepare for deviations

   "Shoot for the moon so you can land on the stars." - Unknown.  Your base line budget is just the start. But life happens and unexpected expenses come up. You need to know that there will be deviations vs your baseline budget and that you will be updating your budget along the year once you have more information coming in. This is OK. Always adjusting and enabling that your targets get done.

Next year, I wish you a great financial year achieving the financial stability and kicking off your wealth creation.

Women with money are women with choices, options and power. Give yourself the choices, options and power through personal finance education. It is truly liberating.

 See you in the next blog post.

Dolores Gavino

Female Wealth Builders Founder 

If you are ready to start your Budget, here is the Budget template I prepared for you Monthly Budget Template

If you want to have The roadmap to Financial Freedom, you can download for free The Checklist to Financial Freedom

And if you are ready to start investing and enroll in the 1:1 Coaching Program Saver to Investor, you can enroll here From Saver to Investor 1:1 Coaching Program