Sign up below for The Clarity Project to get a year’s worth of e-mails with tips and resources for your money.
Our life is frittered away by detail. … simplify, simplify.
-Henry David Thoreau, Walden
2020: The Clarity Project
This year will be a series of weekly posts to help you simplify and get organized with your money.
Of course the number 2020 implies clarity (20/20 vision). And my coaching practice, Clarus Money Coaching, begins with Clarus, the Latin word for clarity. Yay for a word doing double duty!
Each month will have a one-word theme, such as SAVE, or TAXES. (For those who are fellow English majors: yes, some are verbs and some are nouns, which hurts my heart a little, but it is what works.) By the end of the year, you should have a better handle on your money and achieved some goals related to money.
I plan to send out e-mails approximately every week to a blog post with suggested to-dos, money mindset tips, and helpful resources. You can sign up to get on the e-mail list here:
How The Year of Clarity Works
Some of the to-dos will be very basic–and some are more advanced–when it comes to money. But I hope that everyone will be able to do something—actually a lot of somethings—to simplify and get more organized with money. That way, when looking back in December, we will see a lot of progress and a lot of clarity.
I plan to tackle (or re-tackle) all of these themes myself, and I will keep you posted on my progress.
The Monthly Themes
January: SAVE
Week 1: An Emergency Fund=Priceless
Week 2: Check Your Retirement Savings
Week 3: Open Multiple “Money Funds”
Week 4: Calculate Your Savings Rate–and Increase by 1 Percent
February: TAXES
Week 5: Get an IRS Identity Protection PIN
Week 6: Gather What You Need for 2019 Taxes
Week 7: File Your Taxes (Early)
Week 8: Do a Paycheck “Check-up”
March: GIVE
Week 9: Learn Why It is Good to Give
Week 10: The Payoff of Giving with Intention
Week 11: Set Up Online Giving for Your Church or Other Charity
Week 12: Consider Opening a Donor-Advised Fund
April: FUTURE
Week 13: Create a List of 100 Dreams
Week 14: Plan a Money Health Day
Week 15: Four Ideas for Your CARES Act Stimulus Money
Week 16: Teach Your Children Well (about money)
May: HEALTH
Week 17: The Big Things Matter Most (but the little things matter, too)
Week 18: Simple Ways to Increase Your Emergency Fund
Week 19: Have a No-Spend Week (during a pandemic)
Week 20: Mind Your Money Mindset (by cultivating a “growth mindset.”)
June: KIDS
July: DEBT
August: CREDIT
September: GOALS
October: WORK
November: DEATH
December: LOVE
Coaching Openings Later this Year
Later in the first half of 2020, I will be accepting new clients for coaching. I will let you know when that happens.
I truly enjoy and get a lot of energy from working with individual clients and couples.
Your Ideas & Questions
I invite your suggestions and feedback of any topics you would like clarity on. You can comment here with any topics, and I will work to incorporate them into one or more of the monthly themes.
Remember, you’re doing well with your money, and you can do better.
–Nancy Piccione (Your Money Mom)
English major note alert: I actually don’t love the longer quote that is from above associated with Henry David Thoreau, but the shorter quote is pretty spot-on in how getting organized and simplifying allows for clarity.
Here is the full text of Walden online for free at Project Gutenberg—you can search “simplify, simplify” to find the entire long paragraph.
If you’ve never read Walden, here is a well-designed (and suprisingly faithful) graphic novel version of it.
