How do I know if I'm on track?
<div class="user-question">Hi Frich! I want to start being more intentional about my money. I've heard on social media that it's important to do regular money check ins. What should those look like? What should I review and keep an eye on?</div>
Hey there! Such a great question. This is such a good moment to take a look at your finances & course correct before the summer begins.
If you want to follow our guide & do your own money pulse check, put aside 30-45minutes, get some snacks and let's get into it!
⭐️ What are your 2026 goals?
Before we get into it, try to remember what you wrote down as your 2026 goals (if any). We want to make sure that how you spend money each day aligns with those goals.
If you didn't write any 2026 goals, take a moment to think what you want to achieve this year financially. These don't have to be only money related; your goal might be:
- Go on a solo trip
- Pay off my credit card debt
- Start contributing to a local non-profit
- Take an online course
- Furnish my new apartment
- Start my own business
Okay, now that you have those, let's see how your spending aligns with your values!
1️⃣ What's my basic pulse check?
Almost four full months have passed since the beginning of the year. Now is a good moment to take a quick look to confirm where your money actually went. Pull up your Jan - April statements and ask yourself these questions:
- Did I spend more than I make?
- Did I save anything?
This is your baseline & is already a pretty strong wakeup call.
2️⃣ Where did my money go?
Next, you want to take a look if there are any sneaky expenses that don't align with your goals.
If you feel comfortable doing it, upload your bank statements to an LLM of your choice and ask it to categorize your spendings by category.
<div class="frich-tip">My prompt: Upload your statements (remove any personal information you don't want out there) & ask this "Analyze my transactions so far this year. Divide by category of spending and show me my breakdown."</div>
Are there any categories that jump out where you spent way more than you expected?
Now is a good time to notice this & course correct.
Here you can see mine for comparison. The first few months of 2026 have been very travel heavy so my travel & dining out expenses while traveling have been through the roof. I'll definitely be scaling these back now that a big chunk of my travel is over. (I'll spare you the embarrassing details of the actual amount 😅)
Personally, one of my goals in 2026 was to go to more live concerts. So, for the rest of 2026, I'll be shifting some of my dining out budget to entertainment.
Take a look at your breakdown and see if it aligns with what you value the most. Money is meant to be enjoyed so make sure you spend it on things that bring you the most joy!
3️⃣ Now actually take action
Ask your LLM to pull out your subscriptions and bills.
<div class="frich-tip">My prompt: Upload your statements (remove any personal information you don't want out there) & ask this "Do I have any repeating subscriptions / bills that can be negotiated?"</div>
- Are there any subscriptions that you don't even recognize? Cancel.
- Are there any bills that seem too expensive? Call & negotiate.
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: Take a look at your monthly bills. Are you paying for services that you don't even use? If so, take just a few minutes to switch to Metro by T-Mobile online and decrease your monthly phone bill to only $20/ month. This one action will add up to serious savings you can put in your emergency fund instead. </div>
4️⃣ Future you
You're employed and have a steady salary. That means that your finances are quite easy to automate. If you make 87K, here's what we'd suggest you put as your goal:
- Max out your 401(k)
- In 2026 the limit is $23,000
- By now, you should have approximately $5,500-$6,000 put aside in your 401(k)
- If your employer matches contributions, don't miss out on those
- Set money aside for your Roth IRA
- In 2026, the limit is $7,000
- By now, you should have approximately $1,750 set aside for that
Honestly, these should be your baseline non-negotiables. This is money that you can invest for future you AND, by doing that, decrease your tax bill next year.
Calculate these numbers for yourself and automate monthly transfers so you never miss them.
5️⃣ Rainy-day you
Ok now back to the first question - did you spend more than you made?
Your ideal answer should be: I got my paycheck, set aside $1,900/month for my 401(K), $580 for my Roth IRA and ideally had something left to put in my savings account. Because stuff happens. And you don't want that to completely derail you.
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: Fully maxing out your 401(k) is a very financially aggressive move for your situation. If you can do it - great. If not - that's fine too! But you do want to make sure you have some money to put aside each month for your emergency fund. This should cover at least 3 months of living expenses. Keep the money in a HYSA like this one.</div>
6️⃣ Your debts
How are your debts doing?
- Are you making consistent payments on any loans you have?
- Are you adding to your debts?
- How is your credit score doing?
<div class="frich-tip">Frich tip: Kikoff helps you build credit safely & easily with affordable monthly plans designed to quickly improve key credit factors, you could jump +25 points within the first month*. Sign up in minutes with no credit check, no interest, & no hidden fees.</div>
Found this valuable? Here are some more deep dives from the Frich team 🤝
✅ Your guide to negotiating bills
✅ Is student loan refinancing legit?
Phew that was a lot but you did it!! Let us know how your recap goes & we'll be back for Q2.
Aleksandra & Katrin
