Finishing Well — Preparing for 2026 (Part 2)

Last week, you took time to look back at 2025 with honesty and intention. You reviewed where your money actually went, noticed patterns you may not have seen before, identified emotional triggers that shaped decisions, celebrated progress, and recognized God’s provision in ways that may have surprised you. That kind of reflection is not always comfortable, but it is essential. It is the beginning of wisdom and the foundation of faithful stewardship.

Now, the focus shifts.

Stewardship is never passive or accidental. It requires intention and clarity. It asks us to move beyond simply observing what happened and begin discerning what it means. It calls us to align our financial lives not with habit, pressure, or comparison, but with the values God has placed in our hearts.

As you prepare to step into 2026, this is an invitation to slow down and seek direction. Not to rush into resolutions or react to last year’s mistakes, but to thoughtfully consider what needs to change and what needs to be strengthened. This moment is about choosing a path forward with wisdom, faith, and intention.

💡 This Week’s Focus: Turning Insight Into Intention

Awareness on its own does not create change. What you do with what you’ve learned is what matters.

This focus is about taking the insights you uncovered from last year and allowing them to shape your direction moving forward. It is the bridge between reflection and action — the space where you decide what stays, what goes, and what needs to be rebuilt.

This week, you are discerning:

• What financial priorities truly matter in the season ahead

• Where change is needed based on what last year revealed

• Which habits are no longer serving you and need to be released

• Which habits are worth building to support greater peace and faithfulness

• What financial stewardship should look like as you move forward with intention

This is not about creating a long list of resolutions or trying to fix everything at once. It is about focusing on what matters most and making thoughtful, prayerful decisions that reflect wisdom, alignment, and trust in God.

📖 Verse of the Week

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.”
— Proverbs 21:5 (ESV)

Faithful planning, done with patience and intention, produces stability and fruit over time.

Turning Reflection Into Clear Direction

Last week helped you see what happened.
This section helps you decide what to do about it.
You are not fixing everything at once. You are choosing your next faithful steps.

1. What Needs to Stop

Look back at your spending and pay attention to the places where stress, regret, or frustration showed up consistently. These are often the habits that quietly worked against your goals, even if they felt small in the moment.

Common examples include:

• Buying breakfast or lunch out most workdays without planning for it

• Relying on convenience spending when tired, rushed, or overwhelmed

• Paying for subscriptions that are rarely used or easily forgotten

• Making online impulse purchases late at night or during downtime

• Saying yes to frequent small expenses that slowly erode margin

These habits don’t mean you failed. They simply reveal areas where intention was missing.

Stopping is not about restriction or punishment.
It is about removing patterns that drain peace, margin, and forward progress — so your money can support what actually matters most.

2. What Needs to Begin

Stewardship grows through small, consistent actions, not big overhauls or bursts of motivation.

The goal here is to build habits that make wise decisions easier and more automatic over time.

Helpful habits to begin include:

• Using a budget consistently, even a simple one, so you are telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went

• Setting aside 10–15 minutes weekly or monthly for a money check-in to review spending, upcoming bills, and account balances

• Automating saving and investing so progress continues without relying on memory or willpower

• Planning meals a few days ahead to reduce last-minute food spending and decision fatigue

• Creating a plan for larger purchases instead of relying on credit or impulse decisions

• Pausing before non-essential purchases to create space between emotion and action

You are not aiming for perfection.
You are building consistency — and consistency is what turns good intentions into lasting progress.

3. Is This a Spending Problem or an Income Problem?

This distinction matters.

A spending problem often shows up as impulse purchases, overspending in certain categories, or feeling surprised by balances at the end of the month. The solution is usually structure, boundaries, and awareness.

Practical steps for a spending problem:

• Cancel or downgrade unused subscriptions

• Set simple spending limits in problem categories

• Reduce convenience spending like daily coffee or eating out

• Plan meals to lower food costs

• Call service providers (internet, cable, phone, insurance) and negotiate a better rate

• Create a short pause before non-essential purchases

An income problem often shows up as no margin even with disciplined spending. The solution may involve increasing income.

Practical steps for an income problem:

• Ask about overtime or additional hours

• Take on temporary or seasonal work

• Use a skill you already have for freelance or side income

• Explore opportunities within your current role for advancement or pay increases

• Identify work that fits your current season without burning you out

Many households experience both at different times.
Clarity helps you choose the right strategy.

4. Narrow Your Focus

Do not try to fix everything at once. That approach usually leads to frustration, not progress.

Instead, choose one or two changes that would make the biggest difference in your daily life right now. These should be the areas that create the most stress, drain the most margin, or would bring the greatest sense of relief if addressed.

Focused action builds momentum.
Momentum builds confidence.
And confidence makes it easier to keep going.

🎯 Weekly Challenge

Write down:

• One habit you will stop in the new year

• One habit you will begin to build

Keep this list somewhere visible — it becomes the foundation for next week’s planning.

💬 Reflection Questions

1. What is God highlighting as the most important financial focus for 2026?

2. Which habits held me back in 2025 — and which ones helped me grow?

3. What would financial faithfulness look like for me in the coming year?

📢 What’s Coming Next

Next week, in Part 3, we will build your 2026 Financial Plan — turning your priorities into a simple, achievable roadmap that reflects wisdom, stewardship, and faith.

You’re not just planning a year.
You’re shaping a legacy of faith and stewardship.

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Blessings and financial peace to you!