5-Minute Money Check-In: The Daily Habit Nobody Does (But Should)

If someone ever asked me what’s the best thing they could do to improve their financial situation, I would talk to them about this one tiny money habit.

It was the one habit that I noticed people with stable finances had while I was working in a bank for a decade. As a bank branch manager I also talked to many people about their financial habits and this “one thing” was always present in one way or another.

And it is the one thing almost everyone around me skips doing which is a big money mistake.

In this post I will walk you through creating the habit of a 5-minute money check-in that could completely change the way you manage your money. You will not have to do any spreadsheets, you won’t need a pen and paper, there are no calculations needed, no transfers or boring categorisation.

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5-Minute Money Check-in Habit

Years ago, before using cards was popular (or before they even existed), people would go shopping and, just in case, would check how much money they had in their wallets before entering the shop. They would remember the amount they had, and their minds would do a brief calculation and give them a warning – “This” is how much you have, and “this” is how much you are allowed (or advised) to spend.

The 5-minute check-in is a daily habit of glancing at your bank account for a few seconds, registering (in your mind) how much money you have there, and moving on with your life. It is the modern version of what we used to do in the past.

I call it the 5-minute check-in, but honestly, after the first week it takes just seconds. The “5 minutes'” is your maximum, not your target.

The psychology of NOT checking your bank account daily

You see…

You spend virtual money most of the time. I bet you rarely withdraw anything from an ATM nowadays. It’s just so much more convenient to swipe your card, or even tap it on the card reader.

Convenient. Easy. To spend.

You got it, right?

Banks and financial institutions don’t create products with the idea of making your life easier. If you have lived in that bubble until now, it’s time to pop it and let it go. The “easier for you” idea is just the comfortable point of view, the angle they sell it through.

Swiping, tapping and blinking at the card reader to pay for something only makes the “payment” seem like a fraction of a second – unnoticeable, insignificant, and too easy to ignore.

But is it?

Because that tap doesn’t care if you’ve spent £10 or £680. It is equally easy for the device and for you… only the end result in your bank account is different.

But you won’t notice it, because it is expected that you don’t check it too often. And things we don’t check regularly are things we lose track of. You don’t want to lose track of your money. That’s how you slowly lose control of your finances.

The psychology of ACTUALLY checking your bank account daily

I will explain it to you the way I understand it – knowing how much you have in your bank account makes you money-aware.

Money awareness keeps you grounded while shopping, allows you to think ahead when spending money online, subscribing to apps and deciding if you want to keep an expense active or not.

So… What if you decide to develop that habit of checking your accounts daily?

I mean, if your manager could blab nonsense for 5 minutes every morning, I’m sure you can spare five additional seconds of each morning for your bank accounts.

It would mean you know how much money you start your day with. You will know if something got paid between yesterday morning and now.

You will notice if there is less money than expected.

You will start feeling the weight of your money in your mind. You will slowly start noticing prices and valuing things differently. You will think twice before you reach for your card or phone to pay.

And it will be just like the old times, when people knew how much money they had and how much they could comfortably afford to spend.

How to do the 5-minute money check-in

Here is the whole routine. Don’t blink, you might miss it.

Open your banking app while making your coffee or while your kettle is doing its noisy thing.

• Look at your balance.
• Scan yesterday’s transactions. You are not analysing anything. You are only checking if you recognise everything there. A quick “Yes, that was me,” for each line. If you know a bill is coming out soon, take note of it. That’s it.
• Close the app.
• Go live your life.

The first few times it might take you the full five minutes, but after a week it will take just seconds because you will know where to look, what to expect, and your brain will fly through the numbers much more quickly.

What Not to do

These are the silent traps you might fall into. Don’t!

• Don’t categorise anything. It isn’t the time for that. You aren’t budgeting.
• Don’t give up on checking just because you think your balance will be the same for the next few days. That’s how you will lose the habit, and honestly, you might be surprised to find out that something did get paid after all.
• Don’t get emotional about it. I know, sometimes our accounts show numbers that upset us and so we avoid looking at them. But the 5-minute check-in isn’t a reminder of how bad your salary is. It’s simply a practical habit that helps you keep track of where you stand financially.

How to know it is working?

Firstly, you will notice that nothing surprises you. Everything that comes out of your account is something you know about – bills, payments, and so on.

Secondly, you will remind yourself how much money you have in your bank account every time you enter a shop (whether physical or virtual).

And lastly, you will feel confident about your financial decisions, new subscriptions, and purchases because you will know how each financial decision will affect your bank account.

Before You Go

I vividly remember a businessman I used to work with in the bank who absolutely shocked me with how well he knew exactly how much money he had.

He asked me about his balance, and I said it out loud for him, but didn’t mention the cents. He corrected me and added the cents himself. He knew exactly how much he had and was just double checking it with me.

It shocked me because I had nowhere near as much money as he did, yet I couldn’t have told you the exact balance in my account. He, on the other hand, had well into six figures sitting in the bank and still knew it down to the last penny. Too much? I don’t think so.

Money awareness starts as a habit, but it becomes a skill that attracts more good money habits along the way. And if you learn that one tiny skill, maybe you will try one of these five bare-minimum budgeting methods for busy people, and maybe you will become just a bit better with your money… until one day you realise you’re good with money.