Finish the Year Strong with These 3 Money Tips

As we head into the final lap of 2025 I’m thinking about ways to set the tone for 2026, without falling into the trap of making rushed and unrealistic new year’s resolutions.

One of these is how we as women can be more intentional with our money, grow and invest it while juggling our many responsibilities. How we can jump over the money hurdles that weigh us down.

A few facts to consider:

· According to UN Women, women carry out at least two and a half times more unpaid household and care work than men.

· Depending on where in the world you live, this may include cooking and cleaning, or taking care of children and elderly relatives.

· And yet, when women do engage in paid work, we still earn 23% less than men on average.

Because so much of our time goes into responsibilities that are often unpaid, and because we earn less even when we are paid, we end up with fewer opportunities to engage in income-generating work. To compensate, many of us push ourselves beyond healthy limits, stretching working hours, and sidelining rest just to “make ends meet.”

This costs us in two ways: our energy and our money.

Three months to the end of 2025 seems like a good time to slowly start to tackle these practices as we head into 2026.

Here are three ways to lighten the load, protect your time, and strengthen your finances before the new year rolls in.

1. Audit your invisible labour
Think about all the “invisible” tasks you do every day. Cooking, washing, caregiving, organizing: work that keeps households running but rarely gets acknowledged. The more unpaid hours we give, the less time we have for earning money, planning our finances and even resting.

Decide what to stop, delegate, or get help with.

Decide what you can stop doing altogether.
Delegate or share responsibilities fairly with your partner, children, or extended family.
Invest in time-saving
Pay for help where possible and affordable.

· It might sound counterintuitive to “add” more income-earning work when you already feel overloaded. But this is where intentional saving and investing come in. By directing even small amounts into savings or investments, you can eventually buy back your time by hiring help, outsourcing tasks.

2. Make a “don’t list”
We often start a new season by writing down all the things we need to do. But sometimes the smartest money move is to do less.

This quarter, try writing a don’t list:a clear record of what you will NOT do. This could mean:

Don’t say yes to every social obligation event especially during the festive season
Don’t fall for the pressure of December impulse shopping.
Don’t stretch yourself thin by overcommitting at work, church, or in your community.

3. Try a 90-day money tracker experiment
Turn these last three months into a personal challenge to track your money consistently.

Instead of just tracking expenses, take a full picture approach. Use a spreadsheet or personal finance app to record all your money flows:

· Income: Note every source of money coming in: salary, bonuses, side hustles.

· Expenses: Track everything you spend, from the biggest bills like rent to the smallest such as parking fees or airtime.

· Assets: Do you even know what assets you own? Keep a record of money in savings and investments accounts, land. Ps your car is not an asset unless it is a taxi or Uber (conversation for another day).

· Debt: Document what you owe, including loans, and borrowing from family and friends.

Do this consistently for 90 days. Based on what you see, make decisions to prioritize debt repayment, increase your investments or spread them out to diversify and reduce your risk. Cut back on expenses on things that don’t serve you.

Tracking is simple but one of the most powerful financial habits you can build.

Hopefully by December, you’ll have: