Feeling Lost Heading Into January?

Speaker A00:00:27

Does getting ready for the New Year feel overwhelming? Too much to do, not enough time, and somehow the mental load feels heavier than that actual to do list.Friend, I want you to hear me gently when life feels chaotic, order becomes oxygen because we need oxygen to breathe and you need order in your life to keep your peace. A short checklist today beats a long apology in January. You don't need to do everything. You just need to do the right things.Because a Focus 5 beats a frantic 50 every day. And I've got your Focus 5 on today's show. Friend Ralph Estepp Jr. Here.Welcome to Financially Confident Christian, where we learn how to walk through life and walk through money with wisdom, with clarity, and with a heart anchored in God's truth.My mission is pretty simple here to help you break that cycle of financial shame and build steady habits rooted in faith and walk in peace that God promises you for your financial life. If you're new here, welcome home. And if you're returning, hey, I'm grateful you came back.Today is December 30th, which feels like time is tight, but the opportunity is powerful. This is the moment to quiet the noise, to simplify the overwhelm, and to finish the year with calm and confidence.So let's take a breath together and focus on a few things that truly matter. A listener wrote and said, ralph, I feel completely swamped trying to get ready for the new year. There's too much to do and not enough time.What are the essentials I should finish today? Friend, I get it. End of the year overwhelm is real. I'm feeling it myself. But clarity is closer than you think.When your list feels long, your mind starts spinning. I feel this too, when I'm staring at a mountain of tasks and trying to figure out where to begin. You just don't know what to prioritize.You don't know what actually matters. You don't know where to start. But listen to me. Your brain relaxes the moment your plan gets externalized.Order doesn't just organize your life, it calms your spirit. Research tells us this. People who use a short written plan follow through dramatically more than those who keep everything in their head.My grandfather always just said, write it down. And I love this simple truth. What's on paper gets done. What's in the air disappears. Your brain wants certainty, your spirit wants peace.And a checklist gives you both. For decades, I've ended every year with the same five step plan. Automate, ensure, declutter, and confirm.And I've proven this client after Client has told me this checklist helped lowered my stress. Ralph and it stopped January mistakes before they ever happened to the power is in complexity. The power is in completeness.A family I counseled use this exact same checklist last December. That's what they cited. Ralph we're going to try this out. And when January arrived, the bills came. That insurance renewal popped up.The tax reminders hit their inbox. But nothing felt urgent. Nothing felt chaotic. Nothing surprised them because everything was already decided. That preparedness creates peace.So what actually matters today? What five actions will calm your mind, clear your schedule and prepare your home for a peaceful January? Let me walk you through the Focus 5 Step 1.Do this. Review your budget and goals one last time. Now, I'm assuming you already have a budget and goals.If you don't, you better go back to step zero for that one. But if you do one final pass, just one final pass, it's going to ensure that your January priorities match match your reality.This last look aligns tomorrow's actions with your deepest values. This is the time to remove what's unnecessary, highlight what matters, and start the new year with clarity. Here's step two.Automate your savings and giving. I love automation. Automation keeps your promises even when your energy fades. Set your start dates for January 1st or 2nd. Don't put it off.Even tiny automations, I'm talking about $10, $20, maybe 30, $50. Create powerful momentum. Automatic equals consistent and consistent equals peaceful. Here's a third step. Confirm your insurance and tax readiness.These two checks prevent the most expensive January mistakes that I've seen. Here's some things to verify. Look at your insurance renewals. Just take three minutes and check. When does my auto policy renew? My homeowner's policy?My renter policy? I'll give you a real life example.Maybe last year, your auto insurance quietly renewed and and the premium jumped 40 bucks a month and you didn't even notice it until March after they'd already changed your 90 days. At that higher rate, renewals matter because companies change rates. And if you don't look, you pay for the difference. How about your deductibles?Look at each policy and ask yourself, if something happened tomorrow, what would I actually owe out of pocket? Here's an example. You think your car deductible is $250 until, of course, your teenager backs into a mailbox and suddenly you discover it's $1,000.Not fun. Or maybe your health deductible resets January 1st and you forgot. So that doctor visit early January isn't just a copay anymore, man.You got to pay it all out of pocket. Knowing your deductible protects you from surprise stress. Here's another thing with insurance. Look at those premiums.Pull up the number you actually pay monthly or annually. Here's a great example. You might be paying $278 a month for health insurance, but only budgeting 250.Well, that $28 gap is the reason your checking account keeps getting tight at the end of every month. Or maybe your life insurance premium went up because you added a rider you forgot to set that you signed up for. Premium creep is real.Here's another thing to look at. Look at those coverages. Ask this question. Is my coverage still right for my life today?Let's say you bought your homeowner's policy when your house is worth 275,000 now. Hey, inflation. It's worth 365. But your coverage hasn't changed. Or maybe you had a baby this year. Congratulations.But your life insurance beneficiaries still only list your spouse. Those small coverage updates prevent very large regrets later. Okay then I want you to do this. Review your 2025 tax folder.Open the folder, whether that's digital or physical. Hey, some people like those physical things. I'm cool with that. But look for gaps. Maybe you find a 1099 from February that you never scanned in.Or receipts sitting in your email that should be moved into your deductions folder. Let me tell you right now, a quick check now saves you from April panic. It's also a great time to check your withholding.Look at your most recent pay stub. Or maybe your spouses. Are you withholding too much? Are you looking at that going, wait a minute, I didn't hold enough?Maybe you're getting a $5,000 refund every year, which means you're over withholding and giving the IRS an interest free loan. Or maybe your refund suddenly dropped last year. No one explained why withholding fixes that.How about quarterly payments if you're self employed or you're a creator or a contractor or in some side income, this one really matters.You made your April and June payments, but you forgot about September because school started and life got busy and now you're staring at a penalty you didn't need to pay. A 30 second check saves real time. And how about some tax prep reminders? Ask yourself why? What did I forget last year that slowed everything down?Maybe your accountant emailed you on March 10th asking for your Mortgage statement or your charitable logs or your receipts or your hsa. And you had to spend two hours digging through emails because you had no system. Well, setting up those reminders now make tax season boring.And boring is blessed. Just a 10 minute review can save hundreds and hours of stress. Here's step number four. Great time to declutter digital and physical financial spaces.Clear that email box. You know that thousand people in box that you got. Silence your notifications, delete old downloads, organize your statements. And here's a great idea.Make two folders, archive your 2025 and create that 2026. Because clean spaces reduce decision fatigue and create mental breathing room. Order produces clarity and clarity produces peace.And here's step number five. Finish and print that checklist. I love a printed checklist. It brings clarity. But a completed checklist, that brings confidence.Seeing it finished on paper calms your nervous system, gives you peace that you can literally feel in your body. Finish the year with order. All right, let's get to our scripture verse today. This is from First Corinthians, chapter 14, verse 40.Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. See, the Bible says it so Ralph must be right. Order isn't just practical order. Order is spiritual.And when you bring order to your finances, you honor God with your stewardship. Let's pray together. Lord, bring order and clarity to my mind. Give me peace as I prepare for the new year.Give me wisdom for these financial decisions. Strengthen my heart and steady my steps. And I ask this in Jesus name, Amen. Okay, here's your quick action step for today.I want you to write out your five point checklist before midnight tonight. And if your day is packed, just do one an hour. You can do this. Take a photo when you finish and celebrate the peace that comes from completion.And if today's action step resonated with you, listen to this message from one of our community members. When I joined the community, I was exhausted from doing everything alone. I didn't need more pressure. I needed a place where I felt seen.The daily prompts keep me centered. The prayer support. Honestly, it means more than I can explain. But what amazed me more was that it's free.No guilt, no push, no sales pitch, just support. For the first time in a long time, I don't feel like I'm fighting my financial battles alone, friend. That's what we're building every single day.And I want you to come join us. You can do that at financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/join friend as I said today, order creates peace.Put that plan on paper. Finish today with focus so tomorrow can begin. Free your future self Will thank you for the work you're doing right now.So let's all go out there today and be financially confident Christians. You can do this. Stay financially savvy. God bless you and you have a great day today.