What is a Money Group and why might it make sense to be a part of one?  Quite simply Money Groups are people who get together to encourage responsible behaviors around money.  Do to the lack of financial education in this country it’s pretty easy to see why so many have challenges around money.

How to start a Money Group:

Find others that you respect and that you are comfortable talking about money with.  Try to find a different mix of people so you can get different perspectives and experiences.

How many should be in my Money Group?

If possible have 10 – 12 people in your group in case some can’t show.  It’s best to have 6-8 in every meeting.

How often should we meet?

With everyone’s hectic schedule once a month is sufficient to meet, follow up, track progress and create agenda for following month.

What should we talk about?

If there is a very experienced member in your group they may be able to set an agenda or on your first meeting you can all talk about the different challenges you may be having and set a monthly itinerary.  Some common topics people are interested in are retirement, budgeting, saving for education, getting out of debt and real estate.

Another tip if you come across a topic that none in your group is an expert than go find one to speak at your group.  Everyone has their talents and there are others out there who are eager to share their expertise.  Invite them to come speak and offer them some cookies.  It might work!

Keep it easy!

Make your money group fun by concentrating on one specific topic per month and have informative articles to pass around to help keep the conversation going.

It’s best to have one person in charge of the meeting and agenda of the day.  Not to say you can’t change the individual on a monthly basis.  That can make it real fun to.  Watching how different people manage their money group day.

Track your finances

If your going to do this then let’s see some positive results.  Keep track of how it’s going.  It may not be easy to make the changes needed to create a better financial life but it will sure be worth it.

How should the meeting go?

Start off with a discussion on what’s new this month in your finances.  That includes successes and failures.  Remember it’s not how many times you fail that matter but how many times you pick yourself up and try again so don’t beat yourself up to bad if you had a goal that you weren’t able to meet.

Next cover the topic of the meeting.

Set goals for next meeting.  Make sure everyone gets a copy of everyone’s goals so they can be reviewed the following month.

Have Fun!

Time – It’s the one thing we can’t buy but having strong finances can allow you the time to do more of the things you want to do.