Over the last few years, it has been difficult to find time to talk together about how we were spending our money, what we were spending our time on, changes we could make as a family, and dozens of other issues. This is not an uncommon issue, but we learned about a fairly simple solution about a year ago. Holding a weekly family meeting has made a tremendous difference in our communication, unity, and productivity. It helps us to meet together at the beginning of the week and plan for success! Whether we see success or not, we know we did something within our power to make it more likely.
Check out our free Weekly Family Meeting worksheet on Patreon!
When and Where To Have Your Weekly Family Meeting
It’s important to find a consistent moment during the week when you know you will be available and when distractions are at a minimum. It is also best to hold it near the weekend to more easily plan out your week. In our home, we decided that every Sunday after church we would sit down together and run our family meeting. We chose after church because our kids normally go down for a nap at that time. Sometimes we will let them watch a show since it’s our Sabbath Sunday. (We wrote about Sabbath Sundays here.)
The important part of a weekly family meeting is that you can keep it consistent every week, so at first, give yourself more time and less distraction than you think you will need. Also, keep the time flexible, sometimes we will have our meeting on a Saturday morning or even a Monday evening if we need to.
What To Bring To The Meeting
The most important item to bring to your weekly family meeting is the paperwork. Have your calendars, schedules, financial information, laptop, etc. at the table so you don’t need to interrupt your meeting to run and find something. Show up prepared so you don’t have to get up multiple times to gather supplies once the meeting has started. The other important thing to bring is a worksheet like the one we offer for free, it helps keep the meeting on track and on time. The last thing that you should bring is patience for your spouse and ears that are willing to listen. These meetings can provide a great space for relational growth if you are willing to let them.
How Long Should A Weekly Family Meeting Be?
At first, the meetings may take an hour if this is a new routine. There will be a lot to catch up on. However, stick to it, after completing the meetings for a few weeks, the amount of time needed will naturally decrease. We have our meetings down to thirty minutes when distractions are at a minimum. The length of time still can change week to week based on how much we need to talk about. Completing the full budget once a month will always take more time, but it is a vital part of making sure you are being wise with your finances. Make sure to stay flexible!
Family Forging Tip: It can be hard to include your kids in your weekly family meetings, especially when they are young, but it can be influential to give them a window into how you problem-solve and work out important matters. Let your younger kids sit at the table with a coloring book or other small activity. Your older kids can be actively involved in some of the conversations!
Topics To Talk About At Your Weekly Family Meeting
There are many different ways you can run your family meetings. No two families are the same, and each should add their flavors to how they want their meetings to go and what they want to include. Overall, there are a couple of areas that every family meeting should include:
- Family Concerns: We will go into more detail below because this is a wide-ranging category. This area includes many of the smaller conversations you may not have time for during the busy week. For example, you may have concerns you want to bring to the table, ideas for making your family stronger, or plans for self-improvement.
- Calendar Updates: This includes scheduling and writing down upcoming events for the next few weeks. Discuss all of the major events of your week.
- To-Do List/Prioritizing: Write out everything that needs to be done that week and everything that needs to be done long-term. Prioritize and figure out when tasks will be accomplished throughout the week. And plan who is going to do each task for the week.
- Budget Meeting: Every month each couple should hold a budget meeting where all of the spending for the month is determined. Then each week, you should check your bank account and make sure that you are sticking to your plan.
Frugal Living Tip: There are a lot of budgeting forms and apps that will help keep your budget meeting streamlined. Our family uses the free version of the EveryDollar app to easily keep track of our expenses each month. Give it a try! (That is not sponsored, we just like it!)
There are a lot of different family concerns to discuss at a weekly family meeting. We usually break ours down into three different categories: Our marriage relationship, our kids, and our family. Within these categories, you can come up with a wide variety of questions.
- How are you going to plan time together, what will you do?
- What personal changes are you going to make?
- Is there anything you need to apologize for?
- Do they have any concerns about the relationship?
- Is there any way that you could serve your family better?
- Is the home usually operating in chaos or order? Are there any changes needed?
- Are there any negative influences on the home?
- Are there any major changes that need to be made to how the household runs?
- What do you love about your kids? Encourage them!
- Are there any concerns about your kids that need to be addressed? How are you going to guide them?
These questions were adapted from a book called “The Exemplary Husband”. Look below for some other ideas of books to help with family meetings!
How A Weekly Family Meeting Helps Your Family
It Helps You Have Better Communication
Setting aside time for a weekly family meeting to discuss the important details of your life opens the door for a lot of good communication. We find there are fewer arguments during the week because we know our schedule better. Also, we know who will be responsible for different tasks. It also provides a time to bring up concerns we have for the family in a more controlled way instead of impulsively. We find that we are on the same page more often. We are also less surprised by finances, upcoming events, and family tension.
There are always planned times to communicate
Even if you have the busiest week of your life, there is a sense of peace in knowing that there is a weekly family meeting for you to communicate with your spouse. You may not have time each day to have important conversations, but you will always have at least one moment in your week where that is the focus. Then when you do get those short times to talk, it feels like a bonus!
It creates a space for expressing concerns
When one person in the relationship needs to get something off their chest, it is not always obvious when would be the best time to bring it up. Having a weekly family meeting gives you a space to open up about areas of concern. Since it is always at the same time and date, it is easy to build up your courage and think about what you want to say ahead of time. This helps to avoid blindsiding your partner at a less convenient time. This is also a great time to plan a compliment and encouragement for your spouse. It is a good idea to start your meeting by letting the other person know what you have done well.
It makes it easier to see needs, growth, and successes within the family
Weekly family meetings are a perfect time to talk about goals and areas of your life you want to improve. They are also a good way to have accountability in the household. Use the family meetings to make note of any progress that is made as you talk about what needs to change, how you want to improve yourselves, and what you want to accomplish. This could include anything from accountability for a new exercise routine or for trying to break a bad habit.
It helps keep family goals on track
Whether you are working towards saving a certain amount of money, buying a new car, changing a critical family routine, or working towards a new career, weekly family meetings can help you stay focused on what is most important. For our family, we are working towards paying off our debt. Family meetings are a great place to reassess how we are doing. We also evaluate if there are any areas we need to adjust.
It is easier to be a team
Overall, weekly family meetings are a great way to unify your family each week. They help ensure that everyone is pulling in the same direction. When everyone is on the same page, it makes it easier to go toward one another in love.
Are weekly family meetings an important part of your family? If you have never held one before, consider checking out our free family meeting worksheet on Patreon! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Do you want to plan a family meeting for your family? Save it for later!
We do a weekly budget meeting and calendar update, but I never thought to include the littles! This is such a great idea! <3
Thank you so much! Even though she’s only two, we really love including our toddler. She’s learning how to converse about money and time even though she’s primarily focused on her stickers!