Disorganized finances often make it not easy to plan and set financial goals. Getting your finances in order by following a pattern of established financial management guidelines may help you to stay on top of your financial situation throughout the whole year. No matter if you need to overhaul your financial budget, assess your credit standing, or get a better handle on your personal investments, just stick to these 8 daily financial habits to get your finances back on track and to manage your financial life.
8 Simple Tips on Getting Your Finances in Order with Ease
#1 Start with Trimming Your Expenses
Many people have expenses for personal or business services they barely use. Start with looking at every bank account withdrawal you make during any given month.
- Do you have a gym membership you’re not using?
- Do you have a cable subscription you could change to a cheaper package?
- Anything else you no longer use?
Financial Tip You Can Do Today: Create your monthly spending report and check where you can and absolutely cannot cut costs. The number of outflows you trim from your financial budget can be put into your retirement account or an emergency fund.
#2 Consolidate Your Bank Accounts
Have you accumulated multiple financial bank accounts? This may increase the burden of managing them. Having more than one financial bank account may also increase the opportunities for cybercrime.
It’s difficult to figure out how well or how poorly your nest egg is performing if your retirement assets are spread across multiple retirement accounts.
Financial Tip: To get your finances in order, start consolidating as many bank accounts as possible. This will make performance evaluation a simpler financial procedure.
#3 Create a Filing System for Yourself
Whether you store your important financial documents electronically or in a hard-copy format, it’s important to safeguard and organize them.
Why do you hold onto your financial paperwork? A good rule of thumb is to remember three, seven, or forever.
Financial Tip: It will help to get your finances in order if you follow the 3, 7, or Forever Rule like this:
3 Years
Files needed to be kept for three years are documents such as household bills, credit card statements, or receipts for minor purchases.
7 Years
Documents that should be kept for seven years are things such as bank statements, pay stubs, and tax returns.
Keep Forever
Receipts for major purchases, annual investment statements, insurance policies, retirement account statements and anything else of great importance should all be kept forever.
Make sure to keep your filing system simple, clean out your files once a year, and keep them all in one place for easy access.
#4 Set Financial Goals and Monitor Them on an Ongoing Base
One of the key principles in money management is to establish financial goals for yourself. Start tracking your progress towards meeting those goals.
Financial Tip: To save a certain amount for retirement, set monthly and annual savings financial targets or a financial goal for a specific account balance and regularly examine your progress towards these goals. Consider reducing expenses in other areas of your life to increase your cash flow. If your account balance doesn’t reach your target by the end of the year, perhaps you need to speak with a financial advisor about a different investment strategy.
#5 Keep an Eye on Your Credit Report and Score
Your credit report impacts many areas of your financial life. It determines if you get approved for a credit card, car loan, or obtain the best interest rate on a home mortgage. The higher your credit score, the more financial strength you will have.
Financial Tip: To increase your credit score, try to keep old accounts open, pay down credit cards to less than 30% utilization, and make your payments on time.
Few years ago, you had to pay to access your credit report and score. Thankfully, today your credit report and your credit score are available for free from a variety of financial sources. At AnnualCreditReport.com, you can download a free credit report once every twelve months from each of the three major bureaus.
#6 Use Financial Software
Do you use paper, pen, or a calculator to manage your finances? You may want to consider upgrading to a financial software. Many financial software programs can help you to get your finances in order, and several of them are free.
Financial Tip: Some of the available financial software tools include a budgeting goal tracker, a bill payment center, an investment tracker, and budget alerts. Some good financial apps include Honey, Mint, and iXpenseIt. These financial software and apps can all be used on your smartphone or desktop computer.
#7 Set up an Automatic Bill Pay to Save More
Do you sometimes miss a bill? Do you have late payments? If you do, they are usually met with a steep fee. That’s money that could have gone to a better cause.
Financial Tip: To avoid this challenging situation, why not set up an automatic bill payment? Many online financial institutions provide this service, and often there is no extra charge.
It’s equally possible to set up recurring transfers to bank and brokerage accounts. Make sure you pay yourself first each month. By doing so, you can quickly build up an emergency account or retirement savings.
#8 Team up with a Financial Advisor You Trust
Often, the best way to find financial success is to bring a professional on board.
Financial Tip: Financial professionals such as financial planners, investment advisors, or retirement planners can offer advice on a wide range of issues: retirement, estate planning, insurance, taxation, and more. With a financial expert guiding you down your path, you’ll be better able to make educated decisions that produce superior financial results.
The financial tips on how to get your finances in order are simple. They don’t require an exorbitant amount of financial expertise. By incorporating these changes into your regular money management routine, you may have less stress and more financial success. If you need help with getting your finances back on track, please feel free to reach out to our financial planning team to see how we can help.
