Organizing Your Finances
Are your finances a little out of control? It doesn’t take long for finances to become an unorganized mess. Check out these tips for getting your finances organized once and for all. Don't forget to check out the rest of the organizing your home series!
No one wants to be poor, but it's an easy cycle to fall into when you are letting your money manage itself. Use these easy organizing tips to get your money under control and make the most of every dollar!
Tips for Organizing Your Finances
Track Your Spending: Tracking one’s spending is one of the top ways to start organizing finances. This means to write down everything that is getting spent. Everything from a pack of gum at the convenience store to the mortgage check getting written every month. It’s important to know what is going in and out of your bank account at all times.
Use Cash: It's easier to spend money you don't really have when you just have to swipe a card. Use a premade cash envelope system or make your own using these free templates. As soon as your envelope is empty, you are done spending for the month or week.
Use Budgeting Software: I'm a huge fan of YNAB (You Need a Budget) because I can use it from all my devices. No more trying to remember what my husband has left to spend when he calls to check (he does not keep track of his own money…much to my dismay) – I can just pull up YNAB and tell him what's left. EveryDollar from Dave Ramsey is another one that comes highly recommended. I haven't used it yet, but did use & love My Total Money Makeover from him. MTMM has calculators & debt payoff information and forms that I love.
Have a Budget Meeting: Whether you are single or married, it’s important to have a budget meeting. A budget meeting will help you plan on how you will spend your money. During this meeting, every dollar has to be accounted for. Go off of what you have tracked spending wise and create a realistic budget for the money you have coming in every month. If you don't have a spouse or someone you share finances with, find an accountability partner you trust to help you stay on task & remind you of things you might have forgotten.
Create Reminders for Your Bills: Finances aren’t just about what you are spending, it’s about the bills too. Millions of Americans are late on their bills every month, not because they don’t have the money but because they forget. Create reminders for your bills, so you can stay on top of them. Also, create reminders for those automatic bills you have coming out of your bank account. It seems as though those are easily forgotten about, which can cause stress and unnecessary frustration.
Keep Your Paper Bills: Even though you pay your bills online, keep your paper bills and organize them according to the month they are due. This makes it easy to go back and see what you paid each month. Sometimes companies overcharge which can cost you more money in the long run. Keeping these documents also makes it easy for you to come back later to double-check for accuracy or to make sure you paid them on time. I don't get a paper bill for many of mine, so I go in once a month & download a copy to my dropbox folder for finances.
Love Your Financial Institution: If your bank or credit union is causing you financial duress, it’s time to move on. Make sure you love your financial institution because this can make all the difference in the world when it comes to getting your finances organized. We have several bank accounts, but my favorite is with our local bank. I've found the service better at smaller banks but more competitive fees from online banks.
Organizing your finances doesn't have to be hard. There are so many programs available to simplify it if math isn't your strong point. The most important thing is to find what works for you & stick with it!
What are some of your favorite ways to keep your finances organized?
More Ways to Get Organized:
- Kitchen Utensil Organization
- Organizing Your Pantry
- How to Organize Your Linen Closet
- Organizing Your Homeschool Space
- How to Organize Your Computer
Looking for more organizing tips? Check out the entire 31 Days to an Organized Home series!
These are great tips!! We’ve done all at one point or another. You mentioned EveryDollar – we use that and love it. I reviewed it recently on my site. Honestly, I don’t think it’s completely ‘finished’ yet. I’ve heard their developers are still working on polishing some features. We used to use YNAB a few years ago, and now use EveryDollar. Both are great. EveryDollar works well for us right now. Also, I found your site through a FB post from “The Budget Mama” and love it 🙂 So glad I stumbled over here! she had a post recently that was promoting A Time For Everything (search on etsy). She sells super cute cash-organizing system wallets. If we were still doing all cash I would totally buy one of those!
I’ll have to check into those. I’m trying to do better about using cash instead of my debit card.