Month: July 2013 (Page 3)

You should try to simplify your finances. You may have several bills to pay each month such as the mortgage/rent, electricity, water, gas, auto insurance, housing or renter insurance, credit card(s), and cell phone. The list goes on and it can be exhausting. Spending all of your time paying bills means that you have little time to worry about investing. You are tired of thinking about money and therefore do not spend time on the part of money that makes money for you – investing.

Too make matters worse, there can even be times when a bill is missed and the payment is late. This can be dangerous for something like the car insurance because one missed payment can mean the insurance will be cancelled.

1. Make electronic payments

Setting up electronic payments means you don’t have to do anything. Your payments will be taken from the bank accounts when they are due and they can never be late. This frees up the time writing checks and mailing these bills every month.

2. Sign up for electronic statements

Receiving paper statements via the mail means keeping track of extra paperwork that has little value. It is simpler to have electronic statements where everything is kept in a convenient place online. The billing company will be happier with this arrangement because they save on administrative costs by not sending out paper.

3. Use online bill pay

Online bill pay with the bank makes it possible to pay the bills online. This makes managing finances simple like in the previous example.

4. Keep a spending budget

Creating a budget helps when you don’t know where their money is going every month. Make a list of all the necessary bills you have to pay so you know you can pay those bills.

5. Cut back on your monthly spend

When creating a budget, you might notice that you have too many different types of bills to pay each month. By itemizing those bills in a budget, you can begin to put some logic into what you are actually buying.

6. Consolidate accounts

Some people have more than one savings account. If all of these savings accounts were under one bank then you can log into that one bank and see all of the accounts in one place. This will making managing money much easier.

7. Take advantage of level pay for utilities

When you set up level pay for your utilities, you know you will be billed around the same amount of money each month. For example, in the summer people tend to use their air conditioning more often. Level bill pay will help keep you from overspending during these months.

8. Give things away

By giving things away, the house is much less cluttered and there are fewer things to manage. You will be surprised that when you simplify parts of your life, other parts become more simplified.

9. Don’t buy or rent a mansion

When purchasing a new home or renting a new apartment, be sure that the dwelling is exactly what will be needed and nothing more or less. This will ensure that the payments will be easily manageable and that the maintenance isn’t overwhelming.

10. Make a list and follow it

Making a change from a disorganized state to a more organized one can take a little time. Before getting started on this project, make a list of your most important goals down to the least and finish each goal before moving on to the next. Setting a time when you would like to have the goal accomplished will ensure that the item gets done and can be crossed off of the list.

What are some of the ways that you have simplified your life? Let me know below in the comments or send me a tweet at @ConfidentInvest.

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