How to keep on top of your finances in just 5 minutes a day
One of the biggest problems people have with their finances is keeping on top of everything. From paperwork to bank accounts and bill payments it all seems like one big juggling act.
By controlling your finances you will:
- save yourself from being buried under a mountain of paperwork
- relax in the knowledge that all your bills will be paid on time
- know exactly how much money you have left to spend
- never miss a financial deadline such as paying your tax
In this article I will show how to keep on top of your finances in just 5 minutes a day.
Preparation
Before we get down to the nitty gritty you will have to do some preparation.
- firstly you will have to do a budgeting exercise as explained in this article - Start 'big picture' budgeting
- get organised by using Evernote, or a similar service, as explained in this article - Organise your money & life with the Evernote smartphone app
- buy yourself a shredder and here's why
Start the stopwatch here we go with our daily 5 minute money routine
Step 1
- if you have done the preparation you will now have a number of bank accounts for your different needs - mortgage, bills, food, savings or spare money and all these will be accessible online
- so just do a quick daily check on the balances of each account to make sure you understand what is going in and out of each account and then move money around the accounts if required to meet outgoings
Step 2
- if you have set up your Evernote account you will now be able to control all the paperwork and emails related to your finances
- now every email you get regarding your finances you can just forward to your Evernote email account (you will find this in 'account info' in Evernote)
- every receipt you receive you can take a photograph using the camera option within Evernote and file as above
- you can create folders in Evernote and even tags so you now have an electronic filing system at the click of a button
- when you open your post on a daily basis take a photograph within Evernote of all documents you need to keep and file them as above
- any documents that require action can be filed in Evernote with an alarm attached to remind you to take the action required
- any paper copies you need to still keep you can file once a week but make sure you shred everything else
So there you have it, a simple two-step process to keep on top of your finances in just 5 minutes a day. But if you want to take this further then click on my book below - 30 Day Money Plan: Take control of your finances in just 5 minutes a day where I show you how to sort your pension, mortgage, cut your bills, debts and more in just 5 minutes a day!
Image: digitalart
