Automating your finances to stress less about your money

I'm all about making it easy, and when we talk about money management, if you can make your money do it's thing, without you stressing too much about it, then this is ideal!

Following on from our last blog about automating your finances, here's 4 more tips:

1. Know what you spend.  

When you know how much you normally spend on things, you are then aware of, and can "budget" for them.  Not many people know how much they spend on each line item of their bank accounts each month (or year) because they are too afraid to do the work to find out - too scared to see how much might have been wasted.  However, knowing gives you power - the power to change things (if you want), the power to put aside that money for later spending, and not spend it on other "stuff".

2. Use your calendar on your phone to remind yourself when bills are due.  Do you have a pre-paid phone where you lose your saved data if you don't pay before the due date, but the days start again as soon as you pay?  Well, the best day to pay is the last day.  Set your calendar reminder to top up your phone on that day and you get to keep your data and maximise the number of days as well.

3. Do you get bills 3 weeks before they are due, and you just want to get them out of the way?  You can pay them now, but set the due date in internet banking for a forward date (the date it is due!).  That way the payments will come out on the correct date and you have only had to think about the bill once!  Even better - if the company will do a direct debit straight out of your account, then all you need to do is check the bill to make sure it is correct.

4. In your household, make sure no bills are forgotten, task one person to be the responsible "bill payer".  Don't get into fights because you both forgot to pay the same bill.  If one person is in charge, make sure they have the copy of the bill and due date, and how to pay, so that it's done on time.  If you don't like to combine household money (and keep everything separate), then having one bank account set up for household bills, where both of you can see the money in your internet banking, can certainly help to reduce the stress.

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