Life can be complicated, but fortunately, your finances don’t have to be. Like most people, you probably have a checking account, a handful of credit cards, and if you’re planning for retirement, you might have a few long-term savings accounts.
Juggling your personal finances can get overwhelming at times. But if you take steps to simplify your finances, you can manage your money with ease.
Enroll in online banking
If you haven’t already, enroll in online banking to better manage your personal bank accounts. Understand that online banking isn’t just a way to check your balances. You can complete a variety of transactions from your computer or smart phone. For example, you can transfer money with a few clicks, apply for new accounts. And if you take advantage of mobile banking and download your bank’s app to your phone, there’s the convenience of depositing your paycheck with your phone. What does this mean for you? To put it plainly, you may never have to step foot inside a bank branch or call the customer service line.
Set up automated bill pay
If you have few creditors, keeping up with your due dates may not be a problem. But when you add in several credit cards, a personal loan, a car loan and maybe your mortgage, things can get a bit complicated.
Rather than try and remember all your due dates, set up automated bill pay between your bank and your creditors and have payments automatically deducted from your bank account. Of course, for this to work, you have to have money in the bank. If you can manage to keep cash in your account, automated payments can alleviate late payments and late fees.
Look into automatic savings options
Saving money takes discipline. If you don’t have this type of discipline, perhaps your bank has options to help you save. For example, some banks have savings programs that deposits one dollar from your checking account into your savings account each time you have a debit card transaction. This can quickly build your personal account. Likewise, some banks will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposit the change into your savings account.
Consider online tax preparation
Using a professional tax preparer when filing your income tax return may seem like the way to go, but there is a better way. Online tax preparation can save you both time and money because you don’t have to wait for tax preparers to fit you into their schedules AND you avoid their preparation fees.
Use direct deposit
If you don’t have a smart phone and are thus unable to deposit your check with your bank’s app, talk to your employer about direct deposit. This could possibly alleviate the need to visit your bank on payday, helping you avoid long teller lines. Plus with direct deposit, cash usually hits your bank account at 12:01 a.m on payday.
Financial management doesn’t come easy for everyone, and the more accounts you have, the more difficult it can be to keep up with your money. But if you learn ways to simplify your personal finances, you can remain in control.
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