Forum topic: Organizing Finances

Hello! I have the same problem and I have a contact at my bank who helps me with all that. She tells me about how much I have per month to live of, to structure my savings, explains difficult words and what it all means. I have lots of depts now and I will try to get a loan so everything can be paid of. She will help me with this to. I have one folder for medical bills for example and that one is blue, and all things that has got to do with medical things are blue, like texts, bills, in my calendar it´s all blue about medicin/doctors apointments etc. Everything about provisions are orange and so on. My cell phone has a calender with alarm wich is very useful for me, I would forgot to many things otherwise. //CCS

You don't say whether or not you have the financial wherewithal to hire someone to help you on a very part-time basis.  But if you have time to hire a personal organizer for the really critical areas, that might make both of your lives easier.  Perhaps a retired person who lives in your area and is looking for some very part-time way to make a bit of extra money a few hours a week?  If you have a senior center nearby, perhaps you could talk with them about posting this job.  Sounds as if you need someone for financial organization mostly - paying bills and organizing your financial files.

I also like the idea of the banking person who helps out, though that person can't physically pay the bills for you.

You can also set up many of your bills to be on "autopay" at their websites.  This means the money is automatically deducted from your account each month.  This solves the problem of late payment fees, but you would still want to put aside time to review the bills to make sure that they were okay.  (And you have to have enough in your account to pay for the bills that come in...)

I set aside a specific day each month to pay bills and deal with whatever comes in that month.  To do this, cross that day off your calendar and mark it as bill day, then get your bill due dates aligned by calling your credit card companies (and any other one that might charge a due date).  Set the payment due date for 7-9 days after your scheduled payment day to give the payment time to get there. (I also deal with school requests, registrations and all sorts of other stuff that comes into the house on that day).  The other benefit of this is that if I finish early I can do something fun as a reward for my hard work!

 

Melissa Orlov

Here are some things that worked for us. Use auto pay or automatic monthly minimum payment whenever possible to avoid late fees. This can save hundreds of dollars a year in fees and interest. I've had my electricity, water, and cable turned off at various times for lack of payment, and not due to lack of funds. Figure out how you best deal with statements. For some, it's putting unpaid bills in a folder, and tossing them when paid. Others like them via email or other online method. I like to stop paper statements and get my bills online through a bill presentment website like Checkfree. The goal is to a) not lose the bill, b) not forget to pay it on time; and c) know that you did pay it. Try online payments using Quicken, Checkfree and/or your bank's bill paying service. This eliminates the need for checks, envelopes and addressing, stamps that keep changing in value, and mail delay. It’s usually free. Consolidate services as much as you can to fewer businesses. Merge cell phone accounts and combine land line, cell phone, cable/satellite TV and Internet to a single provider. Get all your car and home insurance from the same company. Consider using the same or fewer companies for banking, credit cards, insurance, investments, retirement plans, etc. In almost all cases, you will get better pricing in the process and cut your mail volume substantially. When selecting the company, consider the convenience of the company’s web site - online bill paying, historical statements, service changes, etc. Kill off unnecessary credit cards. We didn't have a debt problem, but over the years had accumulated many cards - special offers, 0% interest rollovers, department store deals, airline miles, etc. But one $39 late fee is liable to wipe out much of the benefit of a card's original incentive. We now use a debit card, one major credit card, and a department store card that gives us substantial discounts for purchases made on their card. Of course, if you can use the debit card and save the credit card for emergencies, there's no monthly credit card statement at all. And here's an unexpected side effect - just by closing unused credit cards, our credit rating went UP. Reduce your filing burden. For years, I kept copies of past bank statements, credit card bills, utility bills, etc. "for my records", as if I was ever going to look at them again. They were a huge burden to file, and I was always behind with a big stack of stuff waiting to be filed. Now I do everything online, and only keep year-end statements for those things that have tax implications, which just get thrown into a single folder to deal with once at year end. Toss receipts as soon as it's clear that the item works, fits, or otherwise won't be immediately returned, unless the item is expensive enough that you might actually seek remedy under the warranty. The vast majority of inexpensive products that fail under warranty are just thrown away rather than returned for repair or credit. Reduce your mail volume. This is a personal crusade for me. Visit www.the-dma.com and look under “Commitment to Consumer Choice” to get off junk mail lists. The mailbox represents work to be done, decisions to be made, things with adverse consequences if ignored. By cutting mail volume, it's easier to avoid missing important stuff. While you're at it, visit www.donotcall.gov and get off telemarketer's lists - a time and hassle saver if there ever was one. You don’t have to deal with it if you just eliminate it (this applies to “stuff” around the house as well). We still don't like paying bills, but it takes less time now, we don’t make as many mistakes, we save money, and the inbox doesn't look like an impossible mountain of work. Cheers, Comissar

Keeping organized financially has been a huge challenge for us.  What has finally worked for us is using a combination of tracking and organzing tools.  We both attended Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University a few years ago so we do have tools and knowledge.....using them consistently is the key.  We use the allocated spending sheet from Dave Ramsay (we actaully made our own using a google doc) combined with a homemade spreadsheet that lays everything out-what's due when.  Then we use Mvelopes from Crown Fianancial Concepts to track everything online. We try to enter all transactions within 24 hours.   Debit cards are still devious, sneaky and dangerous if we forget to enter transactions.  If you are living paycheck to paycheck and money is so tight you can't afford missing a transaction I would highly reccomend using cash only for food, gas/car expenses, clothing, and recreation/ misceallaneous. 

Best Wishes and Blessings to you

Frazzledmom in WA