How to organize your Finances

Written by Corrie Petersen

Organizing your finances can be a difficult thing to do and it can add stress to your life if you don’t it. When you keep track of what bills are due with each check, how much you pay, and keep all your bills together, you will be well organized and feel better about everything.

Here are a few tips that will help you organize your finances.

• Track

When you first set out to organize your finances you will need to set aside two or three hours to get this done. Gather all of your bills and go to a quite spot with your computer or pad of paper.

Write down each merchants name, the monthly payment, and the due date. Now organize them so they are in date order. Start with the beginning of the month and work your way to the end. Now write down each pay check and the dollar amount. You need to decide which bills can be paid with each check.

• Budget

Now you need to create a budget. A budget is where you write down everything you spend money on each month. This would include groceries, take out, vehicle maintenance, clothing, etc. The main reason you do this is to look at all of your spending habits. If you are spending more than what you have or you have very little left over at the end of the month, your budget will show you areas that you can eliminate.

• Set budget goals

Whether you are saving for a vacation or trying to get some bills paid off, goals are the best route to take. Without them, you will continue to do the same thing day in and day out with your money. If you want to take a family vacation next summer, your goal may be to get a couple doctor bills paid off within the next few months so you can take that money and put it in savings. This could be the difference between a camping trip and a trip to Disneyland.

• Plan

Planning can be the most difficult part of organizing your budget. The reason for this is that you have to find a way to do this the same time each week or month. Plan this time around your paychecks. For example, if you get paid on Friday, take time on Saturday or Sunday to sit down and pay your bills. The longer that money sits in your account, the more likely you are to spend it. If you get it out of there right away, it won’t be there to spend.

Organizing your finances can be a difficult thing. But, if you follow these steps and set aside time to take care of these each week or every other week, you will do good and you will reach your goals. Keep track of everything and keep it in the same place so you don’t get off kilter and forget what you are doing and forget to pay a bill. Reach your financial goals through organized finances.

Tags: bills, finances, Organization, organize