Managing your personal finances means that you can think about your money instead of worrying about your money. If you're in debt, making a plan will cut down on your stress. Set up a budget to pay off your debt automatically & as much as you can at a time. If you're in the black, managing your personal finances is just as important. Take the time now to automate your savings and your bill paying. This will allow you to concentrate on more interesting pursuits like hobbies, your family and organzing your clothes closet.
Here are some pain-free, quick ways to get your finances in order:
1. Manage Personal Finances: Set Up Automatic Bill Payments
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A no-brainer. I love the set-it-and-forget-it feature of auto paying my bills. Just like a slow cooker, a little work up front pays off later.
2. Manage Personal Finances: Set Up Auto Savings
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Experts come down on both sides of the pay down debt vs. building up savings debate, so why not cover your bases and do both? Set a goal to save x-amount a month, and then have the funds automatically transferred weekly. This way If you are shooting to save $40/month, that’s only $10 a week out of your checking account.
I am a huge fan of ING Direct’s super easy to use checking and saving accounts.
3. Manage Personal Finances: Contribute Up to Your Company’s 401K Match
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Another a no-brainer. If you’re not contributing at least up to the match, you’re throwing away money. Not only that, but many people don’t even have access to a 401k match. Consider yourself lucky and start contributing!
4. Manage Personal Finances: Set Personal Financial Goals
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These can be accomplished either by meeting with a financial planner (if you're interested in hiring one, check out Finding a Financial Planner), or on your own but it's crucially important to set some financial goals.
- Set your savings goals - Brainstorm what you want to accomplish over the next 5, 10, 20 years and set up savings accounts for each goal.
- Figure out your risk tolerance for investments - If it's high you'll be able to make some riskier investments that could earn you more in the long run, if it's low stick to index funds with very low maintenance fees.
- Plan for retirement - figure out how much you need to retire and start saving little by little. This is where your 401K or IRA plan comes into use.
