Now I don’t know about you, but I am a bit of an organisation freak. Everything has a place in my home and I love a spreadsheet. I can’t help it. It makes me feel good to know that things are organised and that I’m on top of everything. Including my finances. Now I’ll admit that I didn’t use to be like this. I used to be the type of person who would ignore their online banking app. I would rather not look to see how much money was in my account and instead just hand my card over and pray it wasn’t rejected. Boy how times have changed! Today I check my banking apps daily and I’m not afraid to open them. I’m so much better with money. But if you can relate to how I used to behave, then here’s an insight into how I organise my finances.
SET A BUDGET
Now as you would have seen from my how I budget my £50,000 salary post, I have a budget spreadsheet that I use to track my money. This helps me to track how much I’m planning to spend in each area of my finances. And how much I actually spend in each area of my finances each month. But a budget can do more than just track your income and outgoings. It can also highlight what you’re spending your money on, so you can adjust in line with your financial goals. And it can help you break down your income into what you need to spend. What you want to spend. And what you need to save. Honestly, once you sit down and go through your finances and create a budget. You will feel more in control.
MAKE SAVING GOALS
If you’re serious about organising your finances then you need to make savings a non-negotiable. For me, my money is moved automatically on the first of the month into my various savings pots. It comes out the same day as all my other direct debits. And like my other direct debits once the money is out of my account and into the savings account. I can’t touch it. Though I do have a specific account for emergency funds which I can easily access if necessary, but the majority of my savings are in their various saving buckets. I choose to save money in different ‘buckets’ so I know what I’m saving for. There is a new house savings buckets, a holiday fund, a new bag fund and my personal favourite a f**k it savings bucket. You can see exactly what I put in each savings bucket here.
DIRECT DEBITS ON THE SAME DAY
Now, this might seem like an obvious one, but it’s so much easier to organise your finances if all your direct debits come out on the same day. If all you’re direct debits are set up to leave your bank on different days throughout the month, then you can usually ask the company to change the direct debit payment date. Personally, I have mine just after payday. For me payday is the 25th of the month and all my direct debits leave on the 1st. Once the direct debits are paid, and my savings money has been moved. I know what I have left to spend each month.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TECHNOLOGY
Now I think I’m right in thinking that the majority of us have online banking. If you don’t, please come and join us in the 21st century. Being able to access your money and your accounts instantly online will help you manage your finances better going forward. If like me, you have a few different accounts with different banks. Then it can be a pain going into each one every couple of days. I mean, who even has the brain capacity to remember all those passwords?! But I have a solution. And her name is Emma. She’s a money management app that can sync your current account, savings accounts and credit card account together so you can access your balance in real-time. The app also lets you set a budget and warns you of upcoming commitments so you know how much money will be left in your account. Every week and every month, the app shares a report with you to let you know where you’ve been spending your money. You can sign up to Emma here.
So that’s how I organise my finances, let me know in the comments below if these tips are useful. And how you organise your finances.