Having your finances in order and organized helps with peace of mind. I am not a financial advisor or planner, but knowing what you are spending and having your paperwork sorted can be empowering.
In my experience the difficulty is 2-fold.
One - people are not always sure where their money is going
Two - people struggle keeping the paperwork organized (or digital statements)
Best practices stay on top of your finances and remove some of the doubt and fear around money:
1. Balance your bank accounts every month. Review your statements and make sure there are no additional debits you did not authorize or added fees you are paying that you can avoid by maintaining a balance or moving your money to an account that doesn’t charge fees.
2. Look at your credit card bills. I don't just mean the balance - look at every charge. You may be surprised that you are paying for something you no longer want or the cost of a subscription has increased past what you want to pay. There may be added finance charges that you didn’t know about.
3. Keep an eye on your utility bills and service charges to ensure they are consistent and accurate. If you notice a sudden increase, investigate the reason and negotiate better rates if possible.
3. Review your other financial/investment statements each month - or at least quartlerly. It’s a good idea to pick a date every year to re-evaluate your investments to be sure they are working for you. Maybe you need to make some adjustments and move things around to get a better rate of return.
4. Keep files (or folders on your computer) for each account so you have a place for statements and can easily find them when needed.
You may feel like a small amount of money for a subscription is not a big deal - but those small amounts add up and can be saved or put toward something you do want.
Being on top of your spending can be empowering and lead to more savings. It’s always good to hold up your spending to your values. Is the money going toward things you truly value, or is it just being spent without thought to where it is going.
If this is an area you want to know more about, I encourage you to check out the Female Finance Collective Podcast.
The Female Finance Collective is also a wonderful online community with workshops, Q&A’s and general discussions about finances. Visit them here.
In my experience the difficulty is 2-fold.
One - people are not always sure where their money is going
Two - people struggle keeping the paperwork organized (or digital statements)
Best practices stay on top of your finances and remove some of the doubt and fear around money:
1. Balance your bank accounts every month. Review your statements and make sure there are no additional debits you did not authorize or added fees you are paying that you can avoid by maintaining a balance or moving your money to an account that doesn’t charge fees.
2. Look at your credit card bills. I don't just mean the balance - look at every charge. You may be surprised that you are paying for something you no longer want or the cost of a subscription has increased past what you want to pay. There may be added finance charges that you didn’t know about.
3. Keep an eye on your utility bills and service charges to ensure they are consistent and accurate. If you notice a sudden increase, investigate the reason and negotiate better rates if possible.
3. Review your other financial/investment statements each month - or at least quartlerly. It’s a good idea to pick a date every year to re-evaluate your investments to be sure they are working for you. Maybe you need to make some adjustments and move things around to get a better rate of return.
4. Keep files (or folders on your computer) for each account so you have a place for statements and can easily find them when needed.
You may feel like a small amount of money for a subscription is not a big deal - but those small amounts add up and can be saved or put toward something you do want.
Being on top of your spending can be empowering and lead to more savings. It’s always good to hold up your spending to your values. Is the money going toward things you truly value, or is it just being spent without thought to where it is going.
If this is an area you want to know more about, I encourage you to check out the Female Finance Collective Podcast.
The Female Finance Collective is also a wonderful online community with workshops, Q&A’s and general discussions about finances. Visit them here.
