My finances used to be a mess. A few years ago I had numerous accounts: checking, credit cards, loans, savings, all of them holding a zero balance or a large debit balance. I would go from one bad [money] decision to another and didn’t know if I was coming or going.
Trying to keep track of the mess to make sure that my bills were paid was a nightmare and it would cause me sleepless nights; knowing that I had a bill coming out on say the 15th and no money coming in until the 17th would cause me to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ every month and it was no way to live.
So what did I do? How did I turn it all around and get my financial house in order? - I got organised.
- I made a list of every bill and changed the payment date to make sure it was in line with my incoming money.
- I made a plan to eliminate my debt using the snowball method, which over time reduced the amount of credit cards that I had {once I paid one off I would cancel it}.
- I closed all my miscellaneous accounts, leaving accounts with just two organisations {at each organisation I had a checking account with an attached e-saver}
- I went through every direct debit payment that I had and cancelled everything apart from essential household payments.
It didn’t happen overnight, and the bills and debt were still there, but having an organised bill paying/cash flow schedule really helped me to turn it all around.
Let me know, are you financially organised?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, I am financially organized! I became debt free July 10, 2009 (other than the house)!!! I pay my credit card bill every pay day, I don’t wait until it is due. I still use credit cards because of the cash back money earned. This is what I “buy” gift cards with for birthdays and wedding gifts. I love to hear how others manage their finances and I want to encourage EVERYONE to be debt free!!!
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Laura Reply:
October 26th, 2010 at 5:32 am
@misty: Congratulations on being debt free! Yes, I would never wait until a payment is due…too scared of missing the deadline and getting charged interest!
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I’m not really. I’m good at not spending unless I need to etc, but when it comes to the regular utility bills etc, I have no idea what’s going on and let The Boy deal with it. Which is silly, because it’s half my money too and I need to at least be aware of what’s going on.
Problem is, there just never seems to be the time (or inclination!).
Maybe I should pick a date in the diary and declare it “KNOW YOUR FINANCES DAY”
xx
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