10 Crucial Checklist Items For Organized Finances

Organized finances aren’t something that everybody finds easy.

Some people find keeping their finances in order a breeze, while others really struggle and never really know what to do to ensure their finances are safe and in order. In this post, we’re going to talk about 10 crucial checklist items you need for organized finances. Create a checklist and then tick these off as you go. When you’re finished, you’ll have organized finances and likely be in a better financial position!

Contents

Bank And Credit Accounts

Start by cleaning up your bank and credit accounts. If you have more than one credit account, do all you can to close them and keep as few as possible open. If you have bank accounts you don’t really use, then close them. All they do is clog up your financial portfolio and they could even harm your credit score.

Apps That Help You

There are many apps and pieces of software these days that can help you to get your finances organized. Have a look, read reviews, and decide which apps can work for you. They will help you to track everything you spend and keep an eye on your finances in real time, so you never have to rely on bank statements or guess what you have in your account.

Get free sample chapters from my book: Not Another Personal Finance Book.

Take Control

Take control of your spending. Avoid spending money on things you don’t need, and become a little more frugal. Think about purchases for a while before you buy them – this means resisting the urge to spend on impulse and instead waiting a couple of weeks while you assess whether you truly need something or not.

It can be hard to resist the initial temptation, but you will usually find after a couple of weeks, the urge to buy has disappeared and you’ve saved yourself some cash.

Are You Automated?

Don’t rely on your memory to pay bills. Instead, set up automated payments. This ensures you always pay on time and that your credit score is not affected by a late payment. Late payments can be a nightmare, and this just means you don’t have to worry about them at all.

The Importance of Taxes

Making sure your taxes are in order is especially important, if you are freelancer or have your own business. You can look at tpg enrollment for tax products that can help with this. This is one of the most important things you’ll do if you want to make sure your livelihood is protected, so ensure you’re also keeping good records!

Are You Making Revisions?

Don’t just create a financial budget and then leave it as it is for months. You could be wasting more money than you need to! You should be revising your budget regularly – around once per month, so you can be sure that there’s nothing there messing your budget up and forcing you to spend more than you need to. Stay on top of your budget and you will automatically stay on top of your finances.

Look at your bills – when are they due to renew? Can you find a better deal online and call the supplier?
How much are you spending on the weekly food shop? How much are you spending on fuel? Can you cut back on those things?
What are you buying that is not necessary? Perhaps that daily fancy coffee, or even brand-name products that are the same as supermarket own makes.

Be vigilant and you could save a lot of money on your budget monthly.

Think Ahead

Don’t forget to think ahead to things you have coming up in the future. Does somebody important have a birthday coming up? Perhaps you have a spa day or trip next month and you could do with putting some money away for that?

Make sure you note things down in your calendar so you can look ahead and think about your finances then, and make changes now. You don’t want these things to creep up on you and end up in a panic because you haven’t left yourself enough time to put some money to the side.

Family Meetings

Holding financial meetings with your family is a good idea for a number of reasons. It allows you to ensure that everyone is on the same page, and that you’re teaching your kids important financial lessons, and that you stay motivated by talking about your goals. Do you want money for retirement, college educations, and trips together?

These meetings ensure you stay motivated and on track, most of all. They also give you a safe space to discuss anything that might be coming up, changes you may have to make (such as downgrading a TV package), and more.

Your Mindset

Getting into a better money mindset is one of the most effective things you can do. You can do this by changing your attitude towards money, which of course, takes time. Many people use negative phrases around money, calling it the root of all evil. However, money is just money, and the only meaning it has is what you attach to it.

Studies have shown that you attract what you focus on, so if you focus on having no money and it being evil – you can imagine what kind of scenario you’ll end up in. Read some of the classic books out there, such as Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and you’ll change your mindset in no time.

Need A Coach?

Still struggling to organize your finances? A coach can take an outside look at your situation and give you their honest opinion. Sometimes, all you need is something like this to get your act into gear!

This post is for educational purposes only.

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

Co-Founder: accountinged.com

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

(you tube channel) kenboydstl

Image: Bullseye, Jeff Turner CC by 2.0