Get It Together! 5 Steps to Organizing Your Financial Life

Let's talk about organization. In today's society,the importance of keeping things organized has diminished because it takes time and dedication to make it happen effectively. If you are willing to take the steps, however, you will find that getting your financial house in order isn't quite as bad as it sounds. 
  
Here are five steps to help you on your path to financial organization, and ultimately, freedom from debt. 

• Collect all necessary documentation in a single location. 
• Take a day off each quarter from work, known as a "personal finance day," to gather your account information and place it in organized files. Ideally, there will be files for banking information, credit cards, investments, mortgages, and insurance. 
• If you are not utilizing your bank's online resources, sign up for an account. Many banks provide an array of tools that can also aid in organizing expenses and income. 

  

• Create a written budget, and review it monthly. 
• Once you have gathered all your account information in a safe, central location, create an accurate budget that includes a savings trigger and properly notates your money needs. Adjust spending in key areas such as food and entertainment, and allocate those funds to debt elimination and savings. 
• At the beginning of each month, review your budget. Holidays and special events will give your budget a different look than in other months, and your spending plan should reflect those changes to give you the best idea of where your spending should be for that time.

  

• Set a schedule for paying bills. 
• When creating your monthly budget, write down specific dates to pay various bills. As a rule of thumb, it is best to pay bills in bulk on key days of the month. For example, if Sam & Diane's mortgage is due on the 1st, their phone bill on the 5th, and electric bill on the 7th, it would be ideal to pay all three bills on the 1st. This ensures these bills are satisfied, and eliminates any chance of incurring late fees from the creditor, or overdraft fees from their bank. 

• Write down all one-time expenses for the year
• One stumbling block many face when embarking on budgeting is the occurrence of one-time expenses that pop up throughout the year. These may include license plate renewals, professional dues, or insurance premiums. Divide these costs by 12, so that you can include them in your monthly budgets. By employing this method, you can save towards those costs as they come, rather than losing large amounts of your monthly income in one fell swoop. 

• Shred, shred, shred!!
• If possible, invest in a shredder. In the age of rampant identify theft, it is imperative that you take every available precaution to protect your personal information. Not only will shredding documents keep you safe from possible theft, it also frees your home of tons of unnecessary paper. 

By taking these steps, you are, in a way, deputizing yourself to free yourself from the prison of indebtedness. It all begins with a willingness to say, "Yes, I'll do it." We'll be here to help you along the way. 

With you on the journey, 

Daniel Sims

 
Daniel Sims is the newest member of the Madam Money team. He is the creator & host of Financial Rebirth Live!, a personal finance podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, and managing partner of RDSF Consulting in Little Rock, Arkansas. We look forward to his insights in the coming months. 

Top 5 Bad Financial Habits to Break

... Do you or someone you know have any bad financial habits? I do …
  

Most of us have one … or two … or several bad financial habits. From experience, my bad financial habits resulted in some very expensive mistakes. It’s ok! As long as bad financial habits are broken or at least controlled, they will have minimal effect on your financial success. The first step is identifying your bad financial habits.
  
Here are the top 5 bad financial habits to avoid that keep people from getting a positive grip on their finances.
 
Impulse shopping.  Impulse shopping happens unexpectedly sometimes. Think of shopping like alcohol. It should be done “responsibly” and can become addictive, if not careful. Make shopping a planned activity with a list or a budgeted amount.  Unplanned or impulse shopping may sabotage your spending plan / budget.  Also for large ticket items, give yourself 24 to 48 hours to shop for a better deal or to figure out if you really want it and can afford it. You’ll be glad you waited.
   
Retail therapy.  Retail therapy may help you to feel good for a moment but they buyer’s remorse is painful. When you are emotionally down, distraught or highly emotional, avoid shopping or making any large purchases.  The more emotional we are, the less financially objective we become.  Do something that doesn’t cost anything or very little, like go for a walk, spend time with family or friends, etc. Your bank account will thank you when you start to feel better.
  
Overdraft protection.  Overdraft or “Courtesy Pay” is so convenient! However, overdraft protection (a financial oxymoron in my opinion) is relatively designed to allow you to overspend. It allows or approved checks or charges to go through even when you do not have enough in your account for a Fee.  A fee of $27 up to $35 is charged to your account for every overdraft, even if the amount runs $1 or $5 over the amount you have in your account. Generally it is like a very short-term line of credit with a ridiculously high effective interest rate. Now was that cup of coffee really worth $40? Besides, we spend more when we use debit cards. Use cash instead.
  
Savings tampering.  Savings is money set aside for a specific purpose like emergency, down payment of a house or car, school, etc. Avoid using savings for something that is outside of its purpose. The best way to do this is to establish a savings account that is not easily accessible with a certain amount directly deposited every pay period. Savings accounts are supposed to grow, not be chiseled away. 
  
Financial promiscuity. Financial Promiscuity is when multiple credit cards are used for small purchases when cash should be used.  Avoid using credit to purchase that "value meal" or anything less than $50.  This will ensure that Financial STDs (Substantially Tremendous Debt) will not be slowly acquired.
  
By acknowledging our bad financial habits, we can focus on stopping and changing them. Some bad financial habits may be more challenging to quit than others, but it can be done.  Contact a financial coach to help with ideas and techniques of replacing bad financial habits with good financial habits to help you reach your financial goals faster.


Financially True, 
  

Tarra Jackson ... Making Money Sexy

3 Ways to Stop Financial Self-Sabotage

… have you (or someone you know) committed Financial Self-Sabotage? I have.

   

Yeah I know what you’re thinking … “Financial Self-Sabotage?”  Yes many of us have a very dysfunctional relationship with our finances. Whether it is a fear of commitment or wanting to avoid getting into another financially abusive relationship; many people execute financial self-sabotage. Financial self-sabotage is being aware of what you are doing; knowing it is not beneficial to your financial well-being, situation or your financial goals; yet you still do it anyway.  Don't fret!  Most of us do it every now and then. Here are 3 Ways to Stop Financial  Self-Sabotaging.

  

STOP BREAKING YOUR BUDGET'S HEART

Even though budgets are living and breathing documents and may change, they help us keep financial promises to creditors, other bills, and more importantly to ourselves and our financial future through savings. Every time we break our budget, we position ourselves to break a financial promise, which may negatively affect our financial goals.
  

When I realize and acknowledge that I am breaking my budget frequently,

• I  re-evaluate my budget to make sure it is "S.M.A.R.T." (Simple, Manageable, Accurate, Repetitive with Times of all due dates).
• I may also reassess my Financial Goals to make sure they are "S.M.A.R.T." (Specific, Meaningful, Attainable, Reasonable & Time-driven) as well. 

  

PLAN FOR FINANCIAL SLIP UPS

Confession ... I am an Emotional Spender. (Look out for my Blog: Emotional Spender Confession: I am an Emotional Spender and Why it's OK!). I rebel against anyone or anything that tries to cage me in (I'm an Aquarius, go figure). I have also realized and admitted that I financially self-sabotage during a specific time of the month when I feel unusually emotional. Ladies, you may understand. Men, don't judge.
  

So, I set aside extra money in my "Slip Up Money Jar" to use when I need a little retail therapy through emotional spending. I don't justify it, I just plan and allocate for it.
  

If you are like me regarding this, include your Emotional Spending Sprees in your budget so that you don't use money that is allocated to something more important like, giving, saving or paying your bills. Just remember, being Financially Promiscuous requires Financial Contraception (Budget).  Again, plan and proceed with caution.

  

STOP PLAYIN' YOURSELF

Ok, here’s the thing … if we don’t know the rules of the financial Game, we're going to get Played. Many years ago, I used to lose the financial game because I didn't understand how my money and credit management behaviors financially affected me. As I matured and grew in the financial services industry, I realized that I was playing Checkers when the financial institutions were playing Chess and losing was EXPENSIVE. I was financially self-sabotaging myself because I didn't take the time to learn the rules of the financial game by reading the Disclosures thoroughly and completely.  My reality check was that "they weren't cheating me ... I just didn't take the time to learn the rules of the financial game." That was why I was getting played. 
  

So because I was (and still am) a sore loser, I learned the rules of the financial game by reading the Disclosures very carefully before I opened an account or signed for a loan, product or service. 
  

Some examples of disclosures you should you read and understand are:

• Truth In Savings Disclosure
• Truth In Lending Disclosure & Loan Agreement
• Fee Schedule
• Credit Card Disclosure & Shumer Box

 
Although I Financially Self-Sabotaged myself, I was eventually able to identify it, acknowledge it and fix it. The great thing is that now, when I start doing things that are counter-intuitive to what I need and want to accomplish financially, I am able to choose to make better financial decisions to stop financial self-sabotaging myself.
 
 
Financially True,
      

Tarra Jackson ... Making Money Sexy