How to Simplify Your Personal Finance Processes for Success

I have always believed that the key to reaching any goal is to be able to remain focused, consistent and motivated.  Know where this is more important than when you are working to pay off debt and save cash.  The Snowball Method for debt elimination, the Cash Ladder, establishing a budget are all important tools for achieving financial success.  However, as you leverage these tools to improve your financial position it can be challenging to remain focused and consistent in your efforts. This is where simplifying your personal finance processes is important.

Simplifying your daily, weekly or monthly processes can improve your overall success of reaching your ultimate goal of being cash rich.  By processes I mean the methods or tasks you use to pay the bills, balance your checkbook and manage your accounts. 

Online Banking

One of the quickest and most efficient ways to simplify your personal finance processes is by using online banking.  If you currently don’t use online banking for your personal finances then your monthly financial processes probably look something like this.

1. At the start of each month, you write a check and pay the electric bill, then balance your checkbook.
2. On Saturday’s you go grocery shopping and write a check, then balance your checkbook.
3. On the 15^th of the month you write a check to pay the cable bill, then balance your checkbook.
4. Thursday night you go out to dinner, write a check and balance your checkbook.
5. Friday is payday, so you take your check to the bank for deposit, and then balance your checkbook.
6. Your credit card payment is due on the 20^th of each month so you write a check on the 17^th and balance your checkbook.
7. Rent/Mortgage is due on the 30^th of the month so you write a check and balance your checkbook.
8. At the end of the month, you receive your bank statement and reconcile your checking account by balancing your checkbook.

Note the common theme here.

Depending on your individual circumstances, you may be writing a check and balancing your checkbook 10, 15 or maybe 25 times per month.  And at the beginning of every month, you start the whole process over again.  Not only does this process take an enormous amount of time and add complexity to your finances, but inevitably it adds another “to-do” item to your already long list.

Transitioning from a manual method of managing your finances to an electronic (online) method can be a scary proposition.  However, if you’re up to the challenge and interested in simplifying your environment, here are a few recommendations on how you can stay focused, consistent and motivated to reach your financial goals.

Related Posts:

• How to Pay Off Debt Fast Using the Snowball Method
• How to Stop Procrastinating and Pay Off Debt
• Why the Snowball Method Works
• Why You Need an Emergency Fund – Successful Money Management Tip
• Creating a Budget and 6 Quick Tips on How to Spend Less Money in 2019
• The Art of Being a Cheapskate – How I Successfully Manage My Budget
• Cutting Cable, Saving Money and Getting Comfortable with Feeling Uncomfortable
• 10 Successful Money Management Tips to Live By – from a 52-Year-Old

Reduce the Number of Accounts You Manage

As discussed in Filling The Pig, I recommend you reduce the number of accounts you have to simplify your situation.  One checking account, one savings account, and one credit card account are all you really need.  Decreasing the number of accounts you manage provides these benefits.

• Reduces the number of statements you need to manage and/or review on a monthly basis.
• Limits the number of financial institutions you interact with from a print and/or email perspective.
• Keeps you focused on your budget, paying off debt and growing your savings account – fewer accounts means fewer distractions, more focus.
• Less stress

Getting out of debt and saving cash is about understanding your financial environment.  When you have fewer accounts to manage you create a simple environment where you can focus on the accounts that matter the most.

Online Banking

Setup online banking with your financial institution.  Ideally, your financial institution should provide real-time account balances, bill pay, (We will discuss this in more detail below.) and mobile check deposits.  Online banking will provide you with these benefits.

• Availability – bank anytime anywhere.
• Real-time access to your account balances. No need to review your checkbook or paper statements.
• Access to current and past account statements in electronic form. Reduces paper clutter.
• Smartphone access to account information and mobile check deposits. Allows you to check your account information anytime, and deposit checks remotely.  No need to go to the bank to deposit your check.
• Transfer funds between accounts, no need to go to the bank and wait in line.
• Bill Pay – the ability to issue bill payments via the online system. No more check writing required to pay your bills.

Pay Your Bills with Bill Pay.

Bill Pay is by far one of the most important time-saving benefits of online banking. Bill pay provides these advantages.

• Reduces or eliminates the number of checks you write on a monthly basis. Let your financial institution issue the checks.
• Saves money by reducing the number of “manual” checks you need to purchase.
• Saves you money on postage.
• Eliminates the need to balance your checkbook because all transactions are handled electronically and online. You can access your account at any time to see what bills have been paid and which ones are pending.  (The only checks you need to manage that may impact the online balance of your account are the ones you write manually.)

Pay Your Bills Once a Month

Too often we establish routines because, well…because they’re routines. The electric bill is due the 20^th of the month so we write the check on the 15^th.  The cable bill is due on the 10^th, so we write the check on the 5^th.  Depending on how many bills you have you could be pulling that checkbook out five, six, or ten times a month.  Each time it adds an additional to-do to your list and a whole bunch of anxiety and stress.  By the end of each month, you’re tired of just writing checks and balancing the checkbook. 

After you set up bill pay in the system you can now change the way you pay your bills.  At the start of each month, you can enter each bill into the system and then determine the date your bank will issue the check – to correspond with the bills due date.  Once initiated, there is no need to monitor or remember when you need to write a check, the system will pay the bills automatically.

Imagine paying your bills once a month.  Consider how much time that will free up, and how simple managing your bills will be.

Related Posts:

• How to Create a Simple Budget
• Take Control of Your Finances in Three Months

Use Cash or Your Debit Card for Purchases

Online banking, paying your bills with bill pay, let’s take simplification of your personal finance processes one step further.  Use cash or your checking accounts debit card to pay for your daily purchases.  Using Cash and/or your debit card will provide you with these advantages.

• Eliminates the write the check, balance the checkbook task each time you make a purchase.
• Reduces checkbook balancing errors. Your balance is reflected in real-time online.  No need to reconcile your checkbook balance at the end of the month.
• Debit card transactions are posted immediately to your online account. No delay between writing a check and when it posts.
• Using cash minimizes the number of transactions posting to your account. Fewer transactions mean there is less to manage.

Establishing a practice of using online banking, bill pay and making purchases with cash, or your debit card will virtually eliminate your need to balance your checkbook.  (I write two or three checks per year and no longer manually balance a checkbook.  I trust my bank’s online system reflects my current balance at all times.)  However, the greatest benefit to leveraging these online systems is the ability to simplify your personal finance processes.  Simplification reduces stress, anxiety and will provide you with the ability to stay focused, consistent and motivated to meet your financial goals.

Helpful Resources:

• Filling The Pig – In 4 Steps Create a Lifestyle of Opportunities 
• Wealthsimple – Socially Responsible Automated Investing $0 Account Minimum
• The 4-Hour Workweek, Escape 9-5 by Tim Ferriss
• Credit Karma – Free Credit Score, Monitoring & Insights

Do you have any tips on simplifying your financial environment?  Add your comments below.

Kevin is the owner of FTP and the author of the personal finance book series Filling The Pig. He uses his past successes and failures with debt, saving cash, investing and running home-based businesses to educate others about successful money managment and Creating a Lifestyle of Opportunities.