Have you ever found yourself doing something you know you “should” be doing? And when you’re finally ready to complete that task, you may find that it really only took a few minutes. And then thought why did you put it off for so long? The same could happen with some of these fabulous financial clothes.
These smart habits are the ones everyone knows they should be doing, don’t take long to establish, and yet many people avoid them. Here we’ll take a look at five great financial clothes and hopefully encourage you to try them for sure.
an automatic saving rule
One of the best things you can do to make sure your finances are in good shape is: pay yourself first, The first step is to create a budget detailing all your income and expenses for a given time period (usually per month). Hopefully you will have more income than expenses, and the money that is left over can be used to save or pay off your debt.
Paying yourself first means that instead of taking what is left over at the end of the month and putting it in your savings account, you pay yourself at the beginning of the month. When you save at the end of the month, it’s like you never have any money left. The best way to save is to set up an automatic savings rule every month. Seems like high yield savings account And create a recurring transfer from your checking account every month. It is important that you have a separate savings account. This makes it difficult to withdraw money unless it is a true emergency.
recurring investment
Another great financial habit to establish is recurring investing. trying to time the stock market is a common newbie mistake — It’s a better idea to set up a recurring transfer from your checking account. it is called dollar cost averaging And investing all your money at one high point for the market is a great way to reduce the risk. Again, just as with setting up a separate savings account, as with setting up an investment account. This is different from the account you use for your monthly expenses, a good habit to start.
automatic bill payment
Setting your bills to be paid automatically is another great financial habit that you can do in a matter of minutes. This is important for two reasons – first, late fees and interest on missed payments can have a huge impact on your budget. Avoiding those fees and interest is a must. Another reason is that it frees you up to do other things with your life. Putting your finances on autopilot is a great financial habit.
account alert
Before you set up automatic bill payments, you want to make sure you have enough money in your account. As well as having a small extra amount in your checking account, a emergency fund Can save you from over-drafting your account (and getting hit with higher fees). Account alerts can be a great way to make sure you don’t get charged unnecessary fees.
There are several types of account alerts. You should set them on all your bank, credit card and other financial accounts. You can get alerts if your balance drops before a certain level. Alerts are available when your details are due, payment is received or there is suspicious activity on your account. You can also choose whether you want to be alerted by email, phone, or text message. Configure your account alerts in a way that is most productive for you.
get mint app
One thing that can help you keep track of all your finances is the Mint app. Available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, another great financial habit is to download the Mint app. Make it a habit to review the Mint app twice a week.
You can use the Mint app to review all of your various financial accounts in one place. You can also categorize your monthly spending and see how it is stacking up to your budget. Neglecting your finances is the first step toward potential financial difficulty.
Bottom-line
If you’ve been kicking off some of these financial habits, it’s time to put them into practice. As the ancient saying goes – 20 years ago was the best time to plant a tree; The second best time is today. Don’t waste any more time without making sure your finances are in perfect shape.
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dan miller (92 posts)
Editor is a freelance writer and founder of PointsWithACrew.com, a site that helps families travel for free/cheap. His home base is in Cincinnati, but he tries to travel the world as much as possible with his wife and 6 children.
