{"id":1276,"date":"2020-10-30T12:43:55","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T16:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chameleonjohn.com\/blog\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2020-11-09T12:36:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T17:36:23","slug":"5-ways-to-stay-financially-organized-with-a-busy-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chameleonjohn.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-stay-financially-organized-with-a-busy-schedule","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Stay Financially Organized with a Busy Schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Throughout our day to day schedules, there are bound to be times when\nlife gets incredibly busy. Between working full time, having a social life and\nhobbies, as well as keeping your home or apartment clean and organized, there\u2019s\nbarely any time to focus on other important parts of your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, when a busy schedule gets in your way, vital tasks can\nfall by the wayside and add unnecessary stress to your life. One of the biggest\naspects of your life that this can impact is your finances. Money management is\nalready a difficult task to begin with, so it\u2019s no surprise that when adding on\nthe additional stress of daily life, it can fall off your everyday to-do list.\nHowever, this leaves many people in difficult financial situations in the long\nrun, so it\u2019s important not to let your finances fall far behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nread on for a list of five ways you can stay financially organized even with a\nbusy schedule. Follow these tips, and your finances will be at the top of their\ngame in no time!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep\na Planner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first steps you should take if your finances are being\nimpacted by a busy day-to-day schedule is to reduce the amount of clutter in\nyour life. After all, before you can even start focusing on your finances,\nfiguring out how to manage a busy schedule is going to help you free up some\ntime to work on this area of your life. The best way to do this is to create a\ndaily, weekly, and monthly schedule that you can keep on hand at all times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few ways one can go about doing this itinerary. One way is to have a physical planner or journal on hand. These are often a popular option for people who prefer to handle task management by hand as opposed to automatically. Studies show that manually writing out tasks and reminders help you store these memories<\/a> better than if you were to simply type them out. Spending money on a physical planner is also a good motivation to use it frequently as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, one of the downsides that may accompany this method is time\nmanagement. It\u2019s not nearly as convenient to write everything down in a\nphysical planner as it is to use voice-memos or other digital apps to track\nyour schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the reason that many people in recent years have decided to take\ntheir schedules digital. They\u2019ll usually try different organizing and\nscheduling apps on their smartphones or computer in order to take advantage of\nthe benefits from technology. This can include getting instant notifications a\nfew days, hours, or minutes before an event or assignment so that you don\u2019t\nmiss anything important. While it may often lack the memory-boosting benefits\nthat can come with manual writing, digital tools are a great way to use tech to\nstay on top of your day-to-day organization habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Digitize\nYour Finances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we\u2019re in the digital age, it\u2019s no surprise that a number of tools\nand techniques are being developed in the world of technology to help people\nbetter organize and manage their finances. The name of the game these days is\nFinTech, short for Financial Technology. This relatively new field of services\nis becoming increasingly popular for the variety of options it can provide,\nboth to consumers and businesses. By utilizing technology to help guide and\nmaintain people\u2019s finances, the FinTech industry is proving to be lucrative,\nand as a consumer, taking advantage of the many different options and benefits\navailable is going to help you in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way you can use financial technology to boost your finances is the\nuse of budgeting tools and applications. Due to the variety of budgeting tools\nout there, it\u2019s important to do some research and determine which one will be\nbest suited for your needs. Some people prefer budgeting apps that link\ndirectly to their bank account in order to automatically track their spending\nand saving. Others prefer ones that allow you to manually add in any income and\npurchases so that you\u2019re able to visualize your spending habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also online-only banking platforms now available at the consumer level. These are increasingly gaining traction in recent years. Due to the higher overhead costs associated with having brick and mortar locations, these online banks are able to provide unique services to their customers that may not be available from traditional banks. These may include things such as fee-free accounts, easy online access, and the opportunity to get paid early<\/a> with faster paycheck deposits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track\nYour Budget Regularly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeping an eye on your budget on a regular basis is a key way to make\nsure you\u2019re not overspending. Your spending habits can be a major factor in\ndetermining if you\u2019re in good financial health. Overspending puts you at risk\nfor taking on unnecessary debt, which can pile up and hurt your credit score.\nWhether you are using a budgeting app as mentioned previously or keeping track\nof a budget via spreadsheets or a physical planner, keeping track of your\nspending is vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your first goal with any budget tracking plan is to make sure you are\nearning more than you spend. At the end of each month, you want to be sure you\nhave enough left over to pay off all your bills without taking on extra loans.\nAs is often the case when it comes to spending habits, people often focus on\nthe short term rather than the long term, which can often lead to difficulties.\nWhen you create a budget, always make sure that you\u2019re constantly staying up to\ndate on it and making sure you aren\u2019t overspending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your financial future is not something to be overlooked<\/a> either. This is why you also want to make sure that you leave extra money in your budget for saving and investing. You should also look into the different ways to invest in your future. It is recommended that you contribute at least the minimum amount to match your employer\u2019s 401k program benefits, but many financial planners suggest that you put in 10-15% of your monthly income into a 401k. Another consideration to budget for is an emergency fund or saving for other major expenses you are expecting to take on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automate\nYour Payments<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re dealing with a hectic day to day life, managing bills\nmanually, along with the paperwork that may come with them, is going to be a\ndifficult task. Many people end up dealing with excessive clutter when they receive\nmanual bills, and this can cause people to miss payments. Making bill payments\non time is vital to everyone\u2019s financial life, because missing payments can\nhave a negative impact on one\u2019s credit score and bring about things like late\nfees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a busy person, this is why it may be a good idea to set up\nautomatic bill payments. Whether it\u2019s your monthly credit card payments, a\nmortgage, or student loans, almost all of these can be set up with automatic\npayments. Automatic payments will link up directly to your bank account, so\ninstead of dealing with monthly bills and sending checks in the mail, the bills\nwill automatically be withdrawn from your account every month on time. This can\nbe especially useful if you\u2019re someone who\u2019s apt to forget bills due to a busy\nlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you do take this route, be sure you are always keeping your\nbank account monitored and managed. You don\u2019t want an automatic payment to come\nthrough when your account is empty, leaving you with hefty overdraft fees, or\nleaving your bills unpaid. Keep track of when your bill payments are expected\nto come in (usually the end of the month) and have enough money in the desired\naccount to cover it when the time comes to make the payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your debt and bill payments may still prove to be a struggle to manage,\nespecially if you have multiple different credit cards or loan providers.\nHaving your bills split among a few different companies can make it hard to\nmanage. If this is the case, it may be a good idea to look into getting a debt\nconsolidation loan. This can take many of the loans you may have and combine\nthem into one easy to manage loan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set\nAside Time Each Week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, even if you have a busy life, you should always take the time\nto sit down and recuperate. There are many benefits to taking time for\nyourself, both for your physical and mental wellbeing. Burnout is real, and you\nwant to make sure you can avoid it at all costs. Consider having set blocks of\ntime, whether it\u2019s weekly or daily, that you spend on yourself, and don\u2019t make\nany plans. Some activities you can do to destress may include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n