How to Manage Your Money Like a Pro with Automation

Have you heard of decision fatigue? The idea is pretty simple. According to this article from the AMA, decision fatigue refers to “the idea that after making many decisions, your ability to make more and more decisions over the course of a day becomes worse.” Thanks to this phenomenon, it pays to reduce the number of decisions you need to make in a day. That’s where automation comes in.

Automation = Better Financial Habits

Automation is your money’s best friend. By automating your finances, you reduce your opportunities for decision making and decision fatigue, thereby reducing your chances to change your mind about saving money or paying a bill in full. By reducing your decisions you set yourself up for success! Automation can build up your savings and pay off your bills, without any extra effort on your part. So, how can you use automation as a financial tool?

Automate Your Bill Payments

There are many different facets of your finances which can benefit from automation. Automating your bills is a good place to start. Many banks have online bill pay options available that help you pay your regular monthly bills on time. In particular, automation is a good way to ensure you always pay your credit card balance in full, so that you don’t accrue any interest fees. However, one important thing to be aware of when automating your bills is that you will need to stay aware of your bank balance, to avoid over-drafting your account. As long as you keep an eye on your balance, automating your bills is a good way to avoid late fees, build good credit, and stay on top of your finances.

Automate Your Savings

The other major arena of your finances that definitely deserves some automation-attention is your savings. I touched briefly on automating your savings in an earlier article, which you can read here. The most important thing about automating your savings is that if money automatically gets moved out of your spending account, you have no chance to spend it. That makes saving that much easier! We do this with our retirement savings, and it really helps us keep it up. A great resource for further information about automating your savings is The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.

If you liked this article and want more tips on financial organization that will make your life a LOT easier, you’ll probably enjoy a free copy of my eBook, 9 Secrets of Financial Self Care. Click here or below to download it!

Why Organizing Your Banking Passwords is Key to Financial Success

Quick win alert: Organizing your passwords for your banking websites and other financial institutions can take you less than an hour, but revolutionize the way you interact with your finances.

Why is Organizing Your Passwords Important?

Because when we don’t know a password to check our bank balance, that can often create enough resistance for us to just not look at our money. As I’ve written about before, many of us live in a state of perpetual vagueness around our finances. The more challenging it is to break out of that fog, the more likely we are to stay there.

Conversely, when you know what your passwords are, it’s way easier to maintain a financial self care routine like a weekly money check-in.

How to Get Organized

First, take stock of all the different websites and digital portals that hold your financial information. Remember to consider both personal and business finances.

This list will obviously include any banks you use, but this also includes sites whose services you use to collect or send money (PayPal, Venmo, Stripe, etc.). Also remember to include any other sites where you manage your money, like investing services or tax filing platforms.

Once you’ve got a list, go and get those passwords! Centralize them in one place. You can do this using the old-fashioned paper and pen, or use a password-management app. There are quite a few out there, here’s a list.

Once you’re all done, you’ll see why this little tip is well-worth the time! If you enjoyed this article, you’ll probably like my e-Book, 9 Secrets to Financial Self Care. Get your free copy by clicking here.

How to Create Your Own Paycheck Using a Money System

 

I know you like being your own boss, but do you ever have paycheck envy? Do you ever wish you could get a paid vacation? Do you get tired of the feast or famine in your personal income? Especially with creative or freelance work, this can be a real issue for some of us. Fortunately, when you create money systems around your business income, you can create a solopreneur paycheck, by paying yourself first.

The System

Setting up a paycheck for yourself is simple. Every time you collect income, set aside a portion in a separate account just for your pay. Then pay yourself out of that account, but leave a portion in the account. The balance in this account will build over time so that you eventually have a cushion built up to even out dips in income, or even pay yourself while you take a holiday.

Determining Amounts

How much should you pay yourself each round? A good place to start is keeping track of your personal expenses and ensuring you cover those every month. After that, it’s a simple question of what to do with any extra income you may have made that month. You may choose to leave it all in the account to build up your balance, or take out an extra allowance if you’ve earned a reward. Setting up reward systems for yourself can be another motivator to keep your money systems consistent, organized, and ensure they meet your needs.

More in-depth information on creating a solopreneur paycheck can be found in my money mapping series. Part II discusses setting up a solopreneur paycheck in the context of your larger money system.

If you liked reading this, you might enjoy my free eBook, the Cash Flow Reboot Guide. This resource gives you a bunch of actionable steps to take to ensure that your business can thrive through times of financial uncertainty. Click below to grab your free copy!

Reduce the Hassle: 3 Tips to Keep Your Money System Simple

When I work with small business owners I often run see this one unfortunate pattern; many business owners believe that your money system has to be complex in order to work. The reality, however, couldn’t be further from that. We’ve already talked about how important having a money system is, and how to visualize it with money-mapping. Keeping your money system simple and streamlined makes it easier to visualize, but also much easier to follow through on and keep organized. If a system requires a bunch of checking in or spreads your money into a bunch of accounts you forget about, it’s not worth the maintenance. Here are three strategies you can use to pare down your business’s money system to a manageable size.

Limit Your Cards

If you’ve got a ton of cards under your business, keeping track of all of them and keeping them paid off can be difficult. To make it easier on you, I suggest paring down the number of cards you use. This will help you better keep track of your bills, credit rewards, and any other info associated with your cards.

Please note, I’m not advocating for closing any of your credit cards, as this can lead to a lowering of your credit score. However, here’s a good guide on how to do that, if you’re interested.

Under One Roof

One recommendation I regularly make to my clients is to consolidate their money into one institutions. If you have business bank accounts at three, four, or five different banks, that’s gotta be hard to stay on top of! Getting it all under one roof will help you keep an eye on your finances as a whole more easily. If you have multiple banks and you’re wondering how to go about consolidating, you might like to read this piece about switching banks we featured a couple years ago. It contains a guide to comparing banking offers and picking to the best option.

Keep Track

Making a regular habit of checking in with your finances. Make this easy by consolidating your passwords to your different accounts and portals. If you don’t have to go searching for passwords before you begin your checkin, you’re way more likely to actually do it!

I also recommend using an app or other tracking system. I especially like Mint.Others also like YNAB, or paper money tracking. Digitally tracking your money can save you some time, while also giving you a quick snapshot of your accounts when you need it.

If you found these tips helpful, you might also like this article on automation, which is another money hack to keep your systems tidy!

☮

Angela

Pick One of These 5 Ideas To Automate Your Wealth

Pick Pick One of These 5 Ideas To Automate Your Wealth: At Peace with Money

Last week we talked about loving our future selves, and dove into the world of IRAs. Today, I’d like to share a way you can love yourself and share the wealth with both future and present you – automation! I’ve written about automation before, and why it is so beneficial to our financial lives. The idea is simple: by automating your finances, you reduce your decision making, thereby reducing your chances to change your mind  or forget about saving money or paying a bill in full. Automating your finances make saving money easier and less of a mental effort. This principle is what Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg employ in their wardrobe choices. They’d wear the same thing every day so that they could conserve their brainpower for other more important decisions!

Here are my five ideas you can use to dip your toes into the world of financial automation. Start off slow – just pick one and try it out. If you like your results, you can come back for more!

Automate a Savings Goal

Set up an amount to automatically be sent to a particular savings account for a goal you’re pursuing. Don’t worry about the amount, any amount is great! Simply trying this is the most important step. 

Automate a Bill Payment

Automating a bill payment insures you will not pay late fees. In the long run, this could save you a lot of money. 

Set an Alert

Many banks offer to send alerts when your account hits a minimum balance. Set this up so you don’t overdraw your account. This way, you can avoid those pesky overdraft fees. 

Connect Your Accounts

Connect your accounts to a money management system or app so you can  really see where your money is actually going. I use Mint and I love it! Personal Capital is another I’ve heard of, and many people also swear by YNAB, or You Need a Budget

Set Up Direct Deposit

Have your paycheck automatically deposited into your checking account! This is so much more simple than Pick One of These 5 Ideas to Automate Your Wealth: At Peace With Moneyhaving to take all that time and effort to take your paycheck to the bank. Even if you have your own business and have varying income, you can create a solopreneur paycheck using the Profit First system. If you’re interested in reading more about this, I recommend my posts Create Your Own Paycheck  and How to Pay Yourself First.

If you enjoy these tips and want more resources on automation, I’ll happily recommend The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. This book emphasizes how savings habits and automation can help you build up savings for retirement. He also has a variety of free resources available for download on his website, so go ahead and take a look at those too! And of course, if any of this has piqued your interest, I’m happy to talk to you about setting up money systems for your business. Take a look at my service packages and schedule a curiosity call!

Angela

Image Source: Rodion Kutsaev

Create Your Own Paycheck

A Solopreneur's Paycheck: At Peace With Money

I know you like being your own boss, but do you ever have paycheck envy? Do you ever wish you could get a paid vacation? Do you get tired of the feast or famine in your personal income? Especially with creative or freelance work, this can be a real issue for some of us. Fortunately, when you create money systems around your business income, you can create a solopreneur paycheck, by paying yourself first.

The System

Setting up a paycheck for yourself is simple. Every time you collect income, set aside a portion in a separate account just for your pay. Then pay yourself out of that account, but leave a portion in the account. The balance in this account will build over time so that you eventually have a cushion built up to even out those rough patches and even pay your self while you take a holiday.

Determining Amounts

How much should you pay yourself each round? A good place to start is keeping track of your personal expenses and ensuring you cover those every month. After that, it’s a simple question of what to do with any extra income you may have made that month. You may choose to leave it all in the

Create Your Own Paycheck: At Peace With Moneyaccount to build up your balance, or take out an extra allowance if you’ve earned a reward. Setting up rewards systems for yourself can be another motivator to keep you money systems consistent, organized, and ensure they meet your needs.

More in-depth information on creating a solopreneur paycheck can be found in the Profit First Book. The first 5 chapters are available to download here on my website. If you’re intrigued by this idea and think you might benefit from a consultation with me, don’t be afraid to reach out and book a discovery call!

Angela

Image Sources:  Cody Davis,  rawpixel

Why Automation Is Your Money’s BFF

Why Automation is Your Money's BFF: At Peace With MoneyAutomation is your money’s best friend. By automating your finances, you reduce your opportunities for decision making, thereby reducing your chances to change your mind about saving money or paying a bill in full. By reducing your decisions you set yourself up for success! Automation can build up your savings and pay off your bills, without any extra effort on your part. So, how can you use automation as a financial tool?

Automate Everything!

There are many different facets of your finances which can benefit from automation. Automating your bills is a good place to start. Many banks have online bill pay options available that help you pay your regular monthly bills on time. In particular, automation is a good way to ensure you always pay your credit card balance in full, so that you don’t accrue any interest fees. However, one important thing to be aware of when automating your bills is that you will need to stay aware of your bank balance, to avoid over-drafting your account. As long as you keep an eye on your balance, automating your bills is a good way to avoid late fees, build good credit, and stay on top of your finances.

The other major arena of your finances that definitely deserves some automation-attention is your savings. I touched briefly on automating your savings in an earlier article, which you can read here. The most important thing about automating your savings is that if money automatically gets moved out of your spending account, you have no chance to spend it. That makes saving that much easier! We do this with our retirement savings, and it really helps us keep it up. A great resource for further information about automating your savings is The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach.

I hope this motivates you to try out automation with your finances!

Angela

Image Sources: Mitch Lensink, Lucas Silva Pinheiro Santos

Go to Top