Tiffany Raiford
What is your time worth? Don’t just make up some arbitrary number and throw it out there, either. Really sit back and think about what your time is worth. When you are working, what do you earn per hour, per minute? Every second you spend doing things that are not particularly worth your time, such as paying your bills and mowing your own grass, take you away from the things that are most important in life, such as working to make money or spending time with your family. When I’m doing anything other than spending time with my kids and husband, I can’t help but feel irritated that I’m not working, which is how I earn my money. Activities such as this feel like a gross waste of time for me, which is why I let my husband automate our finances for us so that we don’t have to waste time on them every day or every month. It’s a concept that has really changed our live and put a lot more value on our time. Read on to find out how you, too, can automate your finances and improve your life. Not only does it save you ample time, it also saves you money on things like late fees and forgotten payments.
Enroll in your Employer’s Retirement Plan
It’s one of the most intelligent decisions you will ever make enrolling in your employer’s retirement plan. Not only does this mean your retirement contributions are being taken from your pay before you ever see it, it’s also usually a system that means you get a little bit of free money from your employer if they do a retirement match contribution.
Use Direct Deposit
I thought everyone used direct deposit, but apparently they do not. However, using this can make your life a lot simpler. It means you need not go to the bank, you don’t have to worry about making time before the bank closes or wondering how to deposit funds on your days off, when you’re not at work or when you are out of town. It makes banking so much simpler, and it really does make your finances that much easier to manage on a regular basis.
Have Savings Automatically Transferred
It’s easy to save money when you never see it. When it does not appear to make your bank balance look smaller, it’s much easier. Ask your HR department to have a portion of your deposit automatically deposited into your savings account each pay period so that you do it without taking the effort to do it.
Let Your Insurance Company Automatically Deduct your Premiums
This is one of the best things in my life. We let our insurance company deduct our fees each month from our bank account so that we don’t have to bother. We know the amount every month as well as when it comes out of our account so that we don’t have to bother with it on our own. It makes life very simple.
Sign up for Automatic Bill Pay
Automatic bill pay is something that you can use to make your life much easier. You can do it through your bank or through the companies that you pay each month. We have automatic bill pay with Direct TV, our mortgage company, Verizon and our electric company so that we never have to pay even one bill ourselves. It’s all paid automatically through our companies.
Set up Transfers to Investment Accounts
Any investments you make can be deducted from your accounts so that you can save ample time and money doing the transfers yourself. These are important payments and they should be made in a timely fashion to save you money and time.
Set Up Email Alerts when Bills are Paid
One thing you should remember to do is opt for email or text alerts when you set up a bill pay system. This helps you to remember that you do have a bill being deducted from an account so that you can make transfers or deposits when necessary. Verizon, for example, sends a text and an email when they schedule a payment so that you know the date they’re posting it to your account. It makes for keeping your checkbook balanced and in the black that much simpler.
Use Paypal
For me, Paypal is a dream come true. Not only do I have my pay deposited here, this is what I use for my regularly scheduled shopping. It sends me an email when I make a purchase so that I can keep my balance in check. It’s always up-to-date as nothing takes ‘longer’ to post and I don’t have checks or other outstanding items here. My balance is always accurate when I check it, so I don’t have to keep a bank book if I don’t want to.
Find a Bank that Allows Electronic Deposits via Online Banking
My husband is my banker, and his bank has recently launched a great new feature. When we have a check to deposit, we usually just send it with him to work. But he still has to take the time to go downstairs into the lobby and wait in line to make that deposit. What they use now at the bank is a photo service that allows you to take a photo of any check you wish to deposit and email/text it to the bank. It’s almost immediate, and it makes waiting in line or even going to the bank something you can avoid all together.
Utilize Online Banking
Online banking is great. It allows you to see what’s cleared and what has not. It allows you to make immediate transfers between accounts and to get information and details from purchases you made or checks you wrote. It’s a wonderful tool that helps with the automation of your banking and financial needs, and we recommend that everyone use it. It helps to eliminate waste by allowing you to forgo paper statements, and it also works much simpler than over-the-phone banking.
Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images
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