Easy Organising, Save Time and Money

By Marcia Francois

• Did you know that being organised saves you money?
• You waste moneybuying duplicates of items you didn't know you had.
• You waste money on late charges because you can't find the bills you need to pay, or you forget to pay them on time.
• You also waste money not deciding in the store where you should store the item you're thinking of buying, and then not using it.

So now that you know why you should get organised, let's discuss some practical tips to show you how you can get your fin.ances organised.

It's a big myth that organising is difficult and time-consuming.

Yes, you do have to take some time initially to set up your system but unless you want to make things really complicated, it'll only take you about 15 to 30 minutes.

Put all bills to be paid in a specific folder
When you bring in the mail, throw away the junk mail and envelopes immediately and only keep the actual bill in a dedicated plastic see-through envelope in a specific place. Arrange the bills in order of when they have to be paid so that the one facing you is also the most urgent bill.

This way you and the rest of your family always know exactly where to find all the bills.

Automate as many bill payments as possible
We live very busy lives so if you don't have to think about paying it, all the better for you. That said, schedule a day of the month to check your online payments against your actual budget.

Dedicate a specific day or days of the month to pay your bills
Mark off a date on your calendar when you pay bills. If your bills are due on different days of the month, you may need more than one date.

Because life happens, schedule the date a couple of days before the payment is actually due so you don't incur any late fees.

File
Once your bills are paid, file them in the way that's easiest for you to manage. If you're not a file puncher, don't fool yourself that you will start punching and filing. Rather use a filing system where you simply drop the paper in and it's done.

Maintain
Restrict your filing space so that it forces you to clear out old bills every 6 - 12 months.