Simplify

• First, Track Your Spending–Start keeping a record of every penny you spend for 30 days—actually use a notebook or your computer to track every expenditure. Once you do that you’ll start getting the feel for what you’re spending on everything, then you can begin a monthly budget.  I know a budget may sound complicated, but if you do it religiously it saves you a lot of time and money in the long run.  It may seem a little difficult at first, but it gets much easier the more you do it.
• Second, Combine Your Finances–If you’re married, there shouldn’t be “His” money and “Her” money or “His” bills and “Her” bills.  All of it belongs to both of you, as they we say in the South, It’s yall’s money.  So always deposit all of the money into one central account and distribute it from there.  Doing that fosters good communication and, along with a budget agreed on by both of you, will eliminate money fights.
• Third, Make a “Bills” Calendar–If you have trouble staying organized when it comes to paying bills, make a “bills” calendar showing the day each bill is due.  Review it once a week and pay the bills due for that week. Never be late. And even better, make use of the “bill pay’’ feature on your bank account to automatically make those payments for you.
• Next, Build an Emergency Fund–When you have money set aside for emergencies, you’re not tempted to use the credit card to deal with it.  Everybody has the occasional emergency, and if you are already prepared when it comes, that’s one less thing you will have to worry about in a time of crisis, and you won’t have to spend months or years paying it off.
• And while you’re at it, Use Cash–This goes along with doing a monthly budget.  Once your budget is done, put cash in envelopes for each spending category and then spend only the cash out of those envelopes.  This simplifies things because you have a set plan to spend only so much—you won’t end up spending more than you make.
• Last for today, sell your junk.–Most of us have too much stuff that we don’t need, don’t use, and just takes up space.  If you never, or rarely ever use it, then sell it, donate it, or give it to someone that can use it.  Unused things don’t add value to your life and don’t bring you any joy.  All they do is take up space and drag you down.  So get rid of the junkand pass it along to someone that can enjoy it. Try out Craig’s list–maybe make some cash for yourself. And with that cash, either save it, or use it to pay down your highest-interest credit card.

When you take steps to simplify how you handle your financial situation, you start being proactive with your money, and it becomes so much easier to deal with on a daily basis.

Money doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take diligence and attention to what you’re doing.  Finding ways to simplify and streamline how you do it will always pay dividends by cutting out the time and effort you can better spend doing something more enjoyable.