Actions to Take to Automate Your Finances Now
Now that you have everything in place to put your finances on autopilot you need to do so now. Make sure all the items listed in the previous Blog were set up a month ahead. Activate your automation by doing the following -
On the 30th of the month – Make sure your salary was credit to your bank account. You may set up alerts at your bank to notify you of such transactions.
On the 1st of the next month - Set up all your accounts (banks, credit cards, brokerages etc.) on Mint.com. Mint will monitor all your financial transactions in a short time and categorized them. You may customize or change the categories according to your situation (More on Mint in a later Blog regarding Organizing, Automating, Monitoring, and Maintaining your system/plan).
On the 5th of the month - If you are incorporating the credit card strategy in paying your bills then use your credit cards to pay all the budgeted bills due for the month that accept credit card payment. I hope you choose this method because there are benefits in using credit cards to make the payments (More on this later).
On the 5th of the month - Pay your bills that are due according to your budget on the 10th. If you were unable to move the due date on some of your bills then you should pay those bills early by borrowing from savings for a few weeks. This is only required if you chose not to use the credit card payment strategy and pay your bills with your checking/debit card account.
On the 30th of the month – Make sure your salary was credit to your bank account. You may set up alerts at your bank to notify you of such transactions.
On the 1st of the next month - Set up all your accounts (banks, credit cards, brokerages etc.) on Mint.com. Mint will monitor all your financial transactions in a short time and categorized them. You may customize or change the categories according to your situation (More on Mint in a later Blog regarding Organizing, Automating, Monitoring, and Maintaining your system/plan).
On the 5th of the month - If you are incorporating the credit card strategy in paying your bills then use your credit cards to pay all the budgeted bills due for the month that accept credit card payment. I hope you choose this method because there are benefits in using credit cards to make the payments (More on this later).
On the 5th of the month - Pay your bills that are due according to your budget on the 10th. If you were unable to move the due date on some of your bills then you should pay those bills early by borrowing from savings for a few weeks. This is only required if you chose not to use the credit card payment strategy and pay your bills with your checking/debit card account.
On the 5th of the month – Verify that the scheduled bill-pay payments were made by your bank to pay the items that do not accept credit cards for payments.
On the 15th of the month – Double check to make sure your salary was credit to your bank account.
On the 20th of the month - Make auto-transfer to pay off the credit cards in full from your checking account. This could be set up from the credit card account online.
On the 20th of the month - Pay your bills that are due according to your budget on the 25th. If you were unable to move the due date on some of your bills then you should pay those bills early by borrowing from savings for a few weeks. This is only required if you chose not to use the credit card payment strategy and pay your bills with your checking/debit card account.
On the 25th of the month - Transfer the balance in your checking account to your various saving accounts for specific purposes (Large purchases, vacation, quarterly payments, Roth IRA, emergency fund, debt elimination etc.).
Any time - Click on the Mint app at any time to review and see the status of your finances.
Note: From the list of your paychecks and bills you prepared earlier by using the instructions from the Blog: 'Where Did Your Money Go?' you would of known beforehand the amount of your bills and that you are able to pay them. Therefore, that's why you could pay them with you credit cards and later during that same month you could pay off the credit card balances in full. The benefits of this strategy will be discussed in a later Blog.
May modern technology bring you the peace of mind you deserve after working so hard for your money!
See you at the next Blog. All the best!
