My top three financial tasks to schedule today
Do you put off doing your finances because, frankly, there's always something more fun to do?
Do you end up saying “I’ll do it later” and going back to scrolling Instagram instead?
Does all of this leave you with a vague feeling of self-disgust and impending financial doom?
Do you ask yourself why you can’t just force yourself to get it done?
Once you get going with money management, watching your numbers get better can be rewarding. Seeing the debt drop and the savings rise feels really good. There are even ways to make a game out of some kinds of money-saving. In general, though, managing money is admin. There's no getting around it so you might as well own it.
In fact, I think the expectation that doing your finances should somehow be super easy or enjoyable can be counterproductive. Expecting it to be kind of a drag, and then just buckling up and getting on with it is honestly more effective.
The trouble with financial admin is that it's easy to procrastinate over it. Insurances auto-renew, deals on credit, savings and utilities expire - but you still get the service, and there's always something more exciting to do than track your spending against your plan.
Letting things just happen to you is easy, but it’s disempowering and it costs you money. Your spending creeps up and you don’t notice. You don’t spot frauds or mistaken charges against your account. You miss out on deals and end up overpaying.
Scheduling time to catch up on financial tasks can help make sure you don't give in to that urge to sack it off and watch telly.
Here are my top three types of tasks to schedule:
A regular time to analyse your spending for potential cost savings - about 15-20 min a week;
A regular time to check for unexpected payments from your bank account - about 5-10min a week;
Six weeks before any contract or deal ends time to research and find a new one - about one hour each time.
Knowing you have an appointment with your money means you can switch off and not worry about it the rest of the time.
I'm all about helping my clients make life easier for themselves. Letting your calendar help you manage your money is a really good start.
For more on how avoid procrastinating on financial tasks, or anything else really, check out this episode of my podcast, Squanderlust.