Money Saving Monday - Organizing Finances

So this is just a day slightly late...but hey, better late than never...right?

An organized plan in place for your finances is key to keeping you on track! I've learned this lesson the hard way because by nature I'm a paper hoarder. I'm sure my husband lets me take care of the finances in part because he doesn't know where to find everything. I do have a system in place but it is constantly evolving into something better!

Ok, for me, I use a binder to keep track of all our family's financial information. I probably rearrange everything in it every few weeks but it is all stored right there. So to start with let's gather our supplies...

3 ring binder
Hole punch (I like to have one that can go in the binder in case I need to add something quick)
Tabbed Dividers (these are the ones I use to make it easy to keep track of the month)
Printable Forms
Page protector
Zippered Pouch

I like to use binders that have the clear sleeve on the front so I can use pretty paper to decorate it with because we all know that pretty things get used more! You can label this binder if you'd like or leave it blank so no one else knows what it is.

Now that you have your binder add your dividers and whatever forms you decide to use! The easy part is done! Filling out all the forms is the not so fun part.

In the very front of your binder (but after the hole punch) you can add a zippered pouch to hold pens, pencils, envelopes, stamps, and a calculator. This keeps your supplies handy and organized.

After the pouch add a page protector where you can slip in your account information sheet. This page has space for you to write in each account/bill you have and information you need to call or log in to the website. Having all of this information together will make it easy to find a phone number in case of an outage or an emergency.

(For some reason the account information form isn't showing a direct download link but if you click on the link it will take you to the website where you can download it.)
Account Information

Behind the account information sheet are your tabbed dividers. In each month's divider you should have something like the following: blank daily spending tracker, blank budget form (I use Dave Ramsey's Monthly Cash Flow Sheet), detailed expense tracker, bill amount and payment tracker (this will be changed to the next divider each month instead of having one for each separate month).

Spending Tracker
In January, May, and September I have a debt tracker where I can evaluate where our debt stands and see how we are doing with paying it off! The only other time I evaluate it is if the prior month we paid a bill off and can now add the monthly payment to another debt. (See the debt snowball.)

~~For the debt tracker I just have a sheet of paper where I have written each debt, the current balance, minimum payment amount, current monthly payment, current expected pay off date. As it is paid off I will put a line through it.

*In the front pocket of the binder I keep our financial goals list so we can have a clear picture of what we are moving toward and cross them off as we get there!!

*In the back pocket of my binder I keep a running list of bigger ticket purchases we would like to make and cross them off as we have the extra money to buy them!

Included with each of these forms is a page telling you how to use it.

This system is how I keep my finances organized. At the end of every month I will total everything up and evaluate my budget for the next month to see if I need to increase/decrease amounts per budgeted category. This is also the time I sit down with Drew and go over our finances so we can be on the page and know where we stand financially.We can also share at this time any new goals we may have (like a new TV) and include them in the binder.

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Tips:

1. If you work this system or your own daily you will stay on top of your finances. It doesn't take but a few minutes to stay organized.

2. Keep track of your finances for a year at a time (Keep April 2012 until April 2013). This way you can compare where you were and were you are and if your bills are more or less than the previous year. Throw the previous year away when you replace it with the current month.

3. Write down your payment tracking number or check number on the back of the monthly calendar and keep until you know for sure the payment has been posted or until the next month's bill comes and you see a zero balance from the month before.

4. As soon as a bill comes in the mail write down the amount on the applicable forms and place the bill in the front pocket of your binder until payment time.

5. Keep an open mind when it comes to figuring out an organizing system that works for you and your family. No one system will work for every one or situation.


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