With everything going on in life, it’s easy to forget about personal finance budgeting. But, even if you work 80 hours a week, many of today’s financial tools leave you with no excuse to avoid money management. In the time it takes to commute to the city, you could easily learn these five financial tricks for busy people.
The Latest Personal Finance Budgeting Ideas
1) Use Budgeting Apps
Many savvy New York professionals have begun using mobile apps to help with simple budgeting tasks. Apps, like PocketGuard and Mint, have the ability to synch bank accounts, set budgets based on previous spending habits and more. Now, instead of sitting down to work on your finances, you can manage your money on the go.
2) Set Calendar Reminders to Review Finances
Calendar reminders are another way technology can help improve your personal finance budgeting. You can use them to set a recurring event in your calendar that alerts you when it’s time to review your financial well-being. Depending on your age or life situation, you could choose to schedule a financial check-up once a week, month, quarter or year.
3) Use your Credit Card for Everything
From cash back to automatic billing options, credit cards have many advantages today. If you can avoid accumulating debt, a credit card can be a useful tool for streamlining budget-tracking and bill-paying. Those who do it right simplify their life by charging everything and paying it all off once a month.
4) Digitally Capture Receipts
No matter what tools are now popular, personal finance budgeting is still essentially about tracking spending. One new way to accomplish this basic task is to take cell phone pictures of all your receipts. Then, you can more easily save and share your daily expenses with your significant other.
5) Utilize Automatic Payments
There’s no easier way to stop missing payments than to have the payments debited automatically out of your bank account. Automatic bill pay will also save you money lost to late fees. Today, many fixed monthly bills, like utility payments, will allow you to set up automatic withdrawal from your financial institution.
Although new personal finance budgeting hacks are always great, there is never any substitute for sound financial advice. If you have questions about budgeting or other financial planning topics, contact a local tax professional.