Finances and Time Management: How does finances affect your time?

I was having a conversation with a family member and realized how the lack of financial management can affect our time. Think about how much time you spend budgeting, going over expenses, trying to manage and pay off debt, coming up with funds for unpaid expenses.

When our finances are not organized and there is no financial stability this causes us to spend more time on getting finances together than had we been more organized with our finances.

On paydays I would sometimes find myself spending about 2 hours on allocating finances and more time on other days coming up with strategies for paying off debt. It's okay to focus on developing a plan but with an organized system it can save you a lot of time.

So, what should you do?

This is what I did.

• I allocated my paychecks to go into multiple accounts each pay period: Where a percentage of my paycheck goes towards food expense into a food expense account, a percentage of my paycheck goes towards rent expenses in my rent expense account, and a percentage goes into other accounts according to what the expense is. You may have multiple expenses in one account, but the goal is to allocate a percentage of your income to each account according to the amount of expenses in that account, in addition to adding to savings and spending accounts.

  
  

  This saves me time because I don't have to spend time transferring money from one account to another, as the funds are already there. I also don't have to wonder if there is enough in the account to cover expenses because I already know the funds have been allocated for each particular expense. Not packing everything into one account also gives a better view of where my money is going, so I'm not spending time trying to figure out where my money went.

  
  

• I set my monthly expenses on auto pay: I set up any expenses that can be set on auto pay. This saves me time because I don't have to spend time going online or calling in each payment. The money is allocated, and the funds are taken out, saving me lots of time.

  
  

• Organize and know my budget: When you know your budget and keep it organized this saves time because you're not spending time trying to figure out what expenses need to be paid as you would already know. Knowing your budget and keeping up with it at least once a month can save you a lot of time.

  
  

• I set debt on auto pay: making payment plans with debtors and setting up auto pay can save you time as well.

Having an organized budget and financial plan not only saves you time, but it also gives you a peace of mind when it comes to your money. Try using these tips and see if it helps save you time and become more organized with your finances.

How do you think finances may affect your time? Let me know in the comments. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe for the latest finance tips.

Discipline Is Key 🗝️

#KeepMoneyNow