Rethink Money Waste

This Kiplinger article is a great read regarding 25 ways we waste our money.

There's some good advice. While a lot of the advice addresses personal spending behavior, it gives a few other good tips regarding interest bearing checking accounts, saving for retirement and tax refund comment. Below is elaboration regarding financial organization for those interested in some financial perspective.

If you are like most folks, you probably are disorganized when it comes to your finances. The paperwork in addition to the online monitoring can hamper anyone's style. The idea is to capture your spending behavior, track it in a timely manner and be reassured that you are doing well financially. Automatic bill pay is a great way to make payments on-time, less costly (some charge $2 processing fee for paper checks), and save on postage as well as lag time between receipt of bill and payment. Online banking features are available with your accounts. Mint.com is a highly recommended venue in the financial world; however, I have not tried it yet because of my techno-phobia. Regardless if you are tech-savvy or techno-phobia like myself, it is important to know your financial picture.

For those military families moving or pcsing, it can be more tricky to locate important papers. [It can be more of a hassle for those who don't move every five years such as Guard members.] 

Here are some tips to keep in mind when it comes to financial organization.

1) Try to purchase a hard folder box or even an LLBean bag (they are durable) to contain all your financial paperwork such as bank statements, credit card statements, 401k, mortgage, brokerage, etc... This is your financial mission control center where you have checks, credit/debit cards, passcodes or anything relevant to your finances. No bills. No utilities. This is your one-stop financial mission control center.

2) Mark it and keep it close. Should you have passwords or codes, try to gather them in a small folder and keep in the setup you develop for easier retrieval. 

3) Keep this information close at all times especially while moving.  Electronics such as laptops or access to web pages via off-site locations are there but you will need to blend both paper and electronics according to your personal style as you relocate.

4) Formulate a financial statement utilizing this information so when you meet with the bank, real estate agent or mortgage broker, you can obtain a good idea of your financial situation.  This can be timely especially when in negotiations for an offer on a house or something else.

While tedious in the beginning, when it comes to crunch time, you will be glad that you took the time to organize your financial information. It will save you time in addition to money.

Disclaimer:  This article is the opinion of the person writing it, and any financial decisions made as a result does not make the writer liable for any action taken.  Please consult your personal financial advisor for more information.