So for awhile now, really probably since I’ve been old enough to have a bunch of bills to pay I have been the WORST at keeping track of my spending. I usually had the money to pay my bills but I never had a clue what day they were due how much was due etc.. and then usually when I went to pay it was three bills missed .. no bueno my friend!
I vowed to get my act together this year and actually started gathering the necessary tools to achieve this in November so I could have a few months to really organize everything and not feel disappointed  if I didn’t get it all done on Jan 1st.
Long story short, since November I have managed to get on top of ALL my bills, paid off my credit cards, opened a savings account and started getting the dear BF’s finances in order to help him pay off his debt!and now I am going to give you some tips to help you do it too


1. Become friends with Excel. I’m fairly lucky that I can maneuver my way around an excel spreadsheet pretty well. I tried using budget trackers online but  none of them really worked for what I wanted. I made my very own budget tracker which I will share with you as soon as I can figure out how to upload a file to wordpress lol. Basically it has list of all my bills by account number, how i find my bill ( most are online so I have the link)  user name, password, balance ( amount due) amount paid and the balance after payment.
I got a little bit more fancy with debt reduction but if you want to just focus on bills for now that’s great start.

2. If you’re comfortable, try using mint.com. I know not everyone feels safe about having their financial info on the internet but it is made by Intuit who I do my taxes with so I felt comfortable using it. Basically you upload all of your accounts and it helps you break down where you are spending your money and helps you keep a budget based on what you actually spend among many other features. It actually came in really handy for me because I signed up for bill reminders and fee alerts and found out I was spending almost 60$ a month in fee’s with my current bank account! .. I made a quick trip to the bank and switched my account types and  now I only pay 15$ If you don’t want to use mint some financial institutions lie RBC offer similar tools on their online banking or just print out your statements for the past few months and take note of what you see.

3. Moral of the story – pay attention! Now that I am tracking my bills, payments etc I actually see where my money goes and can better decide if I can afford a treat or should really cut back on dining out in any given week. I nearly passed out when I see how much interest is racked up and debt only moving slightly when you only pay minimum payments. Even a few dollars over minimum payments can make a big impact.
My goal for 2013,  now that I have eliminated my own consumer debt in less than 3 months is to get the BF’s up to speed and take a trip somewhere exciting! Any suggestions? Do you have any tips to whip your finances in shape?

New Years Resolutions : Bills!
Useful Links:
www.mint.com
www.goldengirlfinance.com