Managing your money can be cumbersome at times. That’s why you really want to be automating your personal finances as much as you can. Not only will that help you to save time but it can also help you save money in the long-term. In this article, you will discover five smart ways to automate your personal finances so that you can get the most out of your money without having to spend hours each week managing it.
Set up direct debit payments for all your monthly bills
The first step to automating your personal finances is to set up direct debit payments for all your monthly bills such as water, gas, electricity, etc. That way you don’t need to worry about missing any bills and getting slapped with late payment charges by your service providers. Also, it saves you the time of having to manually conduct your utility bill payments online or at the bank branch.
Set up direct debit payments for all your debt repayments
Secondly, it is very smart to set up direct debit payments for all your debt repayments. In the case of debt repayments, it is even more important than when paying your bills to make sure you make all your payments on time. That way you will not accidentally default on any loans or outstanding credit card debt due to none payment or incur any late payments fines in case you end up paying late. Also, for your credit card repayments, it is wise to make repayments that are larger than the minimum required repayment so that you can pay your credit card debt off faster.
Set up direct debit payments for the money you want to put into your investment account
Another smart way to automate your personal finances is to set up direct debit payments into your investment account. That way your wealth continues to grow as you benefit from the interest you earn on the original amount you put into your portfolio and on the amounts you put in every month.
I, of course, follow my own advice and have set up a monthly direct debit payment into my MoneyFarm wealth management account over a year ago so that I can grow my investment portfolio over time.
Set up direct debit payments for the money you want to put aside to save
You also want to be putting money aside that you want to save for things such as holidays, larger consumer goods purchases or whatever else you would like to save up for. The amount you want to put aside for larger purchases, of course, is up to you. Just make sure that you are paying off your debts and are putting money aside for investments too.
Transfer your discretionary spending money onto a prepaid debit card
Finally, another excellent way to automate your personal finances and to keep your spending in check is to transfer all the money you want to use for discretionary spending (i.e. on going out or taking spontaneous trips) onto a prepaid debit card. That way you are much less likely to overspend as you can only spend the amount that you load up onto the prepaid card.
Automating your personal finances is a great way to facilitate your money management and to give you more financial peace of mind.
