Financial Fittness - August Challenge

I get regular emails from EveryDollar and You Need a Budget (YNAB) with financial tips. I often don't read them. I leave them unread with the intention of reading them later. Well, there's no time like the present! As Gary Vaynerchuk says "You're gonna die..." So let's embrace the now.



EveryDollar's August Challenge is "3 Ways to get Organized with your Money." Their 3 tips are:

• Get rid of the paper pile.
• Plan out your meals.
• Make bill paying quick.

The first two we already do. YNAB has made it easy to input expenses on the go and online banking has made saving receipts a thing of the past. No paper pile! And let's be honest as a family of 4 with toddlers, we HAVE to plan meals. Or we would never eat. But I'm not very good about the third challenge. They suggest "Set up as many bills for autodraft as you can so they are paid easily, predictably and consistently. For the ones that don’t offer that option, pay them as soon as you get them instead of letting them all pile up. The sooner you pay, the sooner you can think about something else!

Now that is something that has my attention. It's true unpaid bills just linger in the back of the mind. They are a burden! I don't particularly like Autodraft. It always catches me off guard. But I can set up each bill to pay automatically when it comes to my mailbox. Almost autodraft, but with me in the driver's seat. YAY! NEW GOAL - set up bills to pay automatically once I have received and reviewed them. BOOM!

We've had a few setbacks in the getting rid of debt department (mainly that the debt pile is going up instead of down), but I'll save that for another day.