Are you sweating over your finances this summer?  If you’re like our family, you’re busy with a lot of recreational activity.  Trips to see family and fun in the sun contribute to a full schedule.  With all of this activity, its easy to get off -track in managing your money wisely, so make a commitment to put things back on course starting today.

Get into a routine of money management

When it comes to managing money wisely it helps to get into a routine of conducting personal finance activities.  Typically, putting off the reconciliation of your checking account, paying bills, or tracking expenses in your budget leads to more work in the long run and the dreadful over spending of your budget.

If you’re like many people, ignoring financial responsibilities during the week usually catches up to you on the weekends when you have to spend several hours in front of the computer to determine where the money has gone for the week.  Or worse, you neglect money management for more than a week, forget to pay bills and throw in the towel on managing to your budget.  It’s definitely more difficult to piece it all back together at that point.

That’s why it’s a good idea to set aside a certain amount of time for personal finance activity.  So, to get back on track this summer and make managing money wisely the priority it should be, consider the below tips.

Manage money wisely tune – up tips

1. Find a location in your house where you can keep your financial information handy and conduct your work.  If you use a bill organizer and financial file system, keep them near this place so you’re not spending a lot of time digging through piles of paper to find this month’s bills.

2. Pay with cash.  If you’re having trouble keeping up with receipts and transactions families can sometimes generate, consider taking out cash from each paycheck for higher volume spending areas such as food, entertainment and gas.  The only transaction you have to track is the withdrawal.

3.  Save time by considering software to do some of the work for you.  With Mvelopes you can reconcile your checking account and manage your spending categories all in one place.  I’ve used Mvelopes for the past two years to manage our family finances.  It has saved me a lot of time and helped me to stay on top of our spending.

Managing money daily

4. Take 10-15 minutes to record spending within each of your budget categories if you’re using a tracking form or software.  Not sure how to track spending or maintain your budget?  Click here to learn more.

5. Sort through the mail and file bills in your bill organizer so they’re available to you when it’s time to pay them.

Managing money weekly

6. Review financial papers (statements, etc.) received during the week and file them into the appropriate folder in your financial file system.

7. Hold a weekly meeting with your spouse to discuss budget category balances and upcoming expenses to make sure you’re both on the same page.  Talking about money will prevent overspending and help avoid tension related to family finance.

Managing money bi – monthly

8. Pay bills.  If you receive two paychecks, allocate bill payments to each check and pay bills twice during the month.  By following this schedule, you’re avoiding one off trips to your online banking services which take more time.

Managing money monthly

9. Review budget category balances at the end of the month to determine where adjustments need to be made in spending.  Perhaps you’ve over spent in an area and need to manage it closer next month.  Or, adjust your budget for upcoming expenses depending on the time of year.  The seasons definitely impact where you’re spending money.

10.  Create a priority list of upcoming wants and needs.  Review and re prioritize the list each month with your spouse to determine how the top items on the list will be funded.  Getting wants and needs on the list that sometimes aren’t a part of your budget will reduce the temptation to purchase them with a credit card.

Are you in need of a tune – up this summer?  What other tips can you think of to get your money management back on course?

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