How Preparation Will Save You Money
A stitch in time saves nine. How often the truth of this saying comes back to us. We look back to that space in time when we could have dealt with an issue at its emergence. And, instead, here we are- looking at a big problem that will now take us ages to fix. In personal finance, a lack of preparation can not only cost you time, it’s probably also costing you money. If you do nothing else for your new year beginnings, make a couple of these preparatory steps and save yourself some cash and a whole lot of stress.
Receipts
C’mon, everyone has been there. That point, where you can clearly remember stuffing the all-important receipt into your jeans pocket, or your handbag, never to be seen again. Now it’s tax time, or time to show your boss your deductions, or balance your budget, and the rotten thing is nowhere to be found and it’s hours of work or money down the drain. Get your receipt system in order. If you can’t commit to a system where you file them at regular intervals, at least train yourself to put every single receipt, without fail, in the same spot. If you see a receipt in your wallet, immediately go and put it in the right drawer/ in-tray/ envelope. If you can get yourself into the routine of filing them on a weekly basis, then you’ve hit the holy grail of organisation.
Direct Debit And Consolidate
You know when you switch over to a new phone company, or electricity provider, and because you don’t have the details with you, you don’t set up automatic deductions. And you keep meaning to call them, and then the bill arrives, and then the bill date passes and you realise you’ve defaulted on your bill. Might not seem like a huge deal now, but in terms of credit rating, it’s important to pay attention to those kinds of bills as they can have a more far-reaching effect on your credit history. Set up direct debit as soon as you sign up to a new company, and mark the new billing cycle on your calendar which hopefully is hanging on your wall. The same goes with superannuation funds- it might seem easier just to sign up to whichever fund your employer usually contributes to, but it’s a massive counter-step for your finances. Take the time, sort out your details and get them to contribute to your major fund to avoid extra fees and time lost when you eventually do consolidate your accounts.
Maintain
The main inspiration for this article, I have to admit, is a pair of boots. I have a beautiful pair of boots, I loved them dearly. And, when I journeyed away for a week’s holiday over Christmas, I should have thought about the fact that they weren’t stored properly. It’s been raining for months where I live, the house was damp and the boots were ruined by the time I returned. The lesson? Maintain, store, preserve. The money lost when we avoid a minor repair, or don’t take the time to change the tyres or, in my instance, buy a couple of punnets of damp rid end up costing us so much money and heartache. As soon as something breaks, fix it. have an emergency fund for essential repairs, so you’re not financially hampered from essential repairs. Or from storing your lovely leather boots in the proper manner to which they have become accustomed.
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