Comments on: The Sunday Afternoon Money Routine

By: Sandy

Sandy — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:04:20 +0000

I like online bill paying so much that whenever I get a bill in the mail, I pay it immediately – can set the date online, plus it gives me an excuse to see my banking home page with a big fat 0 next to my credit card balance!

By: Tyler Corlen

Tyler Corlen — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:15:25 +0000

What about football? …actually, on 11/11/07 the only 1:00 PM game on in my area was the Redskins/Eagles game. Maybe it would have been better to go over financials.

(also, check out my “fun” blog: http://tylercorlen.com)

By: jeanie

jeanie — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:20:35 +0000

love this site i also go through my budget and finances every sunday even though im a retired 58 year old ex haidresser i find it really relaxing and gets me motivated to watch every dollar and stay on track for the next week ive always done it all my life i live alone so it gives me something to do for hours and keeps me away from the supermarkets saving is my hobby just love it and enjoy reading about everyone else best wishes from australia

By: Melanie

Melanie — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:03:00 +0000

Thanks for this. As I read your blog, I have incorporated some of your tips into my routine. I used to pay bills late simply because I rarely filed. Now I file but, only once per month.

My child is a bit older than yours but, I tend to file bills while he is watching basketball games.

Thanks for the tips and inspiration!

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 20:04:41 +0000

Good Routine. I almost find myself doing a lot of the same things on the weekends. Even though I usually don’t have a problem with it, sometimes I find myself wanting to do something different for the day just to change things up.

By: David

David — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:43:26 +0000

If only everyone would set up some kind of system like this, we would all be in better shape. Unfortunately, most people ignore their finances, which equals trouble. Good post.

By: Captain Sarcastic

Captain Sarcastic — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:49:07 +0000

My dad was always eager to try to "put it to The Man" by delaying payment as much as humanly possible. I finally discouraged that when I sat down with him to work out how much the occasional late fee was actually costing him. Having a cushion has also provided some incentive to not balance the checkbook. I would not recommend this for everyone, though. The thinking here is (a) my finances are already under control and (b) over the ten years I aggressively balanced, most of my time was spent either replicating information or tracking down transcription errors. (The opportunity cost wasted in tracking down a $0.03 error because my 5 looked like an 8 is too terrible to ponder.)

By: Rob in Madrid

Rob in Madrid — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:09:46 +0000

opps as you can see an editing feature would prevent mistakes like above

By: Rob in Madrid

Rob in Madrid — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:08:19 +0000

The whole key is to have developed good habits. Whether it’s putting clothes away neatly instead of throwing them on the bed (I’m 50-50 on that one) or Cleaning up before I go to bed (100% on that one) Once it becomes a habit it becomes second nature. From a financial point of view keeping track of money coming and money go out is probably the most important habit to have and the hardest one to keep up. I’ve always keep a general overview budget but it tended to lack focus. What ever worry was current was my focus that week, bills debts cash flow. Now thanks to Your Money or Your life I have a simple overriding goal. Less going out than coming end. It’s a simple idea which brings everything I do into focus. Whether I’m looking at cash flow, debt paymetns bill payments everyting comes under the More in Less out. It’s given me a simple idea to focus my budget around. around. Hardest part is developing the habit of keeping all figures current. With a clear focus of what I want each month it’s easier to keep on top of it.

Rob

PS Trent any possiblity of adding an editing feature to comments? JD over at Get Rich Slowly did that.

but up to now I never had an overriding reason to keep on top of everything, now thanks to your money or your life I do. More coming in than going out.

I think that one is the most important and the hardest one to keep up on. I’ve been working taking out only so much per week on spending (gas shopping misc)

By: leslie

leslie — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 16:02:17 +0000

I agree with making it a standard part of your life. I do financial stuff on Tuesday and Fridays. I know it seems cumbersome to do it two times a week but I rarely have time to sit down and take care of all of it at once. So, when my youngest is napping and my oldest is still at kindergarden, I sit down on Tuesdays and Fridays to take care of various financial tasks. Usually Fridays is paying bills and filing stuff and Tuesdays is updating budgets and other misc. financial tasks.

By: The Saving Freak

The Saving Freak — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:47:07 +0000

I think it is awesome you spend time every week working on debt freedom. When my wife and I were going through the process of getting rid of debt we did the same thing.

By: Frank

Frank — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 15:12:05 +0000

Nice routine. I update my budget and spending tracking each Sunday afternoon, but I like your net worth update idea a lot too.