Comments on: The Forgetful Mind

By: Georgia

Georgia — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:37:30 +0000

I organize by paying all bills automatically online except for my cc bills. I do not automate any bills with a balance I do not know each month. Last year I went on the level pay for my utilities & it has worked out great.

On my cc’s, I just wait until the account’s statement is ready, balance it, and then set up the automatic payment for 3-4 days from the due date. It has worked well to date.

I will have to try the notebook deal, if I can find a way to keep it on me at all times. I try, whenever possible, to not carry my purse unless absolutely necessary. I bought one of those seen on TV metal clips. It holds my cash, one cc, and my driver’s license. It’s small & narrown & takes up almost no space. Goes in my pocket. That way I can go and do without carrying a heavy purse. Maybe I can start carrying a small sheet of paper in the clip and transcribe it when I get home. Oops – might not work. You would also need a pen to write. Wow – decisions, decisions, decisions. I thought retirement was supposed to be carefree.

By: beth

beth — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:00:15 +0000

I have always had an awful time remembering the little things, even back to childhood. (I still remember a particular chastising I got in 4th grade after forgetting lunch money for a field trip, again.) As a result, I have become forcibly organized as an adult, and I swear by my Outlook calendar and cell phone (it was a stand-alone PDA for a while). I have to have all of my, the husband’s, and the kids’ personal appointments and relevant due dates plugged in or I’ll never remember them. I just transitioned to an iPhone and, while it’s snazzy, I’m still getting my bearings on my calendars and reminders. But ultimately, what I’ve learned is that I can’t keep myself sufficiently organized, but I can configure the tools to yell at me to stay that way.

And, oh yeah, I need to pay the water and gas bills tonight before I forget again… *sigh*

By: Kyrsten

Kyrsten — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:43:37 +0000

I think the key is to always have a place to write down your thoughts when and where they most often occur — whether in the car, in the shower (this one could be tricky) or in bed. For me, I usually think of things I need to do while in bed — either after I just laid down or if I wake up in the middle of the night. So I finally invented a product to help me remember those thoughts…at least at night. And it really works for me because I always have everything I need to write down a note while in bed — a light, a notepad and a pen. Of course, keeping these items on your bed stand also works. The trick is to never miss an opportunity to remember something simply because you forgot to keep a notepad and pen close by.

Kyrsten Braun
pillownotes.com

By: Pam

Pam — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:58:06 +0000

I have been a Thought and To Do notebook writing fan for many years now. With a stressful job which includes a multitude of diverse responsibilities (this means a lot of very unrelated thoughts pass through my mind in a given day), I have found that writing everything down is the only way to go. I do the same for home, although that generally looks more like a Master To Do list than a Thought list. Yes, I keep To Do lists for work also. I’ve tried combining them, but found that it is less efficient and way too lengthy (overwhelming). I combine items from both lists onto a Daily To Do List, but not the Master ones. I loved David Allen’s Getting Things Done approach, but Mark Foster’s Do It Tomorrow is my all-time favorite, so far. Thanks so much to Trent for bringing that book to my attention. I had to wait 6 months for my library to get it after your book review, but it was worth the wait.

By: Allison

Allison — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:27:32 +0000

The Google calendar has been on my radar for a while, but I too am concerned about all those birthdays and vacation times up online. How private is private? Trent, have you been concerned about this? Someone else asked, and I’m asking too, although as soon as I submit this comment I’ll go search your archives for Google calendar…

Thanks for a GREAT site. My husband and I will be celebrating heartily on Oct 23rd. Making the final payment on 18 credit cards and $22K worth of bad decisions. Thanks for all your ideas that made that happen for us. Woo hoo!

By: sewingirl

sewingirl — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:01:00 +0000

I read somewhere that the average person can only remember 9 important things at any one time. So, when I forget something, I always say that must have been number 10, you got bumped! I am however a serious, big time list maker. I don’t remember anything without my lists. I did have a list of my lists at one time, sort of an index. I was working 4 jobs, and my brain was fried from lack of sleep, if it didn’t get written down, it didn’t happen.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:22:16 +0000

A thought notebook pretty much changed my life too. It gave me a way to capture thoughts buzzing around my head, and it pretty quickly contained hundreds of writing ideas–for blog posts for my frugal food blog, for my writing blog, and for zillions of other creative projects I’m considering.

Now, whenever I sit down to write, I always have a lot of possible ideas to choose from.

Dan
Casual Kitchen

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:44:01 +0000

I’d be interested in hearing more about your mail handling routine. Ours is a disaster, meaning it doesn’t exist. :-)

By: Elijah

Elijah — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:13:23 +0000

Trent,
I tried keeping an idea notebook recently and found I had so many thoughts to write down and was so scared of forgetting one that it actually made me more anxious to use the idea notebook to record my thoughts, plus then I dreaded the process of reviewing my notes.

Was that the case for you when you first started using the notebook?

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:10:49 +0000

Google Calendar now has a To Do List feature. This is a nice place to have my to do list because I can access it from any computer with Internet access.

More here: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/04/todo-list-for-google-calendar.html

By: GLB

GLB — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:39:39 +0000

I want to thank you for suggesting Google calendars, it has been one of our first steps to getting a handle on our money.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:47:32 +0000

I am forgetting more and more lately, even though I have less I have to do. I guess I just have more on my mind. twice lately I have forgotten to dry my son’s karate uniform and he was late for class. Not a big thing I know, but relevant to my life. I jot notes everywhere, but I do try to keep it confined to a 5 subject notebook. Section one is for grocery store sales, refunds, etc.. Section 2 is my prayer and Bible study section. Section 3 lists the refunds i have sent for. Section 4 is anything I find on-line that I want to remember, recipes, money saving tips. Section 5 is for the titles of books I want to read. If my library doesn’t have them, I do an inter-library loan, and the find it for me. Obviously, some sections are more full than others. but this works for me. Maybe it runs in the genes, my 24 yr old daughter keeps a notebook too.

By: John DeFlumeri Jr

John DeFlumeri Jr — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:33:24 +0000

Trent, a handy notebook is a lifesaver!

And yes, redundancy is the insurance policy against overlooking something important.

John DeFlumeri Jr

By: Bart

Bart — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:15:19 +0000

+1 for Getting Things Done! No secular book has had a bigger impact on my life, or even come close.

By: Alan

Alan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:58:43 +0000

Great post. Nowadays, we seem to have so many important things in mind that we tend to forget those little things/apps that are free on the net and available for us to use.

By: Frugillionaire

Frugillionaire — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:45:45 +0000

I’ve automated all recurring bills, and pay the rest immediately as they come in. I pay everything online, so it only takes me about 30 seconds to take care of a bill.

My method of remembering other tasks is very low-tech: little yellow sticky notes. They’re a good incentive to get things done, since I hate seeing them build up on my desk!

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:39:07 +0000

Trent, did you mean “revelatory” at the beginning of this post? Or maybe you meant something different than I think you did. Love the site, btw.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:41:48 +0000

I too am pretty good about remembering things…no kids yet makes it easier for sure….but for ALL bills my system is simple. I always have a surplus in the checking account (if it gets too big I transfer to ING or our Roth IRA)I get emailed notification for EVERY bill and when I see a notification I pay it immediately…that very second…no waiting. Now, one must just be able to keep a “small” surplus always in the account. Also, I don’t like the auto draft..or bill pay for anything.My situation may not work for everyone I realize.

By: meta money blog

meta money blog — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:23:31 +0000

Have you read “Getting things done” by David Allen? He has an interesting approach to keeping track of tasks and organizing how to do them. One of the more intriguing ideas he has is *not* to use a daily to-do list, arguing that it is perhaps a bit too constricting. Instead, he advocates that one just keep track of *all* of the projects that one would like to do along with the next physical action that it requires. Then one can just read though the list and complete these actions in the order that seems most important.

I realize this is not quite what you are talking about, but it seemed close and I know you like to read…

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:09:13 +0000

Google Sync will match your Google Calendar and Windows Mobile smartphone. It has saved my hide on numerous occasions. I used to have the two calendars, but there would be a wide disconnect between them and I never remembered where I recorded events. Now, I can enter them on either my phone or through the website and they sync quite quickly. I’m at my computer at work, but my phone is with my all night. It has been a huge relief.