Do you wonder how to get organized? Chances are, at least once a month, you spend time going through financial statements, medical bills and other documents. Depending upon your accounting and computer skills, this can be a much dreaded hour or a five minute chore. How do you organize finances?

If you are computer savvy, and embrace the use of technology instead of fear it, organizing your finances is a breeze. These are just a few of the massive time savors you can use to free up your time.
1. Use a filing system. This doesn’t have to include a four drawer metal behemoth of a filing cabinet, but any form of filing system that allows you several places to store items:

* Medical bills (separate by individual to save additional time)

* Financial documents

* Tax documents

* Insurance documents (health, life, auto, etc.)

* Home related bills (utilities, home owners association)

* Anything that you paid for that requires future documentation

2. Tap into your banks electronic banking system. Your bank records these transactions electronically, so why not take advantage of their automated system. You should not completely ignore record keeping, but the days of balancing a checkbook by hand can be over if you choose. Here is a quick “how to” guide:

* Log into your banks website, register to use their online banking system and input your bank account information. Caution: bee of internet con artists who send you seemingly authentic emails asking you to provide your bank account, social security number, etc. If it seems questionable, call your bank and ask for assistance which they will provide.

* Check out your banking information and verify that the last few expenses were actually yours. You will see that you do not need to pour over checkbook records any longer.

* Request a debit card if you are want to limit check writing as much as possible. This makes it more convenient to buy your items.

* Setup a check writing service with your bank. This is an automated service that writes your checks for you after you import the billing information only once. You can schedule checks to be mailed on an recurrent cycle, or one at a time when you receive a bill each month.

* If you want to take it a step further, you can use an accounting program like Quickbooks or Quicken. These programs are free to download from the manufacturer’s website. These programs will download all of your banking and investing information with the click of a mouse. Once you use them, you’ll never figure out how you lived without them.

3. Keep up to date with your finances. Don’t let things pile up. Do your finances on a weekly basis, and with the automated system you have in place, it takes a fraction of the time. Many times the bills you receive in the mail will be a reminder and can be paid in two minutes by logging into your bank account. Organize finances on a regular basis instead of letting it get overwhelming.

Create a home office. It can be a desk, or even a draw in the corner of the kitchen. Have one place where you store and keep you records.

4. Use automated electronic withdrawals for your utility and service providers. Simply call your provider/utility company and tell them you would like to set up an electronic withdrawal. Complete the necessary form with your information and mail it back to them. Your bill will be automatically deducted from your bank account without any further work upon your next billingcycle. Just as a precaution, give them a call to verify that your account is activated and working properly.

If you wonder how to get organized, one of the first places to start is to organize finances. Once your financial records
are in order, you can move onto to the hallway closet.