The best decision I've ever made when it comes to money is to automate as much of my finances as possible.
My savings is automated. Direct deposits to a separate account at a different bank than my spending money. My check actually goes to multiple different accounts set up via my job's direct deposit. I don't even see the savings.
All my fixed monthly bills and utilities go on my Citi Double Cash, US Bank, and Amex BCP credit cards. Those credit bills are automatically paid out of a spending checking account.
My rent is auto-paid from a dedicated checking account just for rent it has a full month's rent as a buffer in it. My car note goes to a separate account that has 4 months of car payments sitting in it. My dedicated bill paying account for all other bills has about a $1000 buffer so when the credit cards pull from it they don't overdraft it if a bill post a bit higher than expected.
The reality is when all that stuff became automated and the only account I actively dealt with was a dedicated spending account for disposable income I actually began to save money in that account too and now there's at least a full after tax paycheck and a half sitting in that one now.
The more I actively managed my money the less money I had. The less I deal with the more I save.
My savings is automated. Direct deposits to a separate account at a different bank than my spending money. My check actually goes to multiple different accounts set up via my job's direct deposit. I don't even see the savings.
All my fixed monthly bills and utilities go on my Citi Double Cash, US Bank, and Amex BCP credit cards. Those credit bills are automatically paid out of a spending checking account.
My rent is auto-paid from a dedicated checking account just for rent it has a full month's rent as a buffer in it. My car note goes to a separate account that has 4 months of car payments sitting in it. My dedicated bill paying account for all other bills has about a $1000 buffer so when the credit cards pull from it they don't overdraft it if a bill post a bit higher than expected.
The reality is when all that stuff became automated and the only account I actively dealt with was a dedicated spending account for disposable income I actually began to save money in that account too and now there's at least a full after tax paycheck and a half sitting in that one now.
The more I actively managed my money the less money I had. The less I deal with the more I save.
