Keeping track of your financial life is important, but it can easily start to feel like a lot of upkeep. There is your budget to tend to, your savings and retirement accounts to contribute to and your various bill due dates to keep track of — not to mention managing your investment portfolio and working to pay down any debt.
Although these tasks are generally non-negotiable, the good news is that you likely can reduce the amount of time you devote to them. If administering your financial life is starting to feel like it’s cutting into living your actual life, here are some time-saving — and stress-reducing — tactics to consider implementing.
1. Get rid of debt
Hanging onto debt is not only a steady drain on your bank account, it’s also taking up your time and attention. “Paying off even one sizable credit card or loan can not only ease worry, but also reduce the number of financial obligations you have to deal with each month,” said SoFi. Once an account is paid off, you no longer have to fret about remembering that due date or making that payment. Plus, you will have more resources to devote to your topline financial goals.
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Two common debt paydown approaches to consider: “Focus on the debt with the highest interest rate first (the debt avalanche) or the smallest balance (debt snowball) — whichever method motivates you more,” said Rocket Money.
2. Take advantage of automation
One of the “simplest ways to reduce financial stress is automation,” said Credit Sesame, a credit monitoring service. This allows you to ensure your bills get paid automatically and on time, without the need to go in and manually make the payments, eliminating the risk of forgetting and owing late fees. Alongside your rent or mortgage, “water, electricity, trash, cable and phone are all bills better paid on autopilot,” said NerdWallet.
And you can use this approach for more than just bills. You might also consider setting it up so a portion of your paycheck automatically goes into your savings. Plus, said NerdWallet, “you won’t miss it if you make adding to your savings automatic.”
3. Reduce your number of accounts
The fewer accounts you have, the less you have to check in on. If you have “more than one checking or savings account, you may want to see if you can pare it down to one of each,” said SoFi. This can also help with meeting minimum balance requirements, saving you on fees. Similarly, consolidating 401(k) plans from former employers offers another chance to streamline as well as to save, since “when you leave a company but don’t roll over your 401(k), you’re often subject to fees that your employer may have been covering while you were employed.”
4. Eliminate unnecessary expenses
Another important step in Marie Kondo-ing your financial life is to get rid of any expenses that do not “bring you joy,” or that you simply do not need to be paying. “This can include unused gym memberships, streaming services you barely watch, dining out frequently and other costs that drain your finances rather than add value to your life,” said Rocket Money.
You can also apply this ruthlessness to stuff sitting around your house — especially if having some extra cash in your bank account would alleviate some financial worry. Don’t be afraid to sell that old baseball card collection or extra set of chairs.