Post written by Carrie
I think it was the time I went to the store and realized I left my coupons at home. Or maybe it was the day that I paid my bill late and incurred a late charge. Maybe it was mailing a present in the mail and having to pay extra to get it shipped in time. Whenever it was… I finalized realized I was throwing money out the window by not being organized.
It is amazing how much money we can let slip through our figures by not being organized. So, my goal is to plug up these holes and start saving money — here’s how I’m planning to do just that:
1. Get a good system for paying your bills.
I now do my bills once a week. I do automatic bill-pay which lets me choose the day to pay them. All my bills are listed on a spreadsheet.
I sort them by which paycheck or child support payment the bills will be paid with. I keep a full year on my spreadsheet so I can look back and see what expenses I had last year at this time.
2. Get control of your coupons.
I love to coupon. It is a huge rush to get to the check-out and realize that I’ve saved over $50, and it’s great to come home with free food.
But I needed a system that would work better. I had the big binder, but it was just too cumbersome. I decided to try switching to the envelope system. I keep the labeled envelopes in my tote bag.
No longer do I have to worry if I forgot my coupons. And if things get too stressful, I give myself some grace and just shop at Aldi.
3. Keep track of appointments, birthdays, holiday gifts, etc.
This is another area in which I struggled. I have always had a calendar book which I used to keep my appointment. The problem was I didn’t look at it every day.
Now, before I go to bed, I check it over to see what the next day will bring. Then if I need a form filled out for the school, I have it ready. If I need to go to the doctor’s office, I make sure I have my list of medications updated and in my wallet.
4. Streamline your life.
I’ve been reading a lot of great books on streamlining your life, saving money, and organizing. It is amazing how all these areas can tie together.
If you streamline your life, you will be more focused and organized. You won’t waste money buying things you already have.
For example, I have five boys and I spent hours sorting through all their old shoes. I have over 40 boxes of shoes!
Now when one of the little ones needs a bigger size shoe, I just go the closet and retrieve it. It saves me a trip to the store, which streamlines my life, it saves me money by not buying another pair, and it makes it easy to find the shoes in one quick look. This is just one area in which I’ve been working and I have many, many more to go.
Carrie is a single, working mom of five wonderful boys who lives in Pennsylvania.
Kristen @ Joyfullythriving says
Excellent points – all of them! My husband and I finally created our own Google calendars – and synced them with one another. That has helped us always know what is on the schedule! Also on my google calendar, I also created a birthday calendar (that repeats yearly) to remind me of all the important birthdays and anniversaries. It took some time, but now I am set for years to come!
Kate says
Wow Carrie! That first part of your post sounds like my life! thank you for the tips! I live in PA also. God bless you and your 5 boys!
Kate
Carrie says
Thanks kate. I am trying to get better and simplify as much as possible. Take care.
Karen says
Very cool ideas. I need to look into the spreadsheet concept for bills~ great idea!!!
WilliamB says
Being organized helps me save money in two main ways:
1) When I buy a lot of something at a good price, I know where I put it and how much I have.
2) I don’t “lose” something and need to buy it at a bad price.
This includes remembering where I stashed that extra pack of toilet paper, and knowing what’s in my freezer, and that I really do have more soap.
Rebecca Dula says
Love this article. It lays it all out there plain and simple. Thank you. Love moneysavingmom.com.
Susan says
Great post Carrie, from a fellow single mom.
I pay bills and review my finances every other week, which corresponds with my paydays. I get paid every other Thursday, and the following weekend I pay any bills that are due in the next two weeks. Most bills can be paid online, so I just go online and schedule the payment for it’s due date.
Back when I had a mortgage, car payment, and daycare, I arranged it so that I paid half of the monthy mortgage and car payment each paycheck. It was easier on my wallet, and at the end of the year I’d made 13 payments instead of 12, lowering my overall interest expense.
Deb says
Great post, we have all of our bills automatically taken out every month, I only get statements online except for the water bill which I pay online, but only does paper statements. I make it a rule to NEVER pay late fees for anything, library, credit card, redbox, nothing EVER. Being organized also saves money because you don’t accidentally buy things that you already own, your stuff is better taken care of, (so it doesn’t get destroyed by being on the bottom of a pile somewhere) and you are more able to things yourself and from scratch because you can find everything and perform tasks quickly and efficiently. I am kind of a neat freak even about the car, but life is really more peaceful when it is organized……..;)
Susan says
I receive and pay my bills online too, but I will never again allow auto payments. Bill pay yes, where I’m in control of the money going out of my account, but I won’t let creditors, utility companies, etc. take my money. They do make mistakes. It’s happened to me, and therefore it can happen to anyone. Sometimes it’s just a little, but once it was $4000! From a utility company.
WilliamB says
I couldn’t agree more. The most I’ll do is allow a pre-determined amount to be debited each month, such as a car payment. But never an amount I don’t have control over.
Sometimes it works to one’s advantage. Once my water bill arrived with a $12,000 credit! It didn’t last long, of course; the amount properly belonged to someone else (a swimming school maybe??) and there had been a typo in the data entry. But it was funny while it lasted.
elizabeth says
I loved this post. Being organized is so important for spending less. Wonderful ideas!
Carrie says
thank you. I’ve learned so much from this site and all the great comments
Kathy says
Carrie, my hat’s off to you! A single mom of 5 boys, I’ll bet you rarely have a moment to yourself. I pray that God provides all that you need, physically and spiritually. Blessings to you! Great tips, btw.
Carrie says
Thank you so much. My life is never boring. My home is loud and gets messy. I go througha ton of food. And I am very blessed. : )
WilliamB says
“My life is never boring.”
Now that is the understatement of the month!
Adie B says
And an awesome Calendar is Cozi — I heard about it originally through the FlyLady site, but it is now my browser’s home page. I love that I can access it by cell and by my tablet too, so I can keep my calendar dates updated, as well as having access to my weekly menu, grocery list, and recipes to use!
Carrie says
I will check it out. Right now I use a calendar planner with monthly and weekly calendars to plan out my appts, menus, to do list, etc.
Adie B says
There is a fabulous lady by the name of Marla Cilley (but she’s known as The FlyLady!) who runs an incredible website that is all about streamlining your life, creating routines, and making yourself happy by discovering the power of organization! I hope you will share her with your readers… I am still just taking my first baby steps, but FlyLady has changed a whole lot of lives (and families!). You can find her on Twitter, on Facebook, and at her website (flylady.net)
Crystal says
FlyLady is such a inspiration, isn’t she?!
Susan says
Flylady is awesome! She changed my life.
Carrie says
Ive enjoyed her book too. Along the same lines is Sidetracked Home Executives. It is so funny…you may enjoy it.
Emily says
This article seems to have been written by someone other than Crystal- but I didn’t see a source… maybe just forgot?
Crystal says
Yes, somehow that part got deleted when I added the Pinterest button this afternoon — oops! It’s by reader, Carrie. I’ll go re-add that part back in!
Kalyn Brooke says
So convenient that this post went up today. I have been thinking about organization lately and how it relates to money, and actually have a post scheduled for next week about it.
I keep a financial calendar just for billing due dates and try to check it everyday. I’m usually one or two weeks ahead, just because it helps me stay on top of the payment schedules. I like your idea of having them all be due on the same day!