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.
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