Here is this week’s simple financial tip to help you design your credit card disaster plan:

• Write down your credit card number. Write down the number of each credit card you hold and file them in a safe place that you will remember they are located.  What you don’t want to do is write them down and forget where you stored them.  This will defeat the purpose of putting the disaster plan in place.  This should not take long since you should have reduced the number of credit cards you are holding.  You can also just make a copy of the front and back of each card and save in a file.

• Write down the 800 number to credit card company. Alone with the credit card number you also want to keep the phone number of credit card company in case you need to call the company to replace or cancel your cards.  Keep this number with the credit card file as well.

• Write down the recurring bills you have tied to each card. Its not always easy remembering which recurring charges you have on each card so write them down.  This will make it easier on you if you have to cancel your existing card and reestablish those recurring payment.  What you don’t want to occur is establish autopayments to your credit card and forget to provide the new credit card number which results in your bill not be paid.

Action Step

Review the credit cards you currently hold and look to see if you have the credit card number, credit card company phone, and which recurring bills you have charged to each card in a file.  If not set up a credit card disaster file.  It will save you time when you do need to replace your existing credit cards.

What are some things you have implemented in case you lost or need to replace your credit cards to simplify things?

Remember take one step at a time to simplify your personal finances.

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How can one number simplify your persona finances?  Yes it is true.  One number can help you simplify your personal finances.  This number will make things easier for you and will help you reduce your financial stress.  This number is not a large number.  You are probably thinking yes one very large number can help me simplify my personal finances.  If you read Would winning the lottery simplify your personal finances?, you will know that I do not believe having a large amount of money will simplify your finances.  Let me stop the suspense and tell you.  The number 1 can help you simplify your finances very easily.  Think about it if you only had:

One checking account and saving account- you will know where all of your money is held.  There is no need to have a spreadsheet to keep track of all of your accounts.  Less mail to receive with only one account.  Less accounts you have to balance at the end of each month.

One bank – you will never have to think which bank account do I need to take the money from.  No need to think about which online bank account I need to log into.  Everything for your finances can done at one location or one login.

One mortgage – if you need two mortgages to purchase your house should you even be purchasing the house.  You can only live in one house at a time so why would you need two.  Just think of the up keep you would have with two homes.

One car per driver – If you are lucky you may be able to have one car for the entire family.  That would save you alot of money.  But that is not always practical.  So stick to one car per driver in the home.  If you have three cars and only two drivers, how often is the extra car driven.  You can save on maintenance  and insurance by getting rid of that extra car.

One cell phone – unless your job requires you to carry a phone for work.  You do not need more than one cell phone.  Eliminate that additional expense.

One investment account – its much easier to keep track of your investments if you only have one account.  You will have a better understanding of your overall asset allocation as well as keeping track of your investment performance.

One credit card – yes having only one credit card came significantly simplify your finances.  It limits your spending and enables you easily track your spending and credit card debt.  Eliminates the need to pay multiple bills each month.

One service provider – if you can consolidate your utilites to only one provider that will eliminate the bills you have to pay.  This is not always possible but can simplify your finances if you can do this.

One advisor – do you really need more than one investment advisor or accountant.  Probably not.  Decide which one provides the services you need and best fits with your goals and objectives.

One insurance provider – usually you can consolidate your home and auto insurance which may lead to a discount.  Is there really a need to have separate insurance companies.  Again reduces the number of bills you must pay and keep track of.

So you can see how the power of one can help you simplify your personal finances.

Can you think of any other ways to reduce to one to help you simplify your personal finances?

If you would like learn more tips to help you simplify your personal finances make sure you subscribe to simple financial lifestyle email newsletter and subscribe to RSS feed for blog updates.

This post was featured in Carnival of Personal Finance: Parts of Speech Abuse Edition hosted by Mighty Bargain Hunter.

Here is what you need to do to make sure you are practicing good credit card usage:

Payoff your balance at the end of each month – This is a must do every month.  If you want to simplify your finances as well as avoid unnecessary debt you must pay off the balance each month.  If you do not you will be paying unnecessary interest payments.  So only charge what you can pay off at the end of each month.

Spend within your budget – Do not charge things that you are unable to pay off.  If you did not budget for the purchase this month do not use a credit card to pay for it.  Yes, I know it is very easy to just use your credit card because of the convenience.  But think before you use it.  Also you do not want to spend more than your credit card limit.

Pay on time - make sure your credit card payment is paid on time.  If not you will incur those dreaded late fees.  One way to avoid this is to set up auto pay from your checking account to pay your credit card to make sure it is paid on time.

Avoid applying for unnecessary cards -Yes you may receive an offer for zero interest for six months or receive ten percent off on your purchase.  But think before you say yes to this offer.  Why do you want to add an additional card to your existing credit cards.  That is just another card payment you have to keep track of.  Before signing up for new credit card call your existing card company to see if they will match the offer you received.  Think before you say yes and ask yourself does this card fit my lifestyle and do I really need another card?

Limit the number of cards -You do not want to carry more than two credit cards with you.  Why would you need more than two cards?  The more cards you carry the more likely your going to spend.  Also if by chance you lose your purse or wallet that’s one more card someone can have access to.

Monitor your interest rate – Know how much interest your being charged.  Many times you do not know the interest rate you are paying because the balance is paid off at the end of each month so your not charged interest, which is a great reason.  However, if you are carrying a balance you may be charged a high rate of interest when its not justified.  Also your credit card company may raise your rate from the time you initially signed up for the card so you want to monitor the rate.

Reduce your credit card debt – If you do not have any outstanding credit card debt congratulations but if you do have outstanding debt you want to reduce this debt as quick as possible.  So set a goal to begin reducing this debt.  You will be amazed at how much you can accomplish by simply setting a goal and taking action to reach your goal.

If you want to simplify your personal finances take action now by following these simple tips to make sure your practicing safe credit card usage.   Which tips do you plan to implement now.  Do you have other tips which have helped you simplify your credit card usage?

Warning:

Are you looking for a quick and easy way to simplify your personal finances? Are you finding it difficult to establish a budget?  Do you wonder where you money has gone at the end of the month?  Do you wish you could write less checks or carry less cash?  If so, I have a solutions for you.  I call it the two card financial trick.

Here are the rules of the game.  Choose either one debit card and one credit card (should be a credit card with no outstanding balance), or two credit cards, or two debit cards (make sure the debit cards are linked to two separate accounts).  Its your personal preference which option you use.  My preference is to use one debit card and one credit card.

Once you have chosen the cards you will be using to play two card financial trick to simplify your finances, here is how it works.  Use your debit card to pay your everyday expenses and use your credit card to pay all of your monthly bills such as utilities and other recurring expenses.  There are several benefits to using two cards to simplify your finances.

Allows you to track all of your spending – Instead of having to remember to record your checks in your check register or having to keep track of your receipts when using cash this will be done automatically for you.

Helps you create your budget – Makes budgeting easier because everything is tracked for you.  Also enables you to know where and how much your spending.

Allows you to write less checks – By doing this you will not have to spend time each month writing out your monthly bills for your water, phone service, or any other monthly bills it will automatically charged to your credit card

Allows you to earn more rewards on your card – If you decide to use a reward card (which would be my preference) to pay your monthly expenses it will enable you to  earn rewards faster.

Helps to automate your personal finances – Having all your bills charged to your credit card will save you time each month.  Read Who else wants to save time, and have less stress when managing their personal finances to learn about the benefits to learning about benefits to automating your bills.

If your looking for a quick and easy way to simplify your personal finances consider implementing the two card financial trick strategy. Let me know if you think the two card trick would help you simplify your finances.