In order to simplify your personal finances, you must identify your financial ugly ducklings and turn them into financial swans.  What I mean by this is if you want to simplify your financial life so you can manage your finances better you must identify your bad financial habits which I refer to as your ugly ducklings and take action to turn this bad financial habits into a positive financial situation or what I refer to as financial swan.

Here are some ugly ducks you can turn into swans which will help you simplify your personal finances:

No financial goals – You have no long-term or short-term personal finance goals.  If you establish goals you can simplify your personal finances quicker.

Not living on a budget - You do not set a monthly or annual budget.  You are just spending money without setting limits.  Establish a budget will enable you to reach your financial goals you set and help you take control of your finances. Gazelle budget is a simple solution to help establish a monthly budget.

Not planning for the unexpected – You do not have an emergency plan in place in case of an emergency.  Establishing an emergency fund is like the goose that laid the golden egg when you are finances are in a bind due to an unexpected situation.

Not planning – You have not planned for the expected things that you know will happen in your life.  Read this to find out what you can plan for.  Establishing a plan for those expected financial situations will take the pressure off of you and your finances because you have planned for them in advance.

No estate plan – You have no plan in place to handle your assets upon your death.  Read this if you do not believe you need a will.  You do not know when it will occur but you can plan for it.  Establishing a plan prior to your death is much easier on your family.  You may not see the benefit but your family will definitely benefit and save some money in the process.

Too many credit cards – You have more than 3 credit cards with balances on them and you do not have plan in place to reduce your debt.  Read this to make sure you are practicing safe credit card usage. Reducing the number of cards you carry and the outstanding balances on them will simplify your personal finance.  This is one ugly duckling that you must turn into a swan rather quickly.  If not it can get uglier rather quickly.

Not automating – You are still not using online banking, still cashing your payroll checks, or mailing you bill payments.  Establish online banking which will enable you to pay your bills on line.  Setup automatic deposit of your payroll checks to simplify your finance and save you time.

Too much paper – Is your mailbox screaming for relieve because you receive so much mail?  Go paperless is more convenient  and will save you time.

Forgetting due dates – Do you seem to forget the due dates of your bills or just forget to put the bill in the mailbox.  Setting up your bills on your credit card or bill pay service will help you eliminate forgetting to pay your bill on time as well as save you from paying those late fees.

Living beyond your means - Trying to keep up with the your co-workers, neighbors and friends is causing you some financial stress but having the latest or newest whatever is more important.   Stop trying to keep up.  It will reduce your stress and enable you to live a healthier and wealthier financial lifestyle.  It will trust me.

ACTION STEP

Take some time to review your current financial situation and identify your financial ugly ducklings and take action by turning the ugly duckling into a financial swan.  Just like a duckling will not turn into a swan over night is the same with your personal finances.  You must take one step at a time but if you take action I am sure your ugly duck will turn into a swan quicker than you planned.

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We say we want to simplify our finances but do you always find an excuse when it comes to certain financial topics. One topic many of us fail to consider when simplifying our personal finances is estate planning or just the simple step of having a will drafted. This is one subject many of us do not like to discuss. Since we do not like to discuss it, we usually do not plan for it. Having a will not necessary help you simplify your finances but will help simplify your finances for the loved ones you leave behind. Even though we all know having a will in place can make the settlement of your estate large or small much easier on our loved ones the majority of us do not have a will in place. So what is your excuse for not having a will?

Here are 10 reasons many of us have not drafted a will:

1. Attorney fees – Why should I pay to have my will done? All the attorney will do is type my will instead of hand writing where I want my assets to go to. I think I will save a few hundred bucks and type it myself. Also what value will the attorney add for the money that I will end up paying.

2. Not alive why should I care – I will not be around so why should I plan how my assets will be divided. I believe my ex-spouses and children are more than capable of dividing my assets evenly so that everyone is happy and gets their fair share.

3. Like to see family fight - When there is a disagreement they just argue until everyone gets what they want. Its actually entertaining to see who will win. So why make it easy on them by telling they who gets what.

4. I enjoy paying taxes- I believe contributing 50% of my estate to the government is a good use of funds. I will not need it so why not give it to a good cause.  Also my family can live on 50% of my assets any way.

5. My elected officials can handle it better than I can Since I have elected these individuals to represent me, I believe they have my best interest at heart and will implement laws that will benefit me and my family. They will know how my assets should be distributed.

6. My spouse can survive without me – My spouse is more than capable of handling my estate. I am sure a how to handle an estate book can teach them what to do.  Right. Better yet my spouse has a job and can survive on just one salary.

7. I have no assets or money why bother – I have more debt than assets what’s the point. The debt collectors will take my assets any way.

8. My minor children will be in good hands with a state agency I don’t need to name a guardian for my children. The state child care services will be just fine.

9. My spouse and children can handle large sums of money Usually when my family receives money they just spend it so why bother restricting what they can do with it. I don’t want to tell them what to do with it. I want them to enjoy it.

10. I will never die – I am still young and in good health and I don’t plan on dying in the near future. I want to enjoy these birthday freebies forever. So what is there to plan for.  When I am ready to die I will plan for it.

So which one of these is your excuse for not drafting a will. Yes we don’t like to talk about death but it is something that will occur in our life time. We just hope that you have planned for it. Having an executed will will make life much easier for those who you leave behind.

TAKE ACTION take some time to think how you want your assets distributed and who you want in charge of managing your affairs when you are not around. Make sure you put some thought into it and then find an attorney to draft a will based on your circumstances. Trust me its worth it.

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

This post was featured in Carnival of Personal Finance

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