Stress is a physiological response. Whenever your brain senses stress, adrenaline and cortisol are activated to raise your awareness and energy. However, not every stressful situation requires you to fight or flight. For example, financial stress is often a debilitating mental burden that reoccurs in a chronic manner. Yet there’s no need for your body to fight against a mailed-in bill and running away certainly won’t help, but your brain is still able to understand the consequences of financial problems. Fortunately, extensively reviewing your financial situation and simplifying as much as possible can drastically reduce financial stress.

The Benefits of Organization

Read the rest of this entry »

A new year is also upon us which means tax time and new year’s resolutions are round the corner. Many of us are still getting over Christmas but a new year is less than a week away. So now is the time to set your financial goals and do some year-end tax planning. Here are some post from this week that can help you plan for the new year:

Wondering where and how to start planning for the new year. This post Start Thinking NOW About How You Will Rock 2011! will help you get started.

Read the rest of this entry »

Does last minute Holiday shopping cause you stress or cause you to spend more money than you planned? You spend more because you want to just get finished with your shopping. In order to simplify your personal finances you should plan your holiday shopping well in advance so you are not stressing over what to buy and how much money you just spent. I know that is not always possible. We may forget to put someone on your initial list or you are busy with other things and have not found the time to go shopping. If you find yourself doing last minute holiday shopping here are some simple tips to help you simplify:

Read the rest of this entry »

I have to admit I am an iPhone junkie. I enjoying finding new apps to try out. There are many financial and money management apps that can help you simplify your personal finances. This week I wanted to suggest some of the best financial apps available. If you are an iPhone or iPad user, try them out and see which ones can help you simplify your finances. Better yet many of these apps are free or at least have a free version for you to try out.

Check them out and let me know which apps have helped you simplify your finances:

Read the rest of this entry »

Is finding the time preventing you from simplifying your personal finances?  Simplifying your personal finances will enable you to  spend more time doing the things you enjoy.  If currently do not manage your time now, you may have a difficult time simplifying your personal finances.  So in order to simplify, you have to mange your time more efficient.  You can do this by setting up automatic deposits,  automatic debits and automating your bills are some of the ways you can manage your time more efficiently.

Read the rest of this entry »

As many of you know or maybe don’t know, I am a huge football fan. I can not wait for the NFL season to start. It kickoffs with my defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints taking on the Minnesota Vikings. WHO DAT Its not going to be an easy task for the Saints to repeat as Super Bowl Champs. The team has to focus on one game at a time in order to repeat as Champions and TWO DAT. Its the same with your personal finances. If you want to simplify you have to tackle each financial task one tackle at a time. Don’t try to financially multitask and take on more than you can handle. Its much easier to tackle each task one at a time. Here is a quick list of financial task you should tackle to simplify your finances:

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you experience any of these symptoms when thinking about your personal finances: Read the rest of this entry »

Usually when you hear the word audit, we assume its a bad thing. But doing a financial audit can help you simplify your personal finances and may even help you save some money. I am a big proponent of simplifying your finance by automating them.   But as I wrote in Don’t Automate your Personal Finances and Forget About Them I believe you must review your accounts on a regular basis.  That’s why I propose you do a financial audit on your personal finances every so often. At a minimum every six month you should do an audit. The reason for the audit is to make sure all of the auto payments you set up are stilling being processes as you originally established and any automatic payments you discontinued or thought you discontinued have been stopped. Additionally you want to review those payments.

Read the rest of this entry »

In order to simplify your personal finances having a budget in place is essential. A budget is like your road map to help you reach your destination that you desire. That destination can be to reduce debt, retirement saving, or any other financial goal you want. Budgeting is something that many of us do not like but need to if you want to begin living a simple financial lifestyle.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of us who live along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast we are now almost a month into hurricane season have you prepared yourself? You still have time to prepare.  In my post, Simple Financial Tips – Disaster Plan I discuss ways to help you prepare for a disaster to help simplify your finances. 

Here are some additional tips help you prepare and simplify your finances in case of a hurricane. Read the rest of this entry »