Creating Your Finance Corner

Let's face it -- when your surroundings are more organized, your life is more organized. The same holds true with finances. Creating a physical area in your home where you can store financial materials and track your financial progress is an essential step in the financial planning process.

Order Out of Chaos

For many women, errant credit card statements stuffed into the desk, unopened IRA updates being used as coasters, and receipts shoved into a shoe box are common features of attempted financial planning. We're putting out so many fires in our day-to-day lives that organizing finances can easily take a backseat.

But whether you’re investing in a short-term goal, such as buying a new car, or a long-term goal, like retirement, the truth is that a bit of up-front organization work can make keeping up with your financial goals much less stressful -- and much more attainable!

The posts in this series will touch on physical and mental ways to create more organization in your financial life.

Creating A Corner

So let's tackle this with some physical prowess first. Sometimes just hacking out a corner of your home to dedicate to monitoring and brainstorming about your financial plan will motivate you to move ahead.

For me, this “corner” is comprised of one locked shelf.  It is dedicated solely to my financial folders.  There is one for estate documents, insurance documents, investment portfolio, assets, farm expenses, and so-on.  I know where to go for what I need, and it’s easy to update and reference.

And not only is this convenient for me, but it will also be helpful to my family if anything ever happens to me. Digging a bit deeper -- if a loved one were to pass away, would you know exactly where to go to retrieve their insurance papers?  What about their estate documents?  Need to liquidate an asset to pay for emergency costs—what assets and investments do they have? Financial planning and organization is not just a preparation done for future positives, but also to help alleviate the stress caused by any future disasters. 

Moving Forward One Step at a Time

Finances are a daily part of our lives.  In order to help control the chaos, we must first control the cash flow.  Creating a simple and easy to follow system of organization is key.  It must be simple enough that it does not become a hassle, but thorough enough that it actually helps, and is not just “busy-work.” 

We'll walk through specific strategies and helpful tips in upcoming posts in this series, but for now, take a baby step and consider: Where will you put your finance corner?

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