Have you ever felt overwhelmed by financial management, by the monthly tasks associated with bill paying and keeping your finances in order?
Have you ever sat at the kitchen table and thought: there has to be a better way?
Aside from long-term planning, just the day-to-day management of our financial lives can be frustrating. The bills come in, due dates are set, checking accounts must be reconciled and then, just when we feel on top of it all, tax season hits.
In our February 2021 issue of the ONC Newsletter, we interviewed Anne Seline of EveryDay Checks & Balances, a money management firm helping people with daily (weekly, monthly, yearly) money management. Seline is a Daily Money Manager (DMM) and a member of the American Association of Daily Money Managers (AADMM). While Daily Money Managers often focus on the daily and monthly flow of money (bank accounts, bill paying, etc.), money management always takes on a big-picture perspective as well.
Seline works with financial advisors, lawyers, CPAs and other professionals to ensure each client’s financial picture is as complete, efficient and effective as possible. With money, as with so many areas of life, it often takes a village. Seline loves being part of a comprehensive team to make sure people’s money and sense of peace are both in order.
We asked Seline for her top tips everyone can use for managing the daily transactions and details of financial life.
Top 3 Tips for Managing and Organizing Money
1. Keep it simple.
Seline notes that one of the first steps in helping clients is to simplify management and organization. If multiple bank accounts are unnecessary, cut them down or shut one down. If multiple credit cards are unnecessary, deal with that. Keeping it simple keeps it manageable.
2. Communicate.
Don’t be afraid to communicate. If you want something different, communicate that to your advisors/team. Communicate with your spouse, your kids and the people you are asking to help you oversee your finances and the decisions related to them. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed about past mistakes or missteps. They can be addressed and dealt with if there is proper communication.
3. Follow the Roadmap.
A roadmap makes it, again, simple. Determine the roadmap that gets you to the place you need to be – with proper checks, balances and oversight. Then, follow that plan. There are many ways to get sidetracked or derailed, but if you follow the roadmap, there is much less anxiety and overwhelm.
Whether you need help with bill paying due to extensive overseas travel or even as a result of cognitive decline, EveryDay Checks & Balances can help deal with the details of money management. As Seline says in her interview with ONC, “Seniors find that when we manage their day-to-day finances and the administrative tasks surrounding their checkbooks, they regain confidence and control knowing they don’t have to worry anymore.”
The tips above can help all of us, whether we work with professionals or do it alone, manage our finances in a way that creates flow and eases anxiety, worry and overwhelm.
Click here to read the full interview with Seline in our February 2021 ONC Newsletter issue.
Visit EveryDay Checks & Balances for more information about Seline and her firm.
To learn more about the responsibilities, duties and tasks of daily money mangers, visit The American Association of Daily Money Managers.
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