In my fantasy life, I’m an organized guy. In the real world, that’s just not the case. I do my best to stay on top of things — I make lists, use a calendar, ask Kris for help — but there always seems to be something slipping through the cracks.
Before we left for Africa, for example, I hid my wallet. I always do this when we go on a long trip. (I don’t use my wallet when I travel.) And every time, I have trouble finding it when I get home. You’d think I’d develop a system — but no.
I’m not the only one with problems like this. Sure, there are folks out there like Kris and her sister — people who never let anything fall through the cracks — but they’re few and far between. Most of us need to develop systems to help our lives run smoothly.
Developing systems that work
I’ve read dozens of books on time management, coping with clutter, and getting things done. But I’ve never found a magic cure-all for disorganization. The trouble is, as with personal finance, there’s no one right answer. Each of us is different. We have different strengths, different weakness, and different aims in life. There’s no one system that’s going to work for every person.
For years, my motto at Get Rich Slowly has been do what works for you. I don’t mean by this that one choice is as good as another. There are best practices for paying off debt, saving for retirement, and buying a used car. What I mean is that there’s no one system that works for everyone. The debt snowball helped me get out of debt, but it may have you treading water.
I’ve found that the key to developing systems that work for me is to take bits and pieces from other people’s ideas, and to remix them in ways that fit my goals and strengths. This is true for all aspects of my life, including fitness, finance, writing, travel, and more.
I’ve noticed, though, that there are three elements that seem to be part of every successful system in my life: routine, automation, and simplicity.
The Power of Routine
By far the most important key to my success is establishing routines. Why have I managed to lose so much weight in the past year? Because I made it a habit to get up at 5:30 every morning so that I could be at the gym by 6:30. How did I manage to buy my Mini? I made saving a routine.
Valuable financial habits or routines include:
- Paying yourself first
- Tracking your spending
- Checking your receipts
- Controlling impulse spending with the 30-day rule
When something becomes routine, it becomes a natural part of your life. It’s not something you have to force yourself to do. It’s almost automatic, which makes it easier to do the right thing instead of letting your emotions get the better of you.
I’ve also had great success by foisting my routines onto the poor, unsuspecting computers around me. Automation helps my systems run smoothly.
The Power of Automation
When I was younger, I had a heck of a time remembering to pay my bills on time. Even when I had a set routine — for years, I paid bills on the first Saturday of every month — I’d sometimes forget to follow it. So, whenever I find a way to automate some part of my life, I do it.
Removing me from the equation just makes thing run so much more smoothly. That’s why I’ve spent the past several years developing a paperless personal-finance system, which includes:
- Automatic bill payments. All of my regular bills are automatically paid electronically.
- Automatic saving. Every month, I have money automatically transferred to my savings accounts. (Remember, I keep multiple savings accounts to pursue different goals.)
- Automatic investing. Well, I don’t actually do this now — I’m making manual investments at the end of every tax year — but for a long time, my retirement accounts automatically pulled from my paycheck and/or checking account.
This automation is an essential part of my financial system. It helps prevent stupid errors — like forgetting to pay a bill before vacation. Plus, I’ve found the automation keeps me motivated. The money for my bills is going to be pulled on specific dates, so I’d better be sure my accounts are funded.
Bundle, a New York City startup collects data on how people handle the same financial decisions to learn what works and what doesn’t, with the goal that we can all get smarter about money, together. In short, it crowdsources personal financial habits so we can all make better choices.
Bundle published a terrific amount of data ranking tech spending across the United States. Surprisingly, California and New York didn’t even make the top 5!
Here’s who did:
1. Washington, D.C.
While not technically a state, Washington, D.C. led the pack for the most tech spending Washington, DC with an average consumer spending $62.25 on electronics per month, 35.5% higher than the national average.
2. Connecticut
My home state of Connecticut comes in at #2 with the average consumer spending $64.25 per month, 33.4% higher than the national average.
3. Hawaii
This was surprising to me! If I could unplug anywhere in the U.S., it would definitely by Hawaii, but seems this isn’t true for the 3rd biggest tech spender with the average consumer spending $57.67 a month on electronics, 19.7% higher than the national average.
4. Delaware
Delawhere? Jokes. Home to one of our finest social media bloggers, Megan Sayers, Delaware ranks as the 4th biggest tech spender with an average consumer electronics spending of $56.08 per month, ranking 16.4% higher than the national average.
5. Oklahoma
Rounding out the top 5, Oklahoma tech fiends spend $55.83 per month on electronics, 15.9% higher than the national average.
To see the entire 5-state ranking list, click here.
Bundle’s data is based on the anonymous transactions of 25 million Americans. They have an in-house team of mathematicians and data specialists who work with the raw data to classify transactions by category and demographic, etc., and then put the info into a digestible format, which can then be used to create rankings such as this one. To play with the fun visualizer of spending bubbles, check it out here.
They also have a similar feature for an individual’s own spending via their personal finance management tools. Use it to compare your spending with others in your neighborhood, divided by age group, income bracket, etc. Think of Bundle as a Mint plus Blippy service.
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