How This Busy Mom Tracks Bills

I’ve got a sleeping baby in my arms. That’s usually how it goes, right?

No matter, I pull out my phone and scroll to my financial apps.

Bank account. Check.

Credit card. Check.

Other credit card. Check.

Within about five minutes time, I’m finished. I’ve taken a look at our family’s finances, and I know where we stand.

I pretty much do this each and every day. It’s a good habit to get into. Years ago, I used to use the “cover your eyes and your financial situation will go away” method. I do not recommend it.

We got out of consumer debt in 2017 using the Dave Ramsey method. You can find the beginning of our story here. I was so excited to finally get started on becoming debt free!

Once I got my spending habits thoroughly under control, I reopened two credit cards to pay our bills and make purchases with. In doing so, last year we earned about $1,200 cash back which was directly deposited into our bank accounts while paying zero interest. I know this is a Dave Ramsey faux pas, but if you are disciplined, this is a way to earn a bit more money each year. If you plan to leave any balance whatsoever on your cards at the end of each billing cycle, this method is not for you.

Each morning I log into our bank account to make sure everything looks fine over there.

Next, I look at our two credit cards. This takes the longest, but still only about five minutes, tops. Most of our spending is found here, so I need to make sure everything looks legitimate.

I do take a lot longer on my husband’s twice a month payday. This is when I make sure all of the bills due during the next two weeks are paid.

I use the corner of one of my planner pages to write all of the bills due and check them off. It’s a very quick, unscientific method that works for me.

Unfortunately, I’m not the most organized person. But I’m working on it!

This “method” has worked for me for three years now. It’s easy, and gets the job done. I much prefer paying bills and discretionary spending digitally, rather than using cash envelopes. Cash envelopes can be helpful to make sure you don’t over spend, however.

If you take away anything from this post, please let it be that it’s important to track your finances, and to track down them often. Even if you are a busy homeschool mom with a baby on your hip. Make it a habit. I know you can do it!

We can be a blessing to our families if we stay on top of things, right? We can catch mistakes before they cause too much damage.

And yes, I make mistakes, too. But by checking our accounts often, I catch most of them.

I hope you have a lovely day, ladies! I’m off to take my daughter to the orthodontist this morning, followed by lots of schoolwork.

Blessings!