Automate in a way that works for you and takes the stress away. If companies only offer a window of dates that will work out fine. Try not to get too hung up on the dates as you start to automate your finances. Then you can schedule the payment to come out on the date you prefer. This allows you to connect your PayPal to your new “bills” checking account. Those companies offer a payment option through PayPal. PayPal can be the trick to setting up payments for bills including cell phones, Netflix or cable/internet – as these bills may only have one set payment date that you can’t change.

If you pay your bills on a credit card, connect the card to your new checking account for bills and set the date! Credit cards typically let you pick any payment date you would like. Then you can pick your savings in transfer and bill payment dates based on these loans. These tend to be the most challenging to change. One hint: make sure to check your available payment dates for student loans and your mortgage first. Then you can rest easy and monitor the accounts. But then you know that all of your savings will be transferred in on the 4th and bills will be coming out on the 8th. When you first start, it may take a month or two to switch over all the dates. It's a bit of a hassle to set-up initially, but it is SO worth it! It’s the secret to automation success. Once you have a budget in place and have created a flowchart, the big secret to automation is picking one maybe two dates to have everything taken out of your account. Step 3: The Secret to Automating Your Finances Successfully You can also get a debit card, so you have immediate access to those funds if needed. This is where you might want to put your emergency savings. Synchrony Bank and CIT Bank have high-yield savings accounts you can set up online. You might be surprised at how low the rates are, and you’ll likely want to consider a high-yield savings account instead. Call or live chat with them to see what your current interest rate is on your savings account. You will also want to reconsider your traditional savings account with your bank. A terrific example of organizing based on your needs. The best part is that when you set up a second checking account, you get a separate account number and you can label it whatever you please. “Bills” were then deducted from this account on the 8th of the month. In this example, $400 moved into an account called “Bills” on the 4th of every month.

It may be easier to set up a second checking account to automate a set amount.

The infographic below provides an example of a flowchart. Grab a piece of paper or pull up excel and create a chart that tracks where your money needs to go. When getting started with automating your finances, it's best to start with a flowchart.

Step 2: Create a Visual Flow Chart and Open New Accounts You need to know what money is coming in and where it is going before you can start to make things automatic. Once a budget is in place, it should include these items (at a minimum): It can be a monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly budget – basically a budget for every paycheck. Step 1: Get a Budget in PlaceĪutomation REQUIRES having a budget in place. If you put off saving until “everything else” is taken care of it will be hard to reach your goals. When you pay yourself first and make it automatic, you don’t even have to think about it. Or maybe you are one of those people who promise to save “whatever is leftover” at the end of the month.ĭo you notice how there is rarely anything left over? Or maybe you do not have an emergency fund or savings account at all. Have you ever been driving through traffic and all of sudden had that twist in your gut remembering that the insurance bill was coming out today? And you weren’t sure if you had the funds in the account to cover it?Īutomation will help alleviate the stress of making sure you have money in your accounts to cover your bills.

Automated money pro