I'm the first to raise my hand and admit that keeping my financial related paperwork organized is truly a challenge. That's my shelf where I have one pile of bills, statements, and some 401k report which might as well be written in Swahili. And this folks, is organized effort for me. I emphasize one pile because I am a pile person whether it be paper, books, shoes, or clothes, I pile. I've gotten much better over the years, and my piles now don't go more than a foot high unless it's clothes.
The orange box is where I throw in my business related receipts, and the binder is an attempt to organize. See it's green and I got it so the thought counts, no?
Piles do help sorta
With the paper statements, I know you can do everything online now and be all green, but to be honest, I have out of sight out of mind syndrome so if I don't see the bill or statement coming in, I forget about it. It's not that that stuff isn't important but my creative sometimes in the cloud brain isn't linear in that way to remember automatically, "Hey, it's the first of the month, bill time!"
Luckily there is automatic withdraw options for bills and this my friends is one saving grace that has kept my credit rating high, and has helped me avoid late fees and penalties. I just need to remember to fill the bank account with enough dough to cover the bills.
Organizing to create more room for prosperity
So far, my system has been okay for getting by, but it is not set up for growing abundance. I know this and I think many of you are like me. For the organized ones, more power to you! Call it feng shui or spiritual sight, the universe is gonna have a hard time bringing you more money in and helping you straighten out your money issues unless you make room for it and organize what you have. We have to be active participants in our own creation as nothing happens in a vacuum.
It's like weight loss, if you don't plan and organize your food, you have no idea how much calories you are eating and could actually be eating more than you need which can explain those times when you're exercising your tooshie off but nothing is coming off. You're still consuming more than you burn so you're not getting the results you want. It's the same thing with your money and financial situation.
Thank goodness for people who get my finance fears
So, this is why I'm very excited that Back in Skinny Jeans could partner with this wonderful personal finance site Wesabe because they have tools and community to help me and you organize and de-clutter our financial picture.They gave us a cool shout out about the Skinny Debt Diet on their blog.
And besides giving you the tools to better manage your dough, you can mingle and meet other people who are pretty much in the same boat. It's fun to just peek to see what others are talking about. The Wesabe environment is very cool because it is warm, friendly, and it feels like you're hanging out with friends. I tend to avoid most financial sites or communities because mainly most of them make me feel intimidated, ignorant, or lost. I think Wesabe has done a great job in creating a more inviting and relaxing environment.
But let's take a moment to hear from Gabriel Griego the VP of Marketing at Wesabe as he says hello and answers three questions that would give you some interesting insight not just on Wesabe but what their users are currently hot on. He also talks about a thing called "Financial flexibility" which is very interesting kinda like being physically and emotionally flexible. Here's what I asked:
- Do I have to put all my bank stuff to use Wesabe? Can I just mingle in the groups and see what others are talking about?
- What's the one thing your current users find most useful about Wesabe?
- Becomes times are tough, people are looking at ways to cut spending and reduce debt. What's the one subject that people are talking about the most on Wesabe in regards to coping with/surviving during these tough times?
We've started a Skinny Debt Dieters Group at Wesabe, and I've started a couple discussions already. I'll be adding more discussions as I launch more of the categories like finance, fitness and feelings. What's cool is that once you sign up (it's totally free and spam free) you can start discussions too. Here's a quick tour on how Wesabe works and what you can get out of it.
If you have any questions for Gabriel, please share in comments and he'll be happy to answer. Oh and btw, Gabriel worked at Power Bar for like a decade once upon a time ago, so he's totally into the healthy living scene like us. Very cool!
I'd also love to hear what tips any of you have on decluttering your finances. Any pilers in the group like me, give a holler!
