Online banking is so common these days that it’s considered a major hassle to use a bank that doesn’t offer any sort of online services. Major credit card and loan companies also provide online financial access, which can make it hard to keep everything straight. Here are some tips to help you keep track of your online financial transactions and make sure that you know where every cent goes.
1. Mint.com – You can synchronize all of your online accounts to Mint.com, including your bank account, your credit cards, student loans, home loans, auto loans, pretty much anything that has online access. Once you’ve synchronized everything, you’ll have just one page to go to to see all of your transactions, and Mint.com will organize all of your purchases by name and category so that you can see exactly where your money’s going. You can set up budgets, receive reminders when bank accounts are low or when bills are do, and get weekly run-downs of your spending, income, etc. for that week. You can even get an iPhone application that syncs with Mint.com, if you’ve got an iPhone, to help you keep track of your money on the go. Truly one of the best financial organization websites online.
2. Pay as many of your bills online as you can. By keeping everything digital, you’ll be able to keep track of it better–once you start mailing bills for one thing and going online for 12 other things, you’re going to have issues. Try to standardize the way that you deal with bills, and integrate them into your routines, so that you’re not shocked by anything unexpected. Developing good bill paying habits is very important for your personal finances if you expect to see long term growth. This includes credit card bills, utilities, cable, and anything else that you can think of.
3. Keep a list of all of your bills, the dates that they’re due, and the amount each month, and use a personal calendar program like Google Calendar to send yourself reminders 3 days before each bill. This will help you remember to budget money and make sure that you’ve got enough cash in your accounts to cover the bills and avoid overdraft charges, which can suck your finances away quicker than just about anything else. You should keep this list of your bills online, so that you can check it from any computer.
Do you have online banking tips? Post them in our comments section below.