Today, we’re all focused on our money, so everyday we’re financially aware. Yet, we can increase our awareness and better manage our money with simple money tools. Here are 6 suggestions:
1. Set up balance, bill and payment alerts! To increase your awareness of your cash flow deposits and withdrawals—it’s helpful to set up text alerts in online banking. You may find that some merchant is still charging you for services you no longer need or you’re spending too much on food delivery. You can set an alert by transaction size (i.e. $50 or more) or a low balance alert to let you know when your funds are low. Bottom line, alerts make you more financially aware of your money.
2. Set up a budget and track your expenses! Many of us monitor our blood pressure, weight and even the number of steps we walk everyday… but we don’t monitor our money. Consider setting up a budget in a money management app and tracking your expenses to learn where your money is going.
3. Use one card for ALL subscription services! Most of us subscribe to many services using a credit or debit card or bank account for automatic payment. These subscription services include streaming, news, cell phone or retail services like Amazon Prime. One way to increase your awareness and track all these services and payments is to have them charge the same debit card. With a service like CardSwap, it’s easy to transfer all your subscription services to one card.
4. Track home values in your neighborhood. Today, home values are changing dramatically. Places that were declining in value before the pandemic, like the suburbs, are increasing today as people flee the city. Home sellers have retreated faster than buyers, creating less inventory of homes for sale, thereby increasing prices. It’s unclear how the pandemic will continue to impact the housing market, as explained in the Washington Post article “What Will the Rest of the Year Spell for the Housing Market?” To track the value of homes, even if you’re not in the market, subscribe to one of the free real estate monitoring services including Zillow or Redfin.
5. Make sure your credit report is accurate! To better manage your money, you need to better manage your credit. Order a FREE annual copy of your credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free 877-322-8228. Your credit report is a key to your credit score, so make sure it’s accurate and up to date. Make sure creditors are reporting correctly and you have not experienced identity theft. If you’re struggling with your credit score, check out FREE credit rebuilding programs to help you get on track.
6. Increase your financial literacy. We can all learn more about money, which is why OneUnited Bank provides a FREE online Financial Education Center. It offers a playlist for many subjects including Financial Basics, Major Life Transactions, Preventing Elder Fraud and Planning for Retirement. You can learn in the comfort of your home.
Being financially aware is very different than being financially literate. As an example, most people can read, but some are not aware of the news. National Financial Awareness Day gets us to focus on being more aware of where our money is going. These tools can help you today!
