Five-minute personal finance tasks



You know how sometimes papers just pile up on your desk? And you look at them and think ugh, because you just don’t want to take the time to go through all that?

Well, don’t take the time. Take a few minutes and just deal with one or two papers instead. Often what happens is that the act of starting the task is all I really needed to do to get going and finish it up.

Then there are the times when I have a whole bunch of things to do, but only a few minutes of spare time.

In both of those cases, I’ve found that breaking things down into little five-minute tasks really helps.

Here are a few personal finance-related tasks that can be completed in five minutes or less:

  • Shred a stack of old papers.
  • Sort a handful of papers into piles.
  • Grab a new file folder and label it.
  • Put a previously-sorted pile of paper into your newly labeled folder
  • Go to bankrate.com and look up CD rates.
  • Enter today’s receipts into Quicken (or into whatever you use for tracking.)
  • Sort today’s mail. Put junk mail in the recycling, and open bills and letters.
  • Pay a bill.
  • Check your account balances online.
  • Make a list of 3 things that would help simplify your financial life.
  • Close an unused bank account.
  • Schedule a date and time to make an appointment with an estate planner. (Or just go ahead and make the appointment.)
  • Add up how much you spent today on junk food. Are you happy with the amount?
  • Make a list of things you’ve always dreamed of doing that require money.
  • Open an IRA.
  • Look over your credit card or bank statement to be sure there are no unauthorized charges.

Those are just a few examples. There are lots of little things that can be done quickly that will make a big impact on your financial health if you just keep doing them, a little at a time.

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Posted in Financial health on Apr 06, 2009

6 Responses to “ Five-minute personal finance tasks ”

  1. # 1 The Weakonomist Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 6:03 am

    These are great tips. What I take from this is you need to simply take the time to do some things. It’s surprising how hard it is for some people to do the most basic things for their finances. I really like to make lists so this works in my favor.

  2. # 2 Corporate Barbarian Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 9:35 am

    I’m a big believer in taking care of the minutia and not letting it become a distraction. I usually try to do three small tasks before I leave the office at night. It only takes about ten minutes or so, allows me to feel that I’ve accomplished something, and clears my desk for the next day.

  3. # 3 Craig Says:
    April 6th, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    I try to pay my bills right away. I pay online and if I don’t right away I can forget about them and that would be bad if I missed one. Takes less than 5 and needs to get done.

  4. # 4 RateNerd Says:
    April 7th, 2009 at 11:48 am

    I like this, but would like even more to see how long it takes to build a system for managing all of these things. Just like the 4 Hour WorkWeek encourages automated systems for your business, you can do the same for paying bills,saving money and so on.

  5. # 5 Ashley @ Wide Open Wallet Says:
    April 8th, 2009 at 9:48 am

    I recently had a big financial mess to sort out. (The bank put my deposit into a strangers account on accident and caused something very very important to bounce. Which caused a bunch of problems on that end.)

    I was kinda overwhelmed by the whole thing. So I didn’t fill up my to-do list with this project. I wrote down one thing at a time. When I finished that step I crossed it off and wrote down the next step. And then the next, and then the next, one at a time, in order as I finished them.

    Finally, I did get it all sorted out.

  6. # 6 Jen @ Next Rich Girl Says:
    April 9th, 2009 at 10:08 am

    I love these tips. Especially the one about writing down all the things you dream of doing that cost money. Sometimes we get so bogged down with the minutia of paying bills, we forget that with a little prioritization you can do something with your money other than just make ends meet.

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