Finding balance

I recently returned from a very relaxing vacation where I had zero responsibilities. Nada. The most stressful thing I did for an entire week was transfer some money from PayPal to my checking account. I didn’t even write any posts while there, since I had articles scheduled ahead of time. Upon my return, I looked through my list of ideas for future posts and got hit with a big cluestick because the first idea listed was “finding balance”.

Now, I’m sure I had something financial in mind when I originally wrote down that idea, but the truth is it applies to my entire life. I need to step back and re-evaluate where things may have gotten out of whack. For example, while I was on vacation, I had 3 things written on my “to-do” list. The day after I got back I had 20 things on my list — and that doesn’t even include tasks like going to work, making supper, taking care of pets, going to the gym, unburying myself from a week’s worth of mail, etc.

Clearly it’s time to find a little balance between the things I “have” to do and the things I want to do. I need fewer “haves” and more “relaxings”. Which will leave me time for the “wants” — if they’re still wants.

Since this blog is about money, and that happens to be thing “to-do” that’s been the most time-consuming since I got back, I think I’ll start with some questions on that subject.

Can I automate a few more bills? Do I really need more savings accounts than I can remember offhand? Probably not. What about brokerage accounts? I have three of those. Maybe it’s time to see what it would take to get them consolidated into one account. Do I have to sell my shares to do that? If not, which account should I pick? The one that’s ridiculously easy to use (Sharebuilder) or the one that has fewer fees (Zecco)? And is there a fee? (Probably.) Just printing the monthly statements from so many different accounts takes an hour that I’d rather use for something else. I think I have a pretty decent balance between savings, spending, and investing, but it wouldn’t hurt to give that the once-over too. In fact, there’s a whole list of things I can cover, both financial and non-financial.

So I have my work cut out for me. The plus side is that although this may take a little bit of additional upfront work, that little bit of work will eliminate a whole lot of regular, ongoing work & minor annoyances. I can apply this question-and-streamline process to the rest of my life too.