Episode: 349 - Take Control of Your Money: The Power of a Simple Calendar
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Have you ever had one of those weeks where it feels like a bill just popped up out of nowhere? Managing finances can be overwhelming, but there's a straightforward solution that can help bring order to the chaos—a bill calendar.
Understanding the Bill Calendar System
A bill calendar is a practical tool that provides a visual way to track your paydays, bill due dates, and any auto withdrawals. Think of it as a map for your money, allowing you to see exactly where your money is going and when it’s coming in. It’s all about getting a clear view of your finances at a glance.
Getting Started: What You Need
To set up your own bill calendar, all you need is a simple paper calendar. While digital versions work too, using a physical calendar can make the process more engaging and tangible. Start by gathering the following information:
- Your paydays
- Bill due dates
- Auto withdrawal subscriptions
- Credit card and debt payment dates
- Amounts owed
Mapping Out Your Finances
Mark Paydays: Begin by marking every payday on your calendar. If your income varies, estimate your earnings by reviewing past paydays.
Add Your Bills: Include all your expenses such as rent or mortgage, utilities, phone, internet, and subscriptions. Don’t forget to note irregular payments, like yearly insurance, in a section of the calendar.
Highlight Auto Payments: For any auto withdrawals, highlight these dates to ensure you have enough funds in your account, preventing overdraft fees.
Optional: Color Coding: Make your system more visually appealing by color coding—perhaps red for bills and green for paydays.
Why a Bill Calendar Works
This tool significantly reduces the mental load of tracking due dates, helping you plan payments around your income. This is especially beneficial if you're living paycheck to paycheck, as it minimizes the risk of missed payments, overdrafts, or relying on credit. It also identifies gaps and opportunities for saving, allowing you to adjust plans and even negotiate changes to due dates with service providers.
By organizing your finances using a bill calendar, you can alleviate financial stress and build a more manageable, peaceful financial life. A challenge for you: Download a printable calendar and map out next month's income and payments—see the difference it makes.
This simple method empowers you to take control of your finances and regain confidence in your money management. So give it a try, and watch how it transforms your relationship with money!
Resources
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Transcript:
Amber Taylor:
Have you ever had one of those weeks where you swear a bill just popped up out of nowhere? Yeah, I get it Me too. But once I started using a simple calendar system for my finances, the chaos calmed way down no fancy app, no complicated systems, just a calendar and a few minutes a week. Hi, I'm Amber, today's host for the Debt-Free Dad podcast, where we help everyday people like you take control of your finances so you could live a happier, less stressful life. Now my husband and I saved and paid off over $54,000 in just 20 months and have been living debt-free outside of our mortgage since 2018. And after listening to this episode, if you're ready to take control of your finances, take it to the next level, ready to break free from living paycheck to paycheck, reduce financial stress, build your savings and finally pay off debt for good, but you're not sure where to start. We've got an incredible free resource for you, and I'll be sharing that with you later on in the show.
Amber Taylor:
So what is a bill calendar? It's basically a visual way to track your paydays, your bill due dates, any auto withdrawals. Think of it as a map for your money. You're going to see exactly where it's flowing in and where it's flowing out, all at a quick glance. Now you could do this digitally or do what I do use a simple calendar and keep it out in the open visual for you to see on a regular basis. So here's what you're going to need to get started A paper calendar. Of course, again, you could do digital, but I recommend paper, so I've linked a downloadable copy of the paper calendar that I use in the show notes.
Amber Taylor:
Then you're going to need to gather your information your paydays, your bill due dates, any auto withdrawals, subscriptions, credit card and debt payment dates and the amounts. Once you have that all together, you're going to grab your calendar and you're going to start with your paydays. Mark every payday on the calendar. If your income varies and you're not quite sure exactly what you're going to be making, go back and look at the last paydays and get an average, an estimate of what you're going to make on those paydays coming up. Then you're going to add in all your bills your rent, your mortgage, utilities, phone, internet subscriptions. Include irregular ones, even If you have a yearly insurance. Include that In a bottom little note. If it's not due that month, include what month and when it's due. And then you're going to carry that forward for every single calendar until you get to the month so you can plug it in.
Amber Taylor:
Now another little tip that you can do when you're writing these bills down is any auto payments, highlight them so you know that they're an auto withdrawal, so you make sure that that money is in the account for when it's due, so you don't have any overdraft fees anymore. Now another fun optional thing that you can do if you'd like is color code things. So make your bills red, make the paydays green and just highlight them so that you could visually see what's coming and going. This sounds super simple, but it works. So why does it work? It really does remove the mental load of remembering any due dates. It helps you time your payments around your income. Especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck, you're less likely to go into overdraft, miss payments or rely on credit. You can see gaps and opportunities to save when you're doing this system, where things might be getting tight, where you might have bottlenecks, so that you can adjust. Now a lot of bill companies will allow you to change your pay date to a different date if everything's bottlenecking and coming down around the same date of the month. See if they'll move it up two weeks or back two weeks. A lot of these bill companies will definitely work with you Now, as I mentioned earlier, I do have a link in the show notes for you to download a printable, debt-free dad calendar, and I've added a bonus simple budgeting form.
Amber Taylor:
So I have a challenge for you Download your printable calendar and map out your next month's income and payments, all of your paydays, all of your bills. Plug it in there. That's it. You'll be amazed at how quickly this simple tool will put you back in the driver's seat with your money. Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, if you're ready to stop living paycheck to paycheck, lower your stress, build savings and finally crush your debt, you're in the right place. Every Sunday, we send out our weekly newsletter Simplify my Money a quick and easy to follow guide to help you take control of your money with simple strategies, make money decisions without stress and build confidence to hit your financial goals. If you want in, just click the link at the top of the show notes and you can start getting those today. Thanks for hanging out with me and we'll see you on the next episode.
