If you’ve ever felt exhausted by the effort required to stay on top of your finances each month, then this is for you.
Dear Money Voyagers,
Kate here, co-host of The Australian Finance Podcast and the person ready to help you invest your money and time, better! This article was originally shared in the Rask Education student newsletter. Simply sign up to a course on Rask Education (like our ETF investing course) to get this directly into your inbox each fortnight.
Today I want to talk about different ways to automate your finances. If you’ve ever felt exhausted by the effort required to stay on top of your money each month, then this is for you.
If you’re anything like me, there are plenty of other things you’d rather do during the day than manually move money between your bank accounts or work out how much you’ve spent at Woolies this month – like planning a vacation to London!
Thankfully, there are many ways to automate your finances these days and make life that little bit easier.
I’m a big fan of automating the things that will have a positive impact on your financial future (like debt repayments, savings goals & super contributions) and adding some friction to the things that take away from your financial future (Apple Pay anyone?).
📱 Budget like a boss
If you’ve been manually calculating your budget and spending each month, there’s an app for that.
Try an app like PocketSmith, Frollo or Pocketbook to gain a clearer picture of your spending and make informed financial decisions.
💸 Save without lifting a finger
Tired of making manual payments into and out of your savings account each month? Get this set up on autopilot.
Keep the money for your financial goals out of touch and out of mind (until you need it). Most banks offer the ability to set up automated transfers between your accounts.
🎧 Learn on the go
Make boosting your financial confidence a habit and don’t leave it to chance!
If there’s something you do regularly like catch the train to uni, drive to work or walk the dog, use this time to focus on building your money skills.
Whether that’s through podcasts, books, videos or articles, make sure you put time aside for future you.
🔮 Investing in your future
Technology is the friend of the long-term investor.
Setting up a regular contribution plan and putting your investments on cruise control is fairly easy these days through automated investing tools or setting up a direct debit into your investment account.
If you haven’t already heard the good news, learn more about the magic of compound interest here.
🦸🏾♀️ Super stars are born here
Adding extra to your super makes a massive difference over time.
Just look at the impact adding an extra $100 a month has over your lifetime! There are multiple ways to automate this process, including setting up a salary sacrifice arrangement with your employer, setting up a direct debit with your super fund, or scheduling a recurring BPAY payment into your account.
Get creative and experiment! Figure out what tools and automations make your life easier.
Shares Month on The Australian Finance Podcast
Have you been tuning into Shares Month on The Australian Finance Podcast, with Owen, myself and some of the analysts from our team?
If not, there are plenty of great episodes to catch up on to increase your knowledge in this space (plus, three more episodes on passive income, small caps and a listener Q&A to come)!
- 📈 Share investing checklist (ASX & US companies)
- 📈 Market jargon buster: 10 common (and confusing) investing terms
- 📈 ASX share review: Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
- 📈 12 ASX & US share ideas for 2022
- 📈 Building an ESG focused share portfolio
🌱 Want help with the investing stuff?
Keen to learn more? Check out our investing courses on Rask Education. Shares, ETFs, super and more!
Do you have more questions about investing? Jump into our FB Community to let me know!
Cheers to our financial futures,
Kate
