Every day, I go through the same routine: I get home from work, change into shorts and a t-shirt, throw my work clothes on my bed, and go to something else. When I get into bed, I take off my shorts and t-shirt and leave them on the ground.
As a result, by Thursday I have a cluttered room full of clothes and the task of cleaning it all up and putting the dirty clothes in the hamper is daunting.
It takes about half an hour to recover, and on a Thursday evening, cleaning my room is the last thing I want to be doing.
So what’s the solution? Spend 3 minutes each day organizing my room, putting the dirty clothes away and putting my clean clothes on hangers. By planting the financial seeds now, we can save a lot of time later.
Personal finance is the same way. If you ignore it for a period of time, the bills pile up, the debts accumulate, and it gets harder and harder to dig out of the mess.
Every person in debt says that it just built slowly and then suddenly there were tons of bills to be paid and they didn’t realize it was quite that bad.
The solution to this problem is to monitor your finances regularly, build a budget and stick to it, and know where you stand at all times.
While waiting four days might not build into anything significant, waiting four months or four years might. Don’t wait until it gets to be too much. Start being financially responsible early and often and you won’t have to spend time later trying to catch up when all your friends are out having a good time.
Great analogy. It’s a good thing I’m in charge of my husband’s and my own finances. He just can’t seem to put his clothes in the hamper either! But maybe since he knows I’ll pick them up after a day or two, he doesn’t put any effort towards that task. (Perhaps this is also why I’m in charge of our finances?! ;) )
What a great comparison between keeping your room and your finances in order.
Totally agree with the analogy. It’s amazing how much time people spend paying attention to one part of their life, but ignore personal finance. I recently did a post about spending more time comparing the per-square price of toilet paper than researching investments! https://www.stepawayfromthemall.com/2010/09/do-you-spend-more-time-shopping-for.html
lol, I am EXACTLY the same way – Except I usually let things pile up until after the weekend. Sunday night is my time to clean..
Great analogy indeed!
So true, and “Just do it”. I’ve missed out on some great investment runs by having money just sitting on the sideline and I’ve procrastinated on other items that ended up costing me money. If you can’t stay on top of your money, there are probably other things slipping as well – it’s gotta be a top priority!
To continue this analogy;
I have a basket in my walk-in where I throw everything in it day after day. At the end of the week (or before if I’m out of socks!), I do the laundry. In the meantime everything is clean.
I manage my personal finance the same way; almost all my debts are automatically paid monthly by:
#1 my credit card
#2 my bank account.
Therefore, I “throw” all my payment into 2 baskets and once a month, I “clean” everything when I look at my account and make sure everything went through.
@The Financial Blogger, I’m like that too with my finances. I’m more active, checking Mint regularly. Starting now, I’m going to keep a clean room, I will feel more in control.
When we got married, I was a total slob, leaving clothes on the floor and dirty dishes on the table, counter and in the sink. But my wonderful, patient wife has taught me to be much better organized. I might hang the clothes I wear the next day on my bedpost, but none are on the floor and dirty ones go to the clothes hamper. You know…I am better organized with my finances nowadays too.
Good advice to singles: do what I did and marry up.
[…] Clean Your Room for Better Finances at Sweating the Big Stuff […]