Ok, so now I have to do the opposite of what I had been doing. I have to make eye contact with my money. In other words, I have to create a system where I can EASILY track my spending, my balances, my bills, etc. I’ve decided to use my bank’s app to do this. Since both my credit cards were not issued by my bank I needed to cancel them and apply for a bank card that would be fully linked to my bank app – for example, one where I could track weekly purchases and activity with a simple swipe on my phone.
Of course cancelling my cards meant moving any automatic debits onto another card, or onto my bank account (even better option). This was done with just a little effort.
It’s all about removing barriers. I knew that if it was going to be too hard, like if I had to physically go to the bank, or even log into another credit card’s online site, I’d put it off. This is where you need to get honest with yourself, and ask yourself what you can do to remove that barrier to your success.
It’s a good idea to look at your bank statement and your credit card statements every week. If these can all be linked to the same app, then all the better. I was also able to sign up for an additional notification app which would alert me to any purchases on my cards, etc.
The interesting thing is that since I’ve faced my money challenges head on, I’m no longer afraid to keep a close eye on things. Remember, I used to pretend it wasn’t an issue, or put it off, instead of staring my situation down and dealing with it. Now I’m motivated and excited to see how I’m doing every week. (By the way, this is a big deal for me…just sayin’)
My Money Management Journey 