Dear Prism experts,
How do I de-stress my finances?
Answer:
We know, we know. Finances are stressful. The good news is that you are not alone and there are simple things you can do to minimize stress or get rid of it altogether:
1. Automate bills. Always feel like you are forgetting something? Never can seem to stay on top of bills? Then you definitely need to automate bills. There a a variety of tools, starting with your bank's or credit union's bill pay solution and ending with the Prism App that eliminate burden of remembering the due dates and the due amounts.
2. Automate savings. Are you stressed out because you can never save enough? We hear you! The best way to combat that is to automatically transfer a portion of your salary into your savings account that you cannot easily spend from. This way you stop yourself from eating into your savings.
3. Keep a sufficient cash buffer. We all like to run a tight ship, but when it comes to finances make sure you have some slack in the system. Bill amounts tend to vary a bit, unexpected expenses have a way of cropping up, so if you run everything with down-to-the-cent accounting then you may feel this pain. Depending on your income it may take several months to build up a comfortable buffer, but having one will help you smooth out the rough edges in your spend.
4. Plan for expenses. If you know you have a big expense coming up - plan for it! Estimate how much it would be and start putting money away ahead of time.
Basically,
Automate bills, automate savings, and keep a sufficient cash buffer. And plan for expenses ahead of time.
