TEMPLE, Texas — How much time should you be dedicating to your finances? Most of us don't really like to do it. In my house growing up, Mom did the shopping and Dad balanced the checkbook. Those checkbook days may be over, but budgeting and bill pay still needs to happen.
According to the website the Motley Fool, Americans spend 1.8 minutes a day on their finances. That adds up to less than an hour a month.
On this Money Talks, we asked Financial Planner Rolandus Johnson his thoughts on how much time Americans should spend on their finances.
"Once a month at least," Johnson told 6 News. "Some people may do it on paydays, some people may do it once a week, but I say once a month at the least, especially for budget reasons. Once a month at least sit down and go over your budget."
Remember, some bills are always the same every month, like your cable bill, but an electric bill might go up or down substantially.
"When you are getting to bills and things that are variable and change, and one of the things that I tell my clients is if you are comfortable about having it on auto pay, by all means go for it, because it's less stress, you know it's coming out, you still want to review that budget so that now there are no surprises," Johnson said. "I’ve got this much coming in, we take a look at the bill, 'Ahhh it's increased by $200. Okay hey, great we are covered!'"
Remember, it's not enough just to know how much is going out. You also need to know how much is coming in!
"Usually you know when things are changing, so if you may have called out of work one day or missed work for several days you know you are going to have to go in and change some things because the money may not come in like you are used to it coming in," Johnson said. "But for the most part, even with those variable pay cycles, I think once a month is still good as long as we're truthful and disciplined with our budget, I think that's still good."
Remember the number one rule of personal finance is don't spend more than you make!
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