With spring in bloom, it’s the perfect season for consumers to bring the spirit of spring cleaning into their finances. Bank of America is providing consumers with simple tips to not only stay organized but also save time as well as money.
Financial organization can seem daunting for consumers who feel there are never enough hours in the day to complete their to-do list. “This is the ideal time for consumers who have been neglecting their New Year’s resolutions to bring more organization to all areas of their lives, starting with their finances,” said Julie Morgenstern, best-selling author and an expert on organization and time management. “The key to success is to focus on easy-to- implement habits that can yield short- and long-term results.”
“At Bank of America, our customers respond to financial programs that require little to no disruption in their everyday routines,” noted Jon Wilk, Savings and Investing Products executive at Bank of America. “Many of our most successful products, like the Keep the Change savings program, embrace this strategy by offering consumers simple tools to help them manage and organize their finances.”
Consumers who are looking for a way to organize their finances can consider the following five steps as a perfect START:
Simplify
When setting your goals, the more specific you are, the better.
— Identify priorities and create a list of your top financial goals, such as tackling student loans, saving for a home or growing your savings.
— Select one convenient time in your schedule to take care of all of your financial management activities – become a creature of habit and stick to this schedule.
Track Everything, Including Your Progress
Create a plan to achieve your budgeting and savings goals.
— Take advantage of online savings and budgeting tools to see how your expenses compare to your savings goals. Some good examples can be found at http://www.bankofamerica.com/financialtools.
— Stay in control of your finances when you’re on the go through mobile banking service for cell phones and PDAs.
Automate, Automate, Automate
Establish habits and use technology to help avoid missing deadlines and payments. When your savings are on automatic pilot, there’s less chance for conflict.
— Setting up online bill pay can help save you the time it takes to write checks and visit the post office.
— Never miss a bill payment by receiving notification electronic alerts and reminders or setting up automatic payments for your monthly bills.
Reduce Clutter
An organized workspace is one less thing to worry about when it’s time to focus on your finances.
— Create a “bill paying station” with a simple filing system by designating separate folders for monthly bank statements, unpaid bills, paid bills, receipts, taxes and insurance paperwork.
— Go paperless: Conserve paper and reduce paperwork by signing up for online banking, online statements and e-mail alerts.
Take Small Steps
When you’re organizing your financial life, start with smaller, more manageable steps, which can lead to bigger success.
— Saving should become a habit. Watch small amounts add up by using tools such as Bank of America’s Keep the Change savings service that rounds up each purchase with your Visa(R) Check Card to the nearest dollar and transfers the difference from your checking account to your savings account.
— Watch large amounts add up by arranging for automatic deposits from your paycheck into your employer’s 401(k) plan. Bank of America launched the Keep the Change savings program in October 2005 after responding to customer feedback asking for more ways to save. To date, more than 4.3 million American consumers have saved a total of more than $400 million in “loose change” with the Keep the Change program.
Bank of America will also match 100 percent of your Keep the Change savings transfers during the first three months after you enroll and five percent thereafter, up to a maximum of $250 per year. Matching funds are paid to cardholders’ savings accounts annually after the anniversary of enrollment on accounts that remain open and enrolled. Eligible savings accounts include Regular Savings, which requires a minimum opening balance of $100 and pays a variable annual percentage yield that was 0.20% as of April 16. Fees could reduce earnings. Member FDIC. Patent Pending.
About Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 55 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, through more than 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 21 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 80 percent of the Global Fortune 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Member FDIC.