Get Your Financial House in Order

"Poor organization skills, combined with a lack of time, or just an aversion to personal bookkeeping, means that many people have a loose grasp on their finances, at best," points out Ann Diamond, spokesperson for Citibank's consumer financial education program. "If not addressed, this can quickly lead to such problems as a record of late payments, an inability to achieve important financial goals, lost documents, and general confusion and frustration."

Citibank believes that an organized money management system is key to controlling your finances and maximizing your money, and is offering free Money Minder Worksheets to help consumers get started. Some tips:

• Make a list. Before you can get organized, you need to know what you have to organize. Make a list of any and all important financial and legal documents, and gather them together in one place.

•  Set up a Record of Documents. Separate financial papers and other documents you need to keep "for the record" from bills and papers you will need to reference regularly. Decide which of these documents you might like to keep on file at home, and which might be better placed in a safe deposit box at your bank. Once you have decided, make one list of all the documents and indicate where they are being kept.

•  Set up a system for monitoring savings and investments. Next, develop your own portfolio of savings and investment instruments. Information on savings accounts, CD's, mutual funds, stocks, bonds -- or any other account -- should be kept in clearly labeled files for easy reference.

•  Set up a system for paying and filing bills. Most of the remaining paperwork will be about bills. When a new bill arrives, put it in a place where bills are being collected for payment. Once you have paid your bill(s), put the copy in a file where you can reference it in the future if needed.

•  Set up a "payment planner." Make a list of the bills that need to be paid each month, arranging them in the order in which they are due. Make a note of which paycheck, or other income source, will be used to cover each bill. Keep a monthly checklist of when bills are paid to know "at a glance" whether you are on schedule.

• Separate the wheat from the chaff. An important key to staying organized is knowing what to keep and what to throw away. Shuffling through the same stack of old, or unnecessary, papers is confusing and time consuming.

•  Set aside time to do your homework. Whatever time it takes, making it routine will make it less of an ordeal and ensure that you stay organized.

•  Stay the course!

"Keeping up with your new system will, in the end, take less time than slipping back into a state of financial disorganization," advises Ms. Diamond. "Eventually, the whole process will become habit."