Using Your Daily Calendar To Track Payments

This is a simple idea that I implemented for myself several years ago, but it is extremely helpful for budgeting and for remembering those larger payments that only happen occasionally like car insurance or property taxes.

You can use the Google calendar, your iCal on your Mac, or any calendar or schedule program that you use every day.  It took maybe 30 minutes for me to go back and look at my bank statement online and enter the payments that I make every month.  Then as I remember or recall other payments I add those to the calendar as well like vehicle property tax each year.  Make sure that you set them to repeat so they appear every week, month or year as they are paid.

It is also helpful if you know how much you need to earn to pay your basic living expenses.   If you earn a lot more than those basic expenses and you find you are poor at the end of the month, then you know you should probably re-evaluate your spending habits.  If you aren't regularly saving money for retirement and emergencies, then you are just asking for trouble later.

What do you do that helps you keep track of important information?