Where is your missing money?

Image by Ano Lobb

We all have missing money. You get to the end of your week and you know you had enough money to pay for everything you needed, but somehow you are coming up short. Where is your missing money?

Look, I have been talking, writing and lecturing about personal finance for years now and it still happens to me. I know exactly how much extra money I have in my various accounts. I know that we deposit extra into our main bank account to ensure we don’t overdraft. I know we have extra paychecks a few times a year so I know there is technically extra in the account we pay our bills from. So, I spend it because I know it is there. That is where my missing money is; living it up outside of my budget.

My guess is you have a few dollars floating around outside your budget. We all do. This problem arises when you allow money to sit idly in an account somewhere doing nothing. It will run away from you when you aren’t paying attention. Money wants to be spent, or used in some way and it will find a way to get what it wants. What can you do to keep your hard earned dollars from becoming missing money? I am glad you asked.

Give your money something to do.

The secret to keep your money from going missing is to give it something to do. You money, like most of us, wants to feel like it has a purpose. You need a plan for all of your money, give it something to do. It doesn’t matter if it is paying off debt, paying for your bills, or being put in a nice quiet interest bearing account or investment to make more money for you.

Alright, the metaphor has gone far enough. I recommend you automate everything with your bank to make sure all of your money is going somewhere and doing something. Here are a few ideas.

Recurring bills that are the same each month. (mortgage, car loan, insurance etc…) — Have an account where money goes to pay these bills that you can’t spend from. Each month set up an automatic payment with your bank to pay these bills’ total balance each month.
Recurring bills that are not the same every month (utilities) — Call each of your utilities and see if you can make them stable. Many utilities will let you pay the yearly average of your bills all year. That way you know exactly how much you are going to pay each month.
Any money left in your budget — Use it to pay off your debt if that is your goal, or put it in an interest bearing or investment account so you can’t spend it. That way it isn’t in a place where you can spend it on frivolous things.

Following these types of ideas will keep you from asking “Where did my money go?” It just won’t be available to spend.

What other ideas do you have? Tell us in the comments.

Where is your missing money?