Mobile Banking

Mobile banking is the new trend across the banking industry. One can easily long into your account using your internet password and customer id and have a good view on ones account, pay credit card bills - the works!

Its convenience at your fingertips!


I actually tried to log in from my nokia phone today into my account and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the website that HDFC bank had. It was also quite fast ( and i am using 2G internet and not 3G!).

All other banks also have similiar facilities.

Its a great start and enables anytime data.

Go ahead, try it out. It will make life simple. Now no more excuses of not finding the time to invest!

Happy investing!

(Dont forget to subscribe using the links on the right. Become a follower of the blog)

PPF In April 2011 Vs March 2012

March has gone and has taken all the tax fever away. All of us were running around to ensure we max our tax saving investments.

The year has turned and a new financial year has started. Most people will wait for March 2012 to make investment in tax saving instruments like PPF.

But this post is about why it makes sense to invest today in April and not in coming March.

Its basic. PPF is a great investment vehicle- not only to save tax. The interest earned is a handsome 9% and is totally Tax free. So if you invest now in April, you get the full 9% interest rates for the year. Usually people get their bonuses in March Salary and they spend it all in april and then try and run around to save later on.

Automate your finances - especially the "Pay yourself first" concept.

Get going and invest in PPF right away-- dont wait till march!

Happy investing!

( Subscribe to the blog using the links on the right!)

Tracking expenses

Tracking expenses is a must for becoming financially independent. There are multiple tools and applications that are available to track ones expenses or websites like www.arthamoney.com which help you manage your money.

However , a lot of these i find difficult to persist with because one cannot immediately put them on the tracker or the tracker ( arthamoney.com) doesnt have a feature where you can put in cash expenses.

I know that people in the US don't usually use cash, however in India it is still the fashion and sometimes more convenient to use cash.

So recently i downloaded an expense tracker application on my smartphone and it has made my life quite easy. when ever i spend money, i can immediately enter the information onto my phone and at the end of the month i have a clear view on what i spent where.

All the hassles of trying to enter stuff at the end of the day goes away- A great example of technology making life easier.

Start tracking your expenses-- i can tell you its worth it!!

Happy investing

( don't forget to subscribe using the links on the right)

Financial Clutter ?

when I am in one of "those" moods , I start going around the house and look for stuff to throw away ( ESPECIALLY the bookshelf behind my parents bed ). I get frustrated by the amount of stuff we have in our house... most things which have not been used for long periods of time and stuff which i will never use in my lifetime.... CLUTTER.

In Six Sigma we always talk about the concept that the water level hides 80% of the glacier beneath itself... and thats where the opportunity for improvement lies.
In other words-- when the water level starts to come down--- The SHIT is visible :)

The same simple concept is also applicable in our everyday lives-- in our homes and in our finances.

• I mean i think i will have at least 10 empty diaries at home--- and i think it can last me for the next 3 - 4 years if i use them professionaly
• I have loads of books that i have bought but am still reading --- at least 3 at a time
• I have so many clothes--- that buying new clothes has become taboo for me for the next year ( the sale came and went -- and I did not buy)

So how does something like this translate into finances?

• The number of Bank accounts we may have-- some of them dormant ( eating away whatever money we may have there)-- but all adding upto more money than is required for your emergency fund
• The Number of credit cards we may have--- yes, they come free nowdays-- no annual fee-- But imagine the no of statements we get every month-- and to track the payment date is crazy  ( I finally took my dad's advice and use only two nowadays--- HDFC and SBI)
• The additional cheque books that i ordered from my bank -- I mean the no of times i use a cheque is very rare ( only to pay the club and the electricity bill-- else everything is online nowdays!)
• The multiple MF statements one gets ( Finally my financial advisor opened up his own website and i can see everything there in one place)
• I get at least 4 telephone bills everymonth-- 2 mobiles, 1 LL, 1 data card!

You can see from the above statements how much clutter one can have in ones life-- and it starts to have a domino effect impacting your financials in a big way.-- a few examples are given below..

• You have more money than required in cash -- thus lowering your earning potential
• You miss your credit card payments--- creating late fee issues
• You miss your multiple insurance policy payments--- late / re instatement fees again!
• Your dormant account finally becomes totally dormant-- since all the money has been taken back by the bank to maintain your account
• and more and more and more....

So , it is best to understand how to control such waste ( I am a certified lean practitioner) and use tools like arthamoney.com ( read here) to get all accounts in one place and use strategies of automating your finance payments ( read my earlier post here) to have a more easy life.

 

 

However this is not the only issue with clutter- having clutter in your house and life also forces you to spend more--- because you cannot find the stuff you are looking for--- It is hidden somewhere in all that clutter! The more clutter you have in your house, the more cluttered will be your finances--- there is a perfect correlation!

 

Take the first step-- take control of your clutter... and you will take control of your finances.

 

( like this post?-- dont forget to subscribe using the link and become a follower of the blog)

 

Automating Finance Payments.

I have made many mistakes in my finances-- because of not understanding when bills need to be paid. If I calculate how much money i have spent on late payments- i would definately have a minor heart attack.

With this post i hope to be able to stop you from making the same mistakes. I will try and share simple things - simple tools which will allow you to become more effective in managing your finances.

Here are a few steps to help you get started.

1. Understand the different bills you need to pay every month. This could be Cellphone bills, Credit card bills, Electricity, mortgage, home phone bills , Insurance payments and others. Ensure you cover all type of bills in each category- for example if you have multiple credit cards.

2. Evaluate which of these bills can be paid by Credit cards and which need actual cash to be paid. Most of the bills can be paid using credit card options nowdays- the only place where you need to pay cash is for your credit card bills ( though i wish i could pay a credit card bill with another credit card -- that would be fun!!!)

3. Understand from your finances which option you want to use to make payments-- Credit card/ debit cards/ direct debits from your savings account and make a list

4. Once you have decided which bill is paid how- there are now two options for you to make the payments.


Paying off your credit card bills
The simplest way to get this done is if you have an account with the same credit card provider-- for example if you have a SB account with SBI and an SBI credit card. You can link up your credit card with your account and have an automated direct debit from your SB account whenever the card becomes due. No worries/ No headaches.

However if you do have other cards where you dont have a SB account-- sometimes the credit card provider does have a direct debit option which you can activate by filling up a form-- takes around an hr to close all things out-- but releases all the tensions of late payment for the rest of your life!!

If the above option is not available, then nowdays there are online payment facilities available-- through providers such as paynet etc- check out if these are available. all that you will need to do is to ensure you go two days before and make the payment!!

Paying All Other Bills
ALL credit cards today have an option where you can schedule your payments with providers and ALL providers have the direct debit option with your credit cards!! Makes life simple right?

So just schedule your payments and live an easy life of no late payments fees and tensions.

Paying through credit cards also has a two big benefits
1. You get a lot of reward points ... which you can redeem for multiple things
2. You have everything in one place... you can understand your spending behaviours.

There are two important pieces of the puzzle you need to ensure before you fully look to automate your bill payments


1. while using credit cards to make your bill payments -- ensure you FIRST close out on the automated payments loop for your credit card bills-- else you could be paying huge amounts of money for delayed payments!
you can read my previous blog on my own experience on delayed credit card payments at

2. Always ensure you have enough funds in your SB account to be able to make these payments-- Read through my post on creating an emergency fund

Take the plunge-- and you will find this very rewarding.