Canadian Finance Blog

Posted: 27 Jan 2011 02:00 AM PST

Just recently I had a flat tire, and needed the spare one, so I popped the trunk and went dizzy! Where the heck did all this stuff come from? I ended up getting the car towed to the garage to get the tire changed. What should have been a simple, free, do-it-yourself tire change ended up costing me. I had to pay not only for the tow truck but for the mechanic's service as well. Hard earned cash down the drain! Luckily for me, my friends organized a sort of intervention, where they sat me down and literally forced me to get myself organized! After a neck straining day of filing, boxing and labelling, I managed to clear out the boot. I had several surprises when I found things that I thought I had lost, and had replaced (kicked myself for spending my cash when it was in my boot all along). At the end of this little intervention, I had a new found appreciation for why staying organized is good for your personal finance.

Here are a few tips to get yourself organized:

Recognize That You Have a Problem

I guess we've all been down this road once or twice. That is, having to dig in our pockets because we downright refuse to get our act together and keep things in order. For example, how many times have you rushed to your private doctor, get there, and then realize your appointment is actually tomorrow? That's precious fuel gone! Or you showed up to your business appointment 10 minutes too late, to find your key client gone, because you couldn't find the clients file with all that clutter on your desk to make it in time for your 3 o' clock? That's a loss of potential business. Frustrating isn't it?

Organize Your Mail

Here's a question. What do you do with your mail when you get home? Are you like me and chuck it on the side table and let it pile up? If you haven't realized it by now, this is a sure way of racking up unnecessary expenses. How? When people like you and me chuck our mail aside, it usually is forgotten about, up until the moment when the bills are due. This is when we are slapped with late fees and high interest rates on our reward credit cards. This results in more money down the drain. Don't wait for an intervention, like in my case, and attack your mail now and avoid paying more.

File Away Your Receipts

Another area which was covered by this much-needed intervention was the receipts that I kept piled up in my wallet. I'd just shove them in, and after a few weeks when they started overflowing, I'd trash them. And when I needed proof of purchase and date of purchase when my new flat screen TV started acting up, I had nothing! So I ended up paying for the repairs.

All this unnecessary spending could have been avoided if I just got my act together right from the get go. But I've learned my lesson, and trust me; it's not too late for you too!

Author Bio: This is a guest post from Andrew Wang. He owns various blogs including one on success.

Why Staying Organized Saves You Money originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 27, 2011.