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Day 1: Get Organized, Missy (And Get Online!)

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Posted by LearnVest on February 15, 2010 at 1:37 PM

Welcome to LV Bootcamp. It’s time to get your financial life in order. No putting things on tomorrow's to-do list. When you get orders from LV Bootcamp, we expect you to do them ASAP. We keep these short and simple, so get to it!


We all love to be organized, but why are our finances so often a giant mess? Let’s face it, forgetting to pay your phone bill because it was sitting under a pile of papers is no excuse. You need to get organized. Now.

Total Action Time: 20 minutes

 
Receiving your bills via snail-mail is really last century. There’s no need to have a heap of financial paperwork cluttering your life. Getting your bills e-mailed to you will help keep you 100% on top of them: you will have them all in one place, instantly accessible to you at any time. Plus, it's good for the environment!


(Open up your past statements, sort through them and decide which ones to keep. And remember to tear up any financial papers that you throw away, so you keep everything confidential.)
Grab your computer and set up every possible account online. Next, sign up to receive your statements via e-mail. It takes practically no time at all, so there's no reason not to. At the minimum, set up online bills for:

     •Your bank

     •Your credit card(s)

     •Your cell phone

     •Your cable

     •Your utilities
Action Time: 15 minutes

Read your bills. It sounds obvious, but given the number of mistakes that are made on bills, we’ll say it again:
Read your bills. Don’t skim them or jump to the total at the bottom of the statement. Make sure each line item on your

credit card, for example, is correct. Consider yourself Blair Waldorf and unearth those mistakes!
Action Time: 4 minutes

Be in the know—you can dispute any incorrect items,

and vow to do this in the future. Most bills will even let

you dispute charges online, so you don't even have to pick up the phone.
Action Time: 1 minute
If you're really on top of your bills and you don’t want them to

get mixed up with that e-mail about your best friend’s guy troubles, create an e-mail address just for your bills. A separate e-mail account for your finances can keep you extra organized, but only do this if you're the kind of person who will be consistent about checking it.

Want to receive Financial Bootcamp in your inbox? 

Go to http://www.learnvest.com/bootcamp/subscribe and sign up to recieve 20 days of daily tips and action items to get your finances in order for spring!

Help Us Improve...

The Bootcamp is a brand new product we're excited to roll out, but, we really need your feedback to make it the best it can be! Email Feedback@learnvest.com to tell us what you think!

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  • Posted by Anonymous on February 16, 2010 at 9:38 AM
SO HELPFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  • Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2010 at 4:02 PM
This is super helpful!! I always tell myself that I need to get my financial life in order but it never seems to happen. This is the perfect kick in the butt to finally make me do it--so thank you!
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  • Posted by Anonymous on February 15, 2010 at 2:37 PM
This is awesome!!! Thank you GirlsGuideTo for partnering with LearnVest. I never thought of organizing all of my bills and statement online but it makes total sense!
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