5 tips to boss your life admin

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Over the years I have tried many ways to get my life admin organised. There’s the household bills with direct debits to sort, insurance renewals and health appointments as well as managing your finances, it can seem a lot! The best ways to get your life admin under control is to recognise your strengths and play to them. Do you love lists? Write them. Do you love a planner? Use it. Do you need reminders? Get them in place. Here’s 5 tips to boss your own life admin.

Birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations

I have all the best intentions every January to copy over family and friends birthdays, anniversaries and celebrations in my new annual planner but I rarely finish the task. There are so many of them to write out each year. Save yourself some time and compile a list of all the celebrations each month and type it up, save it, print it out and display it somewhere central. It could be on the side of the fridge, at the beginning of your diary or even pinned up in on the family notice board. Having somewhere you can see it will help you remember those all important days and never forget another birthday again!

Shred your personal details

A few years back my husband and I were victims of fraud. We have no idea how the fraudsters managed to obtain all our details but they did so since then we have been so careful about the information we share and dispose of. When you get a bank statement or letter with your name and address on, don’t assume that putting it in the bin will be okay. Always tear off the top of the letter with your address and personal details on (do this even with junk mail and mail order catalogues) and shred it. Using a shredder is an inexpensive way to protecting your own identity from fraudsters. This paper can then be recycled and your personal data unobtainable.

Avoid the monthly bill mayhem

Do you have a budget spreadsheet? If not, you need one. It doesn’t need to be fancy or elaborate but you really should know exactly what bills you need to pay for each month and factor those into your monthly budget. This will help you avoid missing payments and getting yourself into trouble with any lenders.

At the start of each month, note down how much income you have and what direct debit or standing orders you have. Note down what your outgoings are and what bills need to be paid manually. If you can set up direct debits to pay these automatically, you’ll save yourself some time. Make all manual payments on the same day and note down who you have paid and how much (I always write this in my diary). Doing this will help you throughout the month as you’ll be safe in the knowledge that these have been dealt with.

Take a life admin day and own it

Life is busy. I get it. We all forget things because life gets in the way and before we know it, we’ve forgotten about the house insurance renewal. Set yourself a day to get organised. Take a life admin day and designate that day to organise your bills, renewals, organisation systems and paperwork. Check your policy renewal dates and write them down in a central place (see below for what we use). If you re-familiarise yourself with all those important dates and figures you’ll feel much more capable of handling the throughout the year.

Use a household notebook

We have a household notebook which we keep in the kitchen. This is so useful filled with notes, dates and all the important details and numbers. When is your car tax due? Write it down. When does your house insurance policy run out? When does your car payment plan finish? Find out the dates and write them down. Having everything in one place will help you keep on top of all the life admin.

I hope these tips will help you as you navigate your life admin. Good luck!