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Tart Cherry Jam
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Member Since Mar 2021
Location: California
Posts: 2,773 (SuperPoster!)
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Default Yesterday at 10:20 PM
 
I also did not like Atomic Habits and found the author's voice and attitude (on audio) irritating, but I loved Tiny Habits. I read it, listened to it, and did many free one-week-long programs run over email by certified Tiny Habits practitioners. Let Tiny Habits change your life

Note that the guy who wrote Tiny Habits is a researcher who runs a psychology lab, but, I think, not so for the author of Atomic Habits who pretty much presents his beliefs.

Paying bills. This is how I have been doing it for several years which is actually enjoyable.

I have a Google sheet called Finances. It is bookmarked in my Chrome browser.

I actually use several bank accounts because in the past I took advantage of offers to open a new bank account, directly deposit certain amounts into it for a couple of months, and get paid something, say $300 (which is reported as interest earnings to IRS so is taxable, but still, free money). My paycheck is directly deposited into several accounts. The main one is Wells Fargo which gets the bulk of the deposit and it is the only one for which I use an ATM and occasionally take cash. I primarily use cash to pay my cleaning lady who comes infrequently, and, also infrequently, to pay some tips. I write one check per month. The rest is conducted online.

So across the google sheet I have the heading row with columns which represent the bank accounts. And I regularly update the current amounts in the bank accounts in the 2nd row. If you have one account, it will be much easier and you do not need columns across.

Then, I have rows as follows, one underneath another:

rent (1st of the month, from Wells Fargo)
auto loan (5th of the month, from Capital One)
a bunch of credit cards (I use quite a few) - with the DAY of the month when due
a bunch of store cards (not as many as credit cards) - with the DAY of the month when due
auto insurance (payable on the 15th of the month, from BMO account, on auto-pay, fixed amount)
Verizon (payable on the 2nd of the month, from BMO account, on auto-pay, fixed amount)
PG&E (payable on the 4th of the month, from Wells Fargo, variable amount)
Xfinity (on the 18th of the month, from SoFi, fixed amount)
Wells Fargo safety deposit box, payable once a year on the 4th of December, $45
eye brow threading, once a month, via Zelle from Wells Fargo
hair color touch-up, once a month, via Zelle from Wells Fargo
personal trainer, per session (usually once a week), via Zelle from Wells Fargo,
psychotherapist, check, once a month, a varying amount after insurance sends me reimbursement (the only recurring charge I use checks from Wells Fargo for)
cleaning lady cash
cash
Venmo (very occasionally used)
PayPal (very occasionally used)

BALANCE AFTER PAYMENTS

So when my paycheck arrives on the last day of the month, I enter the positive amounts of the balances in the bank accounts and then enter negative amounts for the expected payments: rent, auto loan, Verizon, PG&E.
I then pay those credit cards that are due soon online and enter the negative amounts in the corresponding cells in the Google sheet. If I have a brows or hair color appointment coming up, I enter what I will be paying. If look at the calendar to see how many, roughly, personal training sessions I will have between now and mid-month and enter what I will be expected to pay. The credit cards, I pay them out of different bank accounts, except for Capital One which I use solely to make auto loan installment payments.

So I look at the row
BALANCE AFTER PAYMENTS on the bottom of the Google sheet to make sure I have enough money in each bank account after the payments clear.

Then a few days later I log onto the bank accounts again, see which payments have cleared, delete those entries from the Google sheet, and update the current balances in the top row of the Google sheet, again looking at the bottom row of balances after upcoming payments to make sure this row has positive values.

Then when I get paid mid-month, I enter the balances and expected mid-month payments: Xfinity + auto insurance, and also those credit cards that are coming up, and, if I have appointments coming up, and, what I expect to pay the personal trainer until the end of the month.

This whole thing takes some time but in the years that I have used it, I have never bounced a payment. And before that, I would get repeated overdrafts. It used to be a big problem for me which is now completely solved.

For PG&E: I receive emails from them each month with the amount of that month's bill payable next month. I enter that amount into the Google sheet.

I hope some of the ^ is helpful for you. The key is to be proactive, to expect expenses and not wait until the last moment.

__________________
Bipolar I w/psychotic features
Last inpatient stay in 2018

Geodon 40 mg
Seroquel 75 mg


Gabapentin 1200 mg+Vitamin B-complex (against extrapyramidal side effects)

Long term side effects from medications, some of them discontinued:
- hypothyroidism
- obesity BMI ~ 38
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