This post is part of a 30 days series called the 30 steps program to financial independence. You can check the list of other posts here. 

 

Step 8: Automate your finances

 

In order to reach financial independence, you now are aware that you need a considerable amount of savings, as well as a handful of smart investments to generate passive income over the next decades you have left to live.

As important as saving is, it needs to be done regularly, and consistently. Saving $20 at the end of the month, then using it the next month because you NEED that t-shirt won’t get you to your goal of financial independence. It maybe because deep down, this is not really what you want.

Or it may be that you are simply disorganized. I am not an example of order and consistency myself. But I have put my finances on auto-pilot so at least that part gets taken care of without me needing to repeat the same steps every month.

All my bills get paid automatically, so do my taxes, I have asked my three tenants to automate their rent deposit too. Before I sold my other flat, the managing agency would deposit me the rents too. And a part of that income goes automatically into a savings account every month. By doing that, I don’t miss the money. I barely see it coming in and out of my checking account. So I don’t miss it, and I don’t spend it!

I can always go to my savings account, log in, and transfer back if I have a lot of bills for a particular month. But usually, I try to limit my spending to what is left after all those automated payments. It makes my life so much simpler, and I progress towards financial independence without too much effort.