Ad disclosure: This post is written in collaboration with Santander.
I know we are guilty of not bothering to open ours, instead just tossing the unopened envelope onto the “filing pile” on the stairs. This pile should really be called the “piling pile” – every so often the stack of papers is collected up and deposited onto an even bigger pile upstairs, with our good intentions of one day coming upstairs to file them away in the cabinet, like the super-organised people we aspire to be.
To be fair, we might not open the bills themselves, but we do know what is inside them. We do most of our financial management online, whether it is managing our utilities, shopping accounts, credit cards, and even our bank account. My husband has a spreadsheet that he keeps updated with our incomings and outgoings, making sure we aren’t overspending.
His fab management means we don’t often overestimate or underestimate our bills, but this infographic by Santander shows that quite a few people do, and by quite a lot.
It definitely helps to keep track of things, especially if you’re like us and trying to fund life as a young family with a limited income – an underestimation of £770 a year would be a pricey mistake for us to make. I definitely recommend signing up to online billing for utilities, and get sorted with online banking! Santander’s current account includes 24/7 online banking, so you can make payments, view old statements, and keep an eye on your finances at any hour.
Are you guilty of any of these financial pitfalls, or do you manage to keep on top of things?
