5 easy things to get your money in order now

Does your life feel a little out of control right now? Mine does. But it’s all going to be okay (hopefully, deep breath). Today I am going to share a few things that you can be doing right now to make life a little bit easier for yourself and your finances.

Check your insurance coverage and make sure that you have adequate coverage.

This is one of the first things that I recommend. Way back in 2017, my husband and I led a Financial Peace University class.

And even though we had gone through the program before - when we went through it as leaders and we watched the insurance portion of it- we realized we were way underinsured when it comes to everything -- our homeowners, our auto, everything. 

It wasn't that we didn't have enough coverage to cover our house or our car. It was that we didn't have enough coverage and it was leaving us open to liability, open to someone getting hurt and suing us. So we decided we're going to up our coverage and get us some policies that cover if someone slips and falls on our property and breaks a leg, or if, God forbid, we hurt someone in an accident.

We wanted to make sure that we had enough coverage in case something were to happen. And so we increased that, and it only cost us about $15/month total on our homeowners and auto.

Make sure, if you are renting, that you have adequate renter's insurance.

There have been a couple of tornadoes and earthquakes recently. And I have seen news reports where people didn't have renter's insurance and they were looking for some government program to help them out. That's not a good place for you to be.

Renter's insurance is fairly inexpensive. It is not up to your landlord to replace your stuff if there's a flood or a fire (unless the flood is somehow a structural issue that is their fault). If there's a disaster, it is not up to them to replace your stuff. 

So get on that, make sure that you have adequate renter's insurance. 

Make sure if you lose your job that you have some sort of health insurance option.

See if you qualify for any subsidies. See if you can get a rider on your homeowners. See if you can get COBRA.  It's really shameful that we live in a place where people have to make the decision between paying their rent and having health insurance when they're laid off. 

See what options you have, if you are in a position where you might lose your job and lose your insurance, where you can still get some sort of coverage.

Make a will.

I realized about a year ago. around October, that I had not updated our will since my second child was born. I’ve had two kids since him and they weren't even in our will, which I'm sure things would have been fine, but I also don't want to take a risk. So I updated it to make sure that my children were all taken care of, that there was a directive, that my assets were taken care of, who they would go to, what the person who would be taking care of my children could do with those assets to provide for my kids.

I know it’s scary and no one wants to think about these things. But it’s important. Why?

To name a guardian for your children. 

Avoid long probate. 

Avoid mystery when you’re gone. 

Making a will doesn’t have to be complicated, time consuming or confusing. In fact, your state might have some official guidelines for you. 

(Just google your state’s will requirements.) In fact most states don’t require a lawyer, just a couple of witnesses to sign it to make it official. And you can write it yourself. (Again, GOOGLE YOUR STATE’S REQUIREMENTS!)

It's different state by state. Some states require them to be notarized; some states just require that you have one. It can be a confusing thing to walkthrough if you don't speak legalese. But I think that we also overcomplicate it.   

Pull your credit report.

Make sure that you don't have any open things you don't know about. Make sure that things are being reported properly.

 I wrote a post with a lot of good information all about how to get your report and what to look for: How to get a free credit report and what to look for when you get one

 Organize your documents.

Recently we needed to find some paperwork on our kids' 529 account and we spent way too much time looking for it because our documents were not organized.

I recommend getting a place where you keep your documents safe. Get some little plastic file folders that you put things in. You have a folder for your taxes, a folder for medical receipts, a folder for stuff for your kids, a folder for your will. And then keep them all in a fireproof box or safe. You can buy fireproof boxes that lock. They are not expensive. You can order them off Amazon. We have a couple of them and I'm very grateful that we do.

Look at your emergency fund and evaluate if it's what you need.

I said a few weeks ago that I disagree with Dave and I don't think $1,000 is enough. And some people came at me. I don't care because I am not here to affirm what anyone else says about money. I'm here to support you. I'm here for you, to cheer you on and to help you make good choices. My loyalty isn't to anyone. I'm just here to see you succeed.

Look at your emergency fund and see if you are comfortable with it, if you think it's enough money.

I personally have always thought one month of expenses MINIMUM. 

While we were working to get out of debt, my husband and I worked to make sure that we had a month's worth of expenses in case something would happen. I feel like that's more in line with how most people would be able to function. Because $1,000 just isn't enough.

So take a look at your emergency fund. See what you need to function, what you need to take care of your family. Because that's where your loyalty lies, right? To your family. And plan accordingly.

What have you been doing to get your money in order? Leave me a comment below!