Insurance and Finance

Manage Your Finances With Smart Payments

By Christiana Nielson 9.2.19

If you own (or rent) a home, you know that bills can stack up pretty quickly, with mortgage, property insurance, electric and gas, water, internet, and phone — plus all your non-home-related expenses. With a list like this, managing finances — and doing so wisely — can seem daunting.

If you’re dying to clear off the kitchen table and go paperless (and never miss a bill), automatic reminders, notifications, and paperless payments are your future. Here’s how to manage your finances by setting up all your monthly payments via smartphone app so you can track, budget, and never miss another bill.

Step 1: Download Apps

Pretty much all major companies have smartphone apps these days, including banks, phone companies, and energy companies. Download the apps for each of your monthly payments to have your profile, due dates, and balances available at your fingertips.

You can also download an app like Prism, which filters all your bills to one place and notifies you when each bill is due. Handy!

You should be able to set up all your monthly payments, including:

  • Mortgage
  • Insurance
  • Electric
  • Gas
  • Water
  • Internet
  • Phone

Step 2: Set a Schedule

Now that you’ve downloaded all the apps you need, it’s time to set a payment schedule. You can stagger various payment due dates if you don’t want to owe a significant amount of money all at once, or you can schedule them all around the same time if that’s easier to keep track of.

Just remember to turn on notifications so you’re aware when your mortgage, insurance, and other bills are due. This will help you avoid late fees and stick to your home budget.

Step 3: Track Your Payments

After years of refinement, these apps are highly vetted for information security, so you can rest assured that these apps are a safe way to pay bills. But it’s always a good idea to track your payments with your bank when managing finances. Every month, check to make sure your payments go through and that nothing seems amiss.

While you configure all the monthly payments you need to set up to manage your finances digitally, this is a good time to call your Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Agent and make sure you have the right coverage for your home and property. Then sleep well at night knowing your home and finances are under control.

Coverage and discounts are subject to qualifications and policy terms and may vary by situation. © 2019 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance