Life admin is a new trendy term which refers to all that painstaking paperwork you need to do to help keep your life in order. This mostly involves financial items, such as remortgaging your house, setting up an ISA account, managing your debt, and sorting out appropriate insurances. It can be dull and many people put it off. However, some people relish in taking a day off work and sitting at a table, dedicating a day to life admin. Tying up loose ends and arranging items you have been putting off for ages can be a great feeling, so, are you doing it?
Here are a few items you might want to focus on:
Look at your savings
Many people do not have savings. In fact, this article suggests over 9 million people don’t have savings to fall back on in hard times. According to the report by Scottish Widows, over 20% of people only relied on their monthly wages to cope month by month, allowing no excess for savings. So, a big part of your life admin might focus on how to start saving. If there simply isn’t enough money at the end of the month, you might want to look into cutting down what you spend elsewhere. Do you really need that Netflix monthly direct debit? Could you use comparison sites to get cheaper energy prices? Any spare money you can free up can go straight into a dedicated savings account.
Get your debt sorted
According to a survey by Wonga SA, 77% of respondents said they didn’t look at the interest rates and fees on credit applications. This is worrying, because if people just take out loans without thinking about it properly, they could become overwhelmed with repayments which can really impact your monetary situation. A major aspect of many people’s life admin is to rearrange debt and even consolidate loans if need be. However, the Wonga survey did also indicate that 67% of customers were aware that they were able to get a free credit report once a year. This is more encouraging. If, as part of your life admin, you get a credit report and look in detail at how well you are doing with loan repayments, you can get on top of your debt and pay it down sensibly.
Be organised and note any changes
Your situation changes throughout the year. Make sure you adjust your paperwork accordingly. It is great to set a date once a year to complete all your life admin, but often you need to dip in and out throughout the year when such changes occur. Say, for instance, you have a baby, but a new house or start a new relationship. You’ll need to ensure that your paperwork is in order. Don’t leave it too long before completing your life admin; procrastinating only makes it more difficult when you do get around to it!
