5 Simple Money Tasks That Will Pay Off Big Time
Save yourself hundreds or thousands this year by spending less than an hour on a task today.
What if I told you that you’re missing out on hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars per year, just by believing it’s too hard, too complicated, too time-consuming, and maybe not allowed(??) to do basic and important financial house cleaning?
It’s true! I call it “too-easy-to-be-true syndrome”, a phenomenon that mostly impacts millennials who suffer from a debilitating belief that certain things are too inconvenient, too scary, and too doomed for failure that we don’t even try.
And yes, “we”. I’m no exception; although, I’ve learned to overcome the financial house cleaning obstacles through experiences of my own and the hundreds of clients I’ve supported over the last 9 years of being a financial coach, this phenomenon exists for millennials in all facets of our lives.
For me… it’s anything and everything that has to do with dealing with the post office. If you know, you know.
In reality, there’s so much money out there waiting for you to snatch it up - if you just knew how easy it was.
And some of these things seem like so little money “you’d rather just pay for it than have to hassle with the inconvenience of making a phone call” but month-after-month, year-after-year, all these things add up… and in a big big way.
So let’s start being a good steward of our money. I’ll present you with a list of easier-than-you-think financial wins that you can make today. Some will save you a hundred bucks this year, others will save you thousands, all will make you feel like a mega badass money master.
1. Open A New Bank Account(s)
Bonus points if you open a high-yield savings account (HYSA) and move your savings funds out of your local or massive dinosaur bank with a <0.5% interest rate into that +4% yielding (probably online) savings account.
But even more importantly, I believe you should be banking with a bank that makes it easy for you to manage your money directly in your bank AND pay $0 in fees (i.e. service fees, overdraft fees, ATM fees, and any other hidden fees).
When I work with my clients, we use their bank account to help budget, protect, and organize their money (so they don’t have to follow those old-school budgets that make them feel broke or like a *bad student* every month). The bank I recommend the most is Ally Bank (this isn’t a referral link and they don’t pay me… anymore - ever since I stopped being a financial educator/influencer) but they do remain my favorite bank, one I personally use, and one my clients end up switching to after realizing it’s the easiest thing in the world to set up!*
And it doesn’t have to be Ally! As long as it’s a bank that meets the above criteria and has banking tools that fit with your life!
Just think… a $10k emergency savings fund could net you $1 to $5 this year with your dinosaur bank or $425 this year by taking 5 minutes right now to set yourself up with an HYSA! (note: rates tend to fluctuate based on the federal funds rate)
*As long as your credit is OK, it can take 5 minutes to apply for a new bank account online.
2. Make a Phone Call
I know I know, you’d rather eat glass than get on the phone with your credit card company, bank, or anyone else who you already pay money to on a monthly basis. Waiting on hold is the bane of our millennial existence and you can think of nothing worse.
But here is a little trick I like to implement with myself and my clients - Just commit to 10 minutes a day!
Some days it will take longer, most days it won’t. But let “just 10 minutes” be easy enough for you to get started.
Ok, but here’s what I’m talking about in terms of who to call and why:
Credit card you’re not using has an annual fee? Don’t close it, ask for a downgrade.
There are tons of credit cards that offer many benefits and make annual fees worth paying… but only if you’re really utilizing those cards and benefits! From $50 per year to $700 per year, sometimes it’s worth it, most times it’s not.
But before you call and straight up cancel your card… consider the impact closing it down can have on your credit score.
Access to credit (even if you’re not using it) is a useful tool to help your credit score look pristine–it makes your utilization rate look lower–also, if that card happens to be your oldest… closing it down can be a real hit on that score too. But paying an annual fee just to keep the age and credit? Not worth it.
The beautiful thing is that most companies offer multiple credit cards for each “brand” at multiple levels of annual fees… including cards with $0 annual fees. And all you have to do to not lose the age or credit limit on the card is call up the number on the back of your card and ask them to “downgrade” you to a $0 annual fee card.
You will lose access to the benefits you’re paying for and they will try to keep you on that level card, or down-sell you to a lower annual fee card, but if there’s no true benefit, stick to your guns and ask for the $0 annual fee card. I did this recently with an Amex Hilton card and saved myself $95 per year by downgrading to the $0 card.
Already paid the fee? Still worth it - They’ll prorate the reimbursement!
If they really don’t have a $0 annual fee card, then it’s time to weigh the risks.. and in some cases, you can use the next tip to still get your card at a $0 annual fee.
Getting charged a fee you don’t want to pay? Ask for it to be waived.
Yes, you can actually do this! Just call up your bank or credit card company and let them know that you want to keep your account, but don’t love paying that fee and would appreciate it if they could waive it for you so you can happily remain a customer.
My oldest credit card was through my small town bank and had a $10/year fee. I know… basically nothing, BUT all these small things add up and it just annoyed me that I had to pay this fee to keep the card open. I called them up and asked them what I needed to do to keep the card open and NOT pay the fee and they literally said “just call us up every year and we’ll waive it for you”.
Many companies value you as a customer and the possibility that you’ll start using their accounts in the future, for that reason, it’s worth it to them to waive your fees and keep you around. You can keep using this trick as long as it benefits you!
But there’s more… it’s not just annual/monthly fees that you can waive. Even fees resulting from mistakes you’ve personally made and feel like you HAVE to pay can be waived…
Paid a bill late? And/Or got an overdraft charge? Get those waived too!
There’s no reason you should be charged for paying a bill late or over-drafting on your accounts, especially when you have the money and maybe it was just a timing issue.
Call up your service provider and tell them the situation. Then ask them if they’d be willing to waive the fee and reimburse you.
e.g. “My income got delayed this month due to a technical error with my payroll service. It’s important for me to pay my bills on time every month, as you’ve seen by my payment history. This month was a fluke. Would you help me out by waiving the late fee that’s been added to my next bill/reimburse the late fee you just charged me? I’d really appreciate it.”
There’s certainly a possibility that you’ll be rejected, and that hurts our millennial hearts. But with so many companies (unfortunately, financial institutions) taking advantage of our complex financial situations (i.e. paycheck timings, high debt payments, lack of excess savings, etc.) you owe it to yourself and your financial future to ask them to make exceptions or to help you out.
And don’t get me started with “millennials are so entitled to think they can just ask for these ‘hand-outs’ just pay what you owe”… this level of complication literally didn’t exist 15 years ago, we’re all operating in new territory and the predatory practices of so many institutions gives anyone the right to get a measly $10 fee waived!
3. Shop Around
Consider all your service providers in this case (i.e. internet, phone, if you have a business… almost everything you pay for is up for switching up) but many of these can take a bit more time, effort, and headaches to switch up … still, sometimes very much worth it!
But one very very easy thing to shop around for and potentially save hundreds on is your Insurance!
If you have a car or a home, or any valuables that you separately insure… this is going to help you out.
You can shop around for all of your insurance and get nearly identical policies at other providers without having any gaps in your coverage (that’s important). And it’s actually a lot easier than you think.
My best advice for the busy millennials who don’t want their email inbox filling up with weekly offers from the various insurance companies they get quotes from is to find an independent insurance agent to do the shopping around for you.
Of course, you can call up your current provider and see if they have any discounts they can apply to your current policy. You can also bring the new, competitive quotes to your current provider to see if they can match it or best it.
In any case, you’ll save yourself hundreds if you’re insuring quite a lot in your life. I switched my homeowner’s policy from one well-known insurance company to a smaller company that was found through an independent agent and ended up saving $300 per year with the same coverage!
(Obviously, this is a bit trickier when it comes to health insurance, maybe even impossible if your employer only offers one provider… and only really available during open enrollment/once per year… but something to consider near that time!)
4. Make *THE* Phone Call + Set Up Your Online Account!
The scariest of them all… I’m talking about the dreaded IRS. If you’ve found yourself in a sticky tax situation, I got your back.
And I know how much anxiety just thinking about taxes can bring about. Especially if you owe taxes, and maybe can’t afford that big $$$ on the bill.
* Deep * Breath*, my friend.
I’m going to say something super radical and against every grain in your body… call up the IRS.
If you have questions, it’s literally their job to get you the answer.
Can’t afford to make that tax payment? Call them up - they can help you get on a payment plan that is affordable and will help you avoid lots and lots of money in “failure to file” or “failure to pay” fees… including interest that accrues when you don’t pay.
In some cases, you might find out once you call (like what has recently happened to a client of mine) that instead of owing an extra $10k in taxes that you hadn’t anticipated… the IRS actually OWES YOU(!!) $1,600.
But that’s something you’ll never know until you work on sorting it out. We’re grownups now, it’s time to take personal responsibility for our money stuff. And sure, you might eventually find out that a mistake was made, but consider how much you lose when you let that stress and anxiety build through avoidance and fear… MAKE THE CALL.
It’s true, this call might end up taking a bit longer than my promised “only 10 minutes” type of call, in some cases you could be on the phone for an hour, while in others it may only be 10 minutes, but in any case, I believe it’s worth it to get this stuff sorted for once and for all.
Bonus: Set up an online account at IRS.gov!
This is a new-ish invention that the dinosaur agency has finally come into this century with - allowing U.S. citizens and tax payers to actually have an account where they can view information and correspondence with the IRS and pay their tax bills directly online.
This is especially helpful for self-employed individuals who make quarterly estimate payments and are so over writing and mailing in checks.
This does really take very little time… get it done.
5. [Business Owner Bonus] Apply For A Single-Member LLC (without a lawyer)
For any aspiring or current business owners who don’t yet have an LLC (or need to set up a new one) did you know you actually don’t need to pay a lawyer to do this for you?
In some cases, it may be wise to have a lawyer involved… especially if your business is quite complicated or you have more than one member (yourself) as owners and operators of your business, but most of my clients are single-member businesses and in that case, in most states, LLC’s are extremely simple to establish.
Though I’ve only personally witnessed registering an LLC in three different states, with each of those three states I just followed the instructions on the NOLO website for the respective state AND looked for instructions from the state’s respective Secretary of State website (because many of them offer instructions there as well) and set up the LLC myself.
There was absolutely NO reason for me to believe, after going through the processes, to pay a lawyer anywhere from $100 to $500 to establish my basic, single-member LLC.
Now, almost all LLC’s do cost money to establish through the Secretary of State that you are registering through. It’s usually around $100-200 bucks, though, California is up there with an annual filing fee starting at $800! But you have to pay those fees, regardless.
There are often documents required for your LLC, either with the initial filing or when doing your “annual report” that sound overcomplicated. They usually aren’t. Depending on your state, do a google search or look at the NOLO website to see what is required when filling out these documents (in most cases, it’s basic factual information… not nearly as complicated as an “annual report” sounds).
In short, 99% of the time, for a single-member LLC, you don’t need to pay someone (a lawyer) to do this stuff for you. It usually takes 10-30 minutes and you’re done. I set up my new LLC in Iowa, all online, and it was approved the same day. It’s unbelievably easy.
In Conclusion
There’s money out there for you that’s up for grabs (most of it is YOUR money that’s being spent… and shouldn’t be) and these easy things can help you get or keep more of your money. It may not feel worth it at the thought of setting out to do these things, but trust me that it’s always easier than the financial institutions want you to think it is, and also trust me that no matter how big or small a money move you make in your favor, you will feel proud you did it and pretty damn clever too.
These are easy money moves, but some are more complex, clunky, and inconvenient, yet you still know you need to get them done. Don’t want to go at it alone? That’s why I offer financial coaching to six-figure earners who are ready to get their finances organized, optimize their cash flow, and spend more intentionally. Check out my services here.