How I organize my Money Tasks in my To Do app

My financial life is pretty locked down and under control. I have had almost 2 decades to perfect it and make all the mistakes.

I keep track of everything that goes in or comes out of my bank account such as:

• bill payments of all kinds
• scheduled money transfers
• reminders to do money tasks like check on municipal bills
• reminders of money-related things for my family (e.g. signing Little Bun up to a credit card at 18 so he has a credit score)

..and I currently use the Things 3 To Do app to handle all of this, under the section MONEY

I have my own shorthand that looks like this:

In general, this is how I handle each bit:

One-time reminders of scheduled money transfers from one account to another

I don’t like to keep all my money in low interest accounts, so I keep it all in a high-interest one, and do day-before scheduled transfers, and schedule the autopay the next day.

Recurring reminders

Like paying taxes or checking a certain account

Special date reminders

Like March 31st, I can see the special rate at a bank ends, so I will move all my money out on April 1st, hence the two lines.

I even have date reminders for years in advance to remember when to start Little Bun as a co-owner on my credit card for his credit score, for instance.

Upcoming bill payments

I schedule bill payments ahead of time (again, I don’t like just paying it off the day I get the bill, I wait until the last second because I have holdover childhood money trauma from having to maximize every dollar).

I look at the date the bill is due, count back 3 business days to account for the payment to go through, then I schedule the payment for the day before the 3 business days to make sure I am not missing the deadline.

Then I set the money transfer from another account for the day before that payment date, so I am sure that the money has transferred successfully into my account and will be ready and waiting for the bill payment the next day.

Whenever I see money pop into my account, or suddenly transfer, it notifies me via email or text message and I double-check to make sure the amount is correct (you never know if I could mistype something!) and that the amount going out the next day won’t result in an NSF (Insufficient Funds).

This system has worked for me for years.

I have a shorthand for myself so I can see everything at a glance, and I use cute emojis when I can because it makes things easier for my brain.

How I SHORTHAND the tasks

The naming conventioN I FOLLOW:

The date (if it is a specific date I need to keep track of), is always front and center if it is time sensitive.

You can see that with the Tangerine rate change, it is just an ‘event’ of sorts, so I put the month and date in front so I see that it is time sensitive.

If it isn’t a time-sensitive event then it is a bill. If that’s the case, I put the action like:

• PAID = Paid (obviously .. lol)
• XFER = Transfer (as in a money transfer)

So I put the name of the Bill in front, or the Institution I am paying, like RQC = Revenu Québec.

I also sometimes put a short note about what it is, as I may have multiple payments or bills with the same code, and I will also put what bank is paying the bill (I have multiple for different usages).

Then if there are multiple instalments, I put note them as:

• 1/4 = Payment 1 of 4
• 2/4 = Payment 2 of 4 … etc

That way I know how many are left and how many are coming up and when.

After that, comes the amount being paid $

Then the Dates (if the dates are all within the same month, I just put slashes in between)

• Date of scheduled money transfer
• Date of payment
• Date it is due

EXAMPLE:

A credit card bill of $1500 coming out in 3 instalments of $500 each (hypothetically), from Wealth Simple would look like this:

• PAID Rogers MC WS $500 1/3 Mar 24/25/31
• PAID Rogers MC WS $500 2/3 Apr 22/23/30
• PAID Rogers MC WS $500 3/3 May 22/23/30

PAID = Action of what I did

Rogers MC = Rogers Mastercard was the one being paid (the action)

WS = Wealth Simple is the one paying the Rogers Mastercard

$500 = Amount being paid

1/3… = The instalment out of the total to come

Mar 24/25/31 = Auto scheduled the money transfer to Wealth Simple on March 24th, to be auto bill paid in Wealth Simple the next day March 25th, and it is actually due March 31st.

——

Et voilà.

It seems tricky.. but it really isn’t because it is clear and makes sense in my head at a glance, what is going on.

I find it works for me because this shorthand helps me see in an instant what the task actually is, and then all the pertinent details relating to it.

Want more? Here are all my Organizing Series posts.