Finding Balance When Automating Your Money

Based on several posts I’ve written about how helpful automating our finances has been, you may feel like it’s the perfect solution for a busy couple. While I believe it’s a fantastic way to simplify family finances, I think it’s smart to weigh the costs and benefits before signing up.

Being Careful with Automating

With technology rapidly changing, companies are offering more ways to automate finances. It can be tempting to sign up for a service, especially one that offers to help you save money. But you have to remember you are giving over some control or access to your money to a another party. You may find your finances under control of a disreputable company if you’re not careful.

To prevent that, your best course of action is to go ahead and thoroughly research any company or service you plan on working with before you handing over sensitive and important information.

Please look for those companies handling your finances at least offer bank level security. With some services like Mint you can allow them only read only access.

If you’re unsure or want more information, resources like Consumer Reports can be extremely helpful.

You’re In Charge of Your Money

No one will care about your money like you do. Automating your bills doesn’t change that. While it has significantly cut down on time spent with payments, my husband and I still check our bills regularly.

We’ve had times where certain bills like cable had slowly crept up. If we hadn’t reviewed our budget, we would’ve have missed it and been behind on payments.

And that’s what people have to understand – automation is not the end all solution. It’s a helpful tool that can make managing your more easier.

Thoughts on Automation

I’d love to hear how you handle your family’s finances. How many of you automate your money? How many prefer a more manual approach?

This post was based on a recent episode of the Couple Money Podcast discussing the pros and cons of automating your finances. You can subscribe to the show via iTunes, Stitcher, or copy this link to use with a podcatcher of your choice.