Money Management For The Time-Pressed

You don't need as long as you think to get your financial life in order. Just squeeze in these 12 easy moves--some of which take a mere 15 minutes to tackle.

With longer work days complicating the already Herculean task of juggling job and family, you probably don't have a minute to spare. Like many people, you're eager to find ways to get the most done in the least amount of time. That helps explain why you find yourself answering e-mails in the grocery store checkout line and eating in the car while shuttling between activities.

Lack of time may also be to blame for the fact that financial tasks all too often fall to the bottom of your to-do list. According to government time-use studies, the average American rarely gets to money-management chores; those who do will spend a scant 15 minutes a day on them.
    Granted, it's not just time that get's in the way. Many financial projects can seem overwhelming because of the sheer number of choices (which investment is best out of the thousands available? which credit card? which cable provider?). Studies show that when people are presented with too many possibilities, they can become paralyzed, a phenomenon known in social science circles as the paradox of choice. Carnegie Mellon economist George Loewenstein, who studies consumer behavior, explains that people do nothing because they're afraid of doing the wrong thing. But as Baltimore financial planner Tim Maurer notes, "Inaction is a decision too--and ordinarily not a good one."
   Fortunately, you don't need more than a coffee break, a lunch hour, or a Saturday morning to make some smart moves with your money--moves that can cut your expenses, boost your savings, and protect your family's finances. "The key to meeting long-term goals is to break them into a short-term steps that are easier to accomplish," says Loewenstein. Turn the page for a dozen small steps with big payoff, whether you have 15 minutes or a few hours to spare.


Get on track for retirement. Yes, you really can devise a smart savings plan for retirement in just a quarter of an hour. The potential reward is huge: A survey by banking giant HSBC found that people who have even a rudimentary plan for reaching retirement goals are ending up with up to three times as much money as those without one.
Step One: Figure out your monthly savings rate at T. Rowe Price's Retirement Income Calculator (troweprice.com) Time needed: five minutes.
Step Two: Coming up short? Use the remaining 10 minutes to pump up your 401(k) contributions on your plan's website. If you can't put away as much as the calculator recommends, committ to automatically increasing the amount you're saving at the time of your raise; half of large employers offer this feature, according to Aon Hewitt.

Target your Savings. Want to save money for a rainy or sunny vacation week but never have enough leftover cash to stash for these goals? Have the money taken directly from your paycheck, so you'll never miss it. Only about 20% of workers split there paycheck among multiple accounts, though many employees with access to direct deposit can do so, reports electronic-payments industry group NACHA. The association found that those who take advantage save $90 more a month than those who don't.
How To Do It: If you don't have dedicated savings accounts for each of your goals, set them up. Discover Bank (discoverbank.com) is a good option since it consistently pays higher-than-the-average rates, recently 1% a year. Opening accounts online takes 10 minutes tops. Next contact your payroll department to see if you can split your paycheck; if so, figure on filling out a form, adding yet another five minutes. Not an option? Set up automatic transfers from your checking account so that the money is moved on payday.

Know the Score. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling reports that only four in 10 Americans know their credit scores. A good reason to be among them: This number determines what interest rate you'll get on loans and credit cards.
How To Check: Pony up $20 to get your score at myfico.com The FICO scoring model, the one most commonly used by lenders, ranges from 300 to 850. A score of 740 or higher entitles you to the best rates; if yours is lower, see "Juice your score" below.

Download a shopping buddy. You know that coupons can reduce the bite groceries and other household goods take out of your budget--25% of take-home pay for the average family--but you can't spend hours perusing the Sunday circulars. Fortunately, there are apps for that. Download these:
Coupon Sherpa. Delivers coupons to your phone for in-store scanning (free for iPhone and Android).
Cardstar. Stores your merchant loyalty cards on your phone, so you won't miss out on points or discounts (free for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone).

Juice your Credit Score. An excellent score--740 and up--is money in your pocket: On a 30-year fixed-rate $250,000 mortgage, someone with a score of 620 would pay about $240 more per month than someone with a 760. While a good score is earned over time, you can do these two things to quickly boost your number:
Step One: Get a free credit report from each of the three agencies that track consumer credit at annualcreditreport.com. Read them carefully looking for mistakes. Any errors-about one in five have them, the Policy & Economic Research Council estimates--could be costing you points, Report any problems to each of the bureaus and the lender (there's a form at each website).
Step Two: Call your card issuer to ask for an increase in your credit limit, since how much you tap of your available credit is a key factor in determining your score. The more unused credit you have, the better you look--ideally, you should use no more than 10% of what's available to you.

Shrink your Bills. Today the average wireless customer pays $1,320 annually; cable customers shell out around $800. BillShrink.com can help you reduce those costs. Fill out a quick worksheet--your address, how much you pay, favorite channels, and so on-and directly upload data from your phone account. The site will identify lower-cost providers based on your your current usage and show you exactly how much you could save over two years. Use the rest of the hour to cancel your current accounts and switch to a new carrier.

Protect your Legacy. Who wants to spend an afternoon thinking about their mortality? No one, which is why 55% of Americans don't have a will, according to FindLaw.com "But without one, you could be leaving disposition of your assets and the guardianship of your minor children to a court," says New Jersey attorney Gerard Brew. If you have kids and/or significant assets, you should really consult a lawyer. For now, however, download Quicken's WillMaker Plus ($35) from nolo.com. The program takes only 30 minutes to complete. But count on the discussion with your spouse over whether his mother or your brother would make a better gaurdian to add some time.

Get on Recruiters' radars. Today 89% of firms use social media to find candidates, according to Jobvite. Not seeking work? "The best time to create a digital footprint is before, you're looking," says Miriam Salpeter, author of 'Social Networking for Career Success'. That way your next move can find you.
How To Do It. If you're not yet on LinkedIn, the site most companies use to recruit, start by uploading your resume. Include your entire job history, since profiles with multiple jobs are 12 times more likely to be viewed than those with one; add a photo, and your click-through rate increases by seven times. Be sure to use keywords in your summary that are important in your industry (hint: check job ads to find them) so that you'll come up in searches.