What are 7 ways my bank can help me stick to my budget?

Ralph
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Are you tired of constantly overspending and feeling like your money is just slipping through your fingers?

Ralph
00:00:06

Do you wish there was an easier way to stick to your budget and keep track of your finances?

Ralph
00:00:11

Well, you're in luck.

Ralph
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Today I'm going to share seven powerful ways your bank.

Ralph
00:00:15

Yes, I said that your bank can help you stay on top of your budget.

Ralph
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Plus, I'm going to share some fantastic online tools that many financial institutions offer.

Ralph
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And stick around because I'll be sharing an inspiring story about my client, Henry.

Ralph
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Now, Henry turned his financial life around using his credit unions online banking site.

Ralph
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So what are seven ways your bank can help you stick to your budget?

Host
00:00:38

Let's find out welcome to the Ask Ralph podcast where listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting.

Host
00:00:59

Askgrowf makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a christian perspective with all things financial.

Host
00:01:06

Now here's your host, Ralph Estep Junior.

Ralph
00:01:09

Well, yesterday's show we answered the burning question.

Ralph
00:01:11

What do experts say about the maximum amount to deposit in a cd?

Ralph
00:01:16

I got into some real good discussions about how to use cds for your investment, so if you missed it, be sure to check it out.

Ralph
00:01:22

It's packed with valuable insights that could help you make smarter investment decisions.

Ralph
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And we all want to make better decisions.

Ralph
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Well now lets kick things off with a letter from one of our listeners.

Ralph
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This comes from Keith and Keith is in Ohio.

Ralph
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Keith writes this dear Ralph, Im struggling to keep my spending in check.

Ralph
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Every month I set a budget but I always seem to go over it.

Ralph
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I feel like im constantly playing catch up with my finances and its causing me so much stress.

Ralph
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I log into my bank account on Monday morning and my weekend spending leaves me with stress just trying to get to my paycheck on Friday.

Ralph
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I feel like I'm living paycheck to paycheck and I want to break free from it.

Ralph
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I know I should be a better steward of my money, but I just can't seem to get it right.

Ralph
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Is there any hope for someone like me?

Ralph
00:02:09

Keith, I hear your pain and I want you to know that you're not alone in this.

Ralph
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Many of us have been in the exact same position.

Ralph
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We feel overwhelmed.

Ralph
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We feel discouraged by our financial situation.

Ralph
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But I've got good news for you.

Ralph
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There is hope.

Ralph
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In today's episode, I'm going to equip you with some powerful tools to help you take control of your finances.

Ralph
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So just like Keith's question, I remind you that this show is all about answering your questions.

Ralph
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If you've got a financial question you'd like me to address, head over to justaskraph.com and submit it and your question will be featured on a future episode.

Ralph
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Now, Keith, your question reminds me of a powerful burst from the book of proverbs.

Ralph
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That's from chapter 27, verses 23 and 24.

Ralph
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It says, know well the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever and does a crown endure to all generations.

Ralph
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And you know what, Keith?

Ralph
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This verse speaks directly to your topic.

Ralph
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It truly reminds us the importance of being aware of our financial state and more importantly than not, actively managing our resources.

Ralph
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Just as a shepherd must know the condition of their flock, we must be diligent in understanding and more importantly, in managing our finances.

Ralph
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Look, if we don't, if I don't attend to these black Angus cows here on my farm, they're not going to thrive, much less survive.

Ralph
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Your finances work the same way.

Ralph
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You've got to attend to them.

Ralph
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Let me tell you about my client, Henry.

Ralph
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Now when Henry first came to me, his financials were a mess.

Ralph
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I'm talking about big time mess.

Ralph
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He was overspending, he was missing bill payments, and he felt completely overwhelmed by his finances.

Ralph
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I bet that sounds familiar to you, Keith.

Ralph
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But here's the thing.

Ralph
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Henry's story didn't end there.

Ralph
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In fact, it took a dramatic turn for the better.

Ralph
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And I believe the same can happen for you, Keith.

Ralph
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So you might ask, how did Henry solve this problem?

Ralph
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Well, Henry's transformation began when he started utilizing the online tools offered by his credit union.

Ralph
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The truth is, this became his secret weapon.

Ralph
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And he was skeptical at first.

Ralph
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He said, ralph, I'm not tech savvy.

Ralph
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How can a website help me manage my money?

Ralph
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But I took some time.

Ralph
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I walked him through the features and all of a sudden I could see it across the desk.

Ralph
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His eyes lit up with hope.

Ralph
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He saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Ralph
00:04:26

Let me break down seven ways.

Ralph
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Your bank or credit union can help you stick to your budget.

Ralph
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And I'm going to use Henry's journey as our guide.

Ralph
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The first thing most banks now offer budgeting tools.

Ralph
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These are some built in budgeting tools that they have on their websites or maybe on their mobile app.

Ralph
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Now, Henry used his credit unions budgeting feature, and what he did was he spent spending limits.

Ralph
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He did created different categories like groceries, entertainment, utilities.

Ralph
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And he set those spending limits for each of those categories and what this did, this gave him a clear picture of where his money was going each month.

Ralph
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See, it's like setting out on a journey without having a map.

Ralph
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If you don't know where you're going, you're never going to get there.

Ralph
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So I'm going to call this our financial gps to guide us.

Ralph
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The second thing we did, we looked at spending analysis.

Ralph
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And Henry was shocked when he saw the breakdown of his spending habits.

Ralph
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He was floored.

Ralph
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He couldn't believe how much he was spending.

Ralph
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And his credit union spending analysis tool categorizes transactions automatically and it revealed what he is.

Ralph
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What are you spending?

Ralph
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He realized when he started looking at this, he couldn't believe.

Ralph
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He said, rob, I can't believe I'm spending so much money on eating out.

Ralph
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And the truth is, awareness was the first step in changing his habits.

Ralph
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It allowed him to look at the facts and move away from the emotions of it all.

Ralph
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He was a very emotional guy.

Ralph
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And he felt so broken.

Ralph
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He felt so, so torn up about this.

Ralph
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But when he could look at the facts, he could make a better factual decision.

Ralph
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As I always say, knowledge is power.

Ralph
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And he was getting this knowledge and this awareness he need, Henry needed this to make better decisions.

Ralph
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Lets look at number three.

Ralph
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And this is a great tool.

Ralph
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And theyre called account alerts.

Ralph
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And in Henrys case, we set up text and email alerts for when his account balance dropped below a certain amount.

Ralph
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We also created these alerts for large purchases when large purchases were made and when bills were due.

Ralph
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And it was annoying at first.

Ralph
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He said to me, Robbie, so im constantly getting these alerts.

Ralph
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But this kept him constantly aware of his financial situation.

Ralph
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And it helped him avoid those overdraft fees.

Ralph
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You know, those overdraft fees that are like parking tickets for your bank account.

Ralph
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So these alerts became his guardian angel on his shoulder.

Ralph
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It was his personal financial assistant.

Ralph
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And what it did for Henry is provided him great peace of mind and allowed him to finally take control of his money.

Ralph
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Lets look at step number four.

Ralph
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And thats automatic saving transfers.

Ralph
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And this was truly a game changer for Henry.

Ralph
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Henry wanted to build his emergency fund.

Ralph
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So the way he did this was he set up automatic transfers from his checking to his savings account at each payday.

Ralph
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So as soon as his direct deposit hit, he paid himself first.

Ralph
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He used that pay it yourself first strategy, and he was constantly able to save.

Ralph
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And I did some research for today, and studies show that automating your savings makes it way more likely that you'll actually achieve your goals.

Ralph
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As I say, say this on the show all the time.

Ralph
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You've got to start with your end in mind.

Ralph
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If you want to build an emergency fund, you've got to set a goal and start working towards it.

Ralph
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It's great to set a goal, but if you don't put that into action and start working towards it, you're never going to accomplish anything.

Ralph
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Moving on to number five, what we did with Henry.

Ralph
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Henry started using bill pay services.

Ralph
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Remember using checks, licking those stamps, and hoping the mail gets there by the time your payment is due?

Ralph
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Going to the post office.

Ralph
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We live in a time where we don't need to do that anymore.

Ralph
00:07:57

But Henry was still doing it.

Ralph
00:07:59

He was running to the post office, worrying about stamps, writing out those checks.

Ralph
00:08:03

So one of the first things we did with Henry is we started using his bank's online bill pay service, and that allowed him to schedule all of his regular payments.

Ralph
00:08:12

That saved him time, because he wasn't running to get stamps, he wasn't running to the bank, he wasn't writing out checks.

Ralph
00:08:19

So it saved him a huge amount of time, but it also helped him avoid late fees and keep better track of his monthly expenses.

Ralph
00:08:27

And if you avoid those late fees, this can put money back in your pocket and save you time.

Ralph
00:08:32

And time is money if you're spending time writing checks, if you're spending time going to the post office, then you're losing money, because as I always say, what gets measured gets done.

Ralph
00:08:44

Another thing we did for Henry, and this is kind of a no brainer, I've been doing this for years, is we started using mobile check deposits.

Ralph
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Henry would occasionally get a check, and instead of having to take time, go to the bank and worrying about, are they open?

Ralph
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What is their hours for today?

Ralph
00:09:02

He was able to use his bank's mobile app to deposit that check instantly.

Ralph
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Like I said, that saved him trips to the bank and helps him keep his accounts up to date in real time.

Ralph
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We have to worry about, oh, I got to get to the bank this week.

Ralph
00:09:13

And that check just sat on his nightstand.

Ralph
00:09:16

And the truth is, I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't use this technology.

Ralph
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You know, the truth is, I'm sitting here as I record this.

Ralph
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I can't even remember the last time I was even in my credit union.

Ralph
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See, by using these online tools, there's no waiting time.

Ralph
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I'm not worrying about when the bank closes.

Ralph
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I'm not worrying about when they're going to be open.

Ralph
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I had a trip.

Ralph
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I got to get there.

Ralph
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This technology made our lives so much easier.

Ralph
00:09:42

And the last thing, but not the least thing for Henry.

Ralph
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We set up fraud alerts.

Ralph
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See, the thing is, you got to remember, with all this tech surrounding us, we got to remember security.

Ralph
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I talk about that on the show a lot.

Ralph
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So listen to this story.

Ralph
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The most dramatic issue in Henry's story came when his credit union system detected unusual activity on his account.

Ralph
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I can still remember him telling me this story.

Ralph
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He received an immediate alert right away.

Ralph
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He told me he was shopping or something, and somebody was trying to use his debit card for an online purchase.

Ralph
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Get this.

Ralph
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At a high end women's shoe store in New York City.

Ralph
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And Henry doesn't wear high heels, and he lives in Maryland.

Ralph
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So Henry was immediately saw this.

Ralph
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The alert allowed him to confirm the transaction was fraudulent, and his credit union froze his cardinal.

Ralph
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And what that did was it prevented any future unauthorized charges.

Ralph
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And the cool thing about these alerts, you can tailor these to your need and control what you want to see.

Ralph
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You don't have to have all the alerts.

Ralph
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You can tailor those to be what you want.

Ralph
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And I know what you might be thinking, Ralph, this all sounds great, but can it really make a difference?

Ralph
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Well, let me just tell you, I witnessed it firsthand.

Ralph
00:10:55

The transformation in Henry's financial life, it was nothing short of remarkable.

Ralph
00:11:00

Listen, within three months, he implemented these simple tools from his bank.

Ralph
00:11:06

And guess what?

Ralph
00:11:07

Henry had stuck to his budget.

Ralph
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And for the first time in years, he had built up a small emergency fund.

Ralph
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He paid off some nagging credit card balances he had.

Ralph
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But more importantly than that, he felt a sense of control over his finances.

Ralph
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And he told me, Rafi, I've never experienced this before.

Ralph
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I feel truly in control.

Ralph
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But here's the real kicker.

Ralph
00:11:30

Henry's newfound financial discipline didn't just impact his bank account.

Ralph
00:11:34

It was a time where it impacted his fate, too, because he found that as he became a better steward of his finances, he felt more connected to God.

Ralph
00:11:44

And that's the whole point of my show, is, how do we bring those two things together?

Ralph
00:11:49

Because Henry wasn't spending money on overdraft fees and late fees, he was able to start tithing regularly and even set aside money to support a local charity that he wanted to support.

Ralph
00:12:00

So, Keith and all of you listening, who feel overwhelmed by your finances, I get it.

Ralph
00:12:05

But I want you to understand, there is hope.

Ralph
00:12:09

These tools can help you take control of your money, and they're right at your fingertips.

Ralph
00:12:13

Everybody for.

Ralph
00:12:14

I shouldn't say everybody, but most people have a bank account or an account at your credit union.

Ralph
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And most of these things are free and they're offered by your very own bank or credit union.

Ralph
00:12:24

So let's recap the main points of today.

Ralph
00:12:26

Number one, use your bank's budgeting tool to set and track spending limits.

Ralph
00:12:30

And again, you know I always talk about budgets, but what gets measured gets done and a plan will make it better for you.

Ralph
00:12:37

Number two, you've got to analyze your spending habits regularly.

Ralph
00:12:41

You got to see where that money's going.

Ralph
00:12:43

If you don't know where it's going, you're never going to change.

Ralph
00:12:46

Like having that trip in front of you, but you don't have a map.

Ralph
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Those spending habits and analyzation can be your gps.

Ralph
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Number three, this one is crucial.

Ralph
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Do this today.

Ralph
00:12:57

As soon as you get done listening to this show, go and do this.

Ralph
00:13:01

Set up account alerts to stay on top of your finances and you can pick which ones you like.

Ralph
00:13:06

Maybe you want to see if there's a major purchase.

Ralph
00:13:08

Maybe you want to see if your balance gets below a certain amount.

Ralph
00:13:11

Number four, automate your savings, pay yourself first and build that emergency fund.

Ralph
00:13:17

Number five, and not everybody will do this, but I think its a good thing to look at.

Ralph
00:13:21

Naturally.

Ralph
00:13:21

Use online bill pay to avoid those late fees and track expenses.

Ralph
00:13:25

It will make your life easier.

Ralph
00:13:28

Six, take advantage of mobile check deposits for quick and easy transactions.

Ralph
00:13:33

You dont need to go into the bank anymore.

Ralph
00:13:35

In fact, I heard from a client the other day that some banks are even charging.

Ralph
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Yes, they're charging you a fee to talk to a teller.

Ralph
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That's insanity to me.

Ralph
00:13:45

And number seven, pay attention to fraud alerts to protect your hard earned money.

Ralph
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If you get one of those fraud alerts, do something with it.

Ralph
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And remember this, these tools are designed to help you.

Ralph
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They're not there to judge you or make you feel guilty about your spending.

Ralph
00:14:02

In fact, it's trying to take the emotion out of it.

Ralph
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They're there to empower you to make informed decisions about your money.

Ralph
00:14:10

And if you're feeling inspired by Henry story and ready to take control of your finances, I want to encourage you.

Ralph
00:14:15

Take action today.

Ralph
00:14:17

It's great to think it, but take action.

Ralph
00:14:20

Knowing what to do is great, but it takes action to succeed.

Ralph
00:14:24

And maybe you're feeling overwhelmed by your financial situation, just like Henry or Keith.

Ralph
00:14:29

Or you simply want to ensure you're on the right track.

Ralph
00:14:31

I would love to help you.

Ralph
00:14:33

You can schedule an appointment with me by going to askraph.com dot.

Ralph
00:14:36

When you get there, you'll see a banner that reads book a call with Ralph and I will work with you.

Ralph
00:14:41

I will help you move from living paycheck to paycheck.

Ralph
00:14:45

I help you move from that feeling like you're taking three steps forward, only get it shoved back four steps.

Ralph
00:14:51

I will help you achieve financial freedom and free you from that financial bondage.

Ralph
00:14:56

Maybe that's improving your personal finances.

Ralph
00:14:58

Or maybe Raptor thinking, I got a business and my books are a disaster.

Ralph
00:15:03

I need your help.

Ralph
00:15:03

Or maybe you're looking to grow your business.

Ralph
00:15:06

My overall goal is to help you achieve all your financial goals, and I do this by creating a personalized plan just for you.

Ralph
00:15:13

So again, book a call with me@askgrowth.com just click on the banner that reads book a call with Ralph and for $150 consultation fee, I can work with you to improve your personal finances.

Ralph
00:15:24

I'm going to make it work.

Ralph
00:15:24

And here's the best part.

Ralph
00:15:26

If we aren't able to develop a personalized plan for you moving forward, I will refund your consultation fee.

Ralph
00:15:31

It's that simple.

Ralph
00:15:32

That's how confident I am that we can make a difference in your financial life.

Ralph
00:15:36

So don't let another day go by feeling stressed and overwhelmed by your finances.

Ralph
00:15:41

It doesn't have to be that way.

Ralph
00:15:43

Schedule your call today and let's create a personalized plan just for you.

Ralph
00:15:47

Now, tomorrow we're going to be tackling another important financial topic.

Ralph
00:15:50

This one is going to rock your world.

Ralph
00:15:52

It's how do I handle lending money to friends and family, and what are the tax issues related to making those loans?

Ralph
00:15:59

That's one you don't want to miss because I'm going to get into some craziness about people who have lost money lending it to friends and family.

Ralph
00:16:06

So as I close remember this, my passion is to help you achieve financial success.

Ralph
00:16:11

My goal is to watch you live out your dreams and grow in your faith.

Ralph
00:16:15

And I know working together we can master your finances from that christian perspective.

Ralph
00:16:20

So stay financially savvy out there and God bless you abundantly.

Host
00:16:24

Thank you for joining us on the Ask Ralph podcast.

Host
00:16:27

And with a simple click to subscribe, we'll invite you back to our next episode.

Host
00:16:31

And remember, financial issues don't have to be complicated.

Host
00:16:34

Just ask Ralph.

Host
00:16:36

The information contained in this episode of Ask Ralph is based on data available as of the date of its release.

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00:16:42

Sagio Accounting plus and Ask Ralph Media, Inc.

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00:16:44

Is under no obligation to update this content if changes occurred.

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00:16:48

Applying this information to your specific situation requires careful consideration of all facts and circumstances, and any information provided is not to be considered as financial tax or legal advice.

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00:16:59

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