Summer vacation was a blast, but did all that summer fun put a dent in your wallet? Now that you’re back-to-school, it’s the perfect time to brush up on your financial skills and take control of your budget. At First Bank, we have a range of powerful tools and techniques that will empower you to ace your finances. Let’s dive in and discover how these financial tools can help you excel in your journey to achieve financial wellness. It takes time and commitment to create and stick to a budget, but First Bank can help you become a budgeting master.

Setting Your Budget

It can be difficult to set your budget if you aren’t keeping track of where you are spending money. Sure, you could be old school and maintain a register book, but we live in the age of technology. Why not find some digital tools to help you?

MyMoney is a money management tool that helps you manage your budget, track your spending, and modify your payback plans for debts all in one space. First Bank ensures this tool is automatically integrated into your online banking and allows you to view your transactions by categories so you can easily track your spending and keep your budget organized. You can link accounts you have with other institutions so you have a full snapshot analysis of your financial patterns and have the full picture when you go to set your budget.

Paying Your Bills on Time

Once you’ve set your budget, you need to make sure you don’t forget about all the bills you have to pay. Your payment history accounts for nearly 35% of your credit score, so it is extremely important to be on time with your payments. Your life is busy and it is easy to forget to pay a bill, especially when you have to worry about paying so many different companies. Taking advantage of free bill pay services offered through your financial institution is a great way to ensure your bill payments are received on time.

First Bank offers Bill Pay available through your online banking. This free service lets you avoid the hassle of writing checks or visiting multiple websites to stay on top of your payments. You can set recurring payments or schedule payments up to two years in advance so you never have to receive another dreaded late notice. As an added bonus, bill pay protects you in the unlikely event of unauthorized transactions or processing delays and is more secure than mailing a check.

Staying on Track

You’ve done the hard part of figuring out your spending habits to set your budget and have scheduled all your bills, but now it’s time to maintain it. How can you know when you’re hitting your limit for your Amazon spending for the month, or that you have enough in your account for your credit card payment to post? You could log in to your mobile app every day to check on your transactions and balance, but your life is already too full to constantly do that. Wouldn’t it be easier if you were automatically notified after certain parameters were met?

First Bank Alerts allows you to set alert parameters and receive notifications, so you are always aware of what’s going on in your accounts. You can be notified when a labeled transaction has gone through (e.g. Amazon.com) or when your checking account balance falls below a specified amount. Knowing what’s happening with your accounts not only better protects you from fraud but also ensures you’re keeping up with your budget.

At First Bank we want to support you on your road to achieve financial wellness. In addition to offering financial tools that help you set and manage your budget, we want to equip you with all the knowledge you need to gain financial independence. Check out our Financial Basics and Building Financial Resilience learning modules.

Our bankers and support team members are here to help answer any questions you may have when it comes to using our array of digital banking tools. Find a branch near you or reach out to our Customer Service Center to get started on becoming a budgeting master!  www.localfirstbank.com