What public relations genius!

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, made huge media headlines by suggesting the future of light package delivery may be completed by drones as opposed to the normal, albeit boring methods of delivery we all know now.

 Um hi!

I wondered.

What the heck is a drone?

I know – seems obvious. But is it?

An unmanned aerial vehicle:  The flight is controlled either by computer or remote control of a pilot from a remote location.  Some can fly as high as 50 thousand feet and go supersonic.

Wow.

Got me thinking…

Financial success is automated activity from 50,000 feet above your wallet. Cutting out that extra latte is not going to make you wealthy; placing as many good money habits as possible on auto-pilot is the key to financial stability.

Here are some ideas on how to command your own financial drones to success:

1). Budget on auto-pilot.  When you budget on a daily basis it’s tough to feel the positive. It feels like dieting. Or dating. Or root canal. Keeping track of expenses manually is admirable. However, it’s inevitable you’ll give up because you’re human. You have a busy life. Even if you’re proficient at manual tracking, you won’t be able to effectively interpret your long-term spending habits. Analyzing longer-term spending trends (at a higher altitude) will expose where you need to make real improvement.

Budgeting is boring; many won’t continue for long. Take your analysis to a higher level and place on auto-pilot through www.mint.com. Mint allows you to accomplish three things: See where your money goes, make budgets to stay on track, and set financial goals for the future. Mint connects to your bank accounts and updates automatically. It’s free and safe as Mint utilizes bank-level encrypted security.

Easy-to-read graphs allow you to track spending, income, net worth and account balances over time.  After a couple of months of activity, sit with an objective financial partner. Together, create a game plan to cut the expenses that will make an impact to your bottom line.

Go ahead. Enjoy your fancy coffee. For now.  Mint will track your addiction!

2). Pay yourself first.

Don’t roll your eyes.

You’ve heard this one before, right?

The best financial rule (and I’m critical of most financial rules of thumb) is easy to follow and from a higher altitude, or the long-term, will result in a substantial positive impact to your bottom line. Before expenses are paid, before you treat yourself to a movie, it’s important to save money for emergencies and for your future – FIRST.

How?

3). Set savings on auto-flight:  Pay yourself by initiating instructions to move three percent or more into a company retirement account every pay period.  Ask your HR department how to accomplish this simple task. Do the same by establishing instructions to automatically transfer a specific dollar amount, say $25 bucks a month from your checking account into savings.

4). Go stealth on a savings target: Every three months, increase the dollars directed from checking to savings by $10. Select an amount that works for you.  Think under-the radar increases.  Barely noticeable; yet over years, this tiny habit will result in big change (and dollars). You will look forward to saving money because you’ll realize how painless it is!

Forget buying more stuff you don’t need by drone delivery.

Now’s the time to establish your own small army of financial drones.

And fly your own path to financial success.