To spend more time relaxing you need to spend less time on routine activities, right? How does one do that? Simple.

Do the following things with your personal finance, and you are done. People with punishing jobs will need to automate more. If you have a job with short working hours or flexible working hours you can find a lot of time for your hobbies – even then it makes sense to automate the routine and boring things. Really bugs me when I need to do simple chores again and again, when automation is expected to at least take our time off such routine stuff. Lets see what can be done:

1. Spend Less and buy lesser stuff: clutter around you makes you tired. Seriously. When you have too many things near you all that adds to your stress. So buy lesser stuff – whatever stuff – shirts, pants, shoes, cameras, phones,…the lesser choice you have the easier it gets. So silently get rid of the stuff around yourself. The exercise machine, the stationary cycle, ….you know what I mean, right?
2. One credit card: Have just one credit card for all your expenses, charge everything on that credit card, and pay off on the due date. This allows you to keep minimum balance in your savings account. Keep all the money in a money market mutual fund which can be redeemed in 2 days time. So when the credit card payment is due redeem the amount from the fund and make the payment. This allows you to do all your shopping without having to move money from bank fixed deposit to the savings account regularly for using the debit card. A credit card with a Rs. 70,000 limit is far, far safer than a debit card especially if you leave large amounts of balance in your savings bank account.
3. Down load your bank statement every 90 days in excel and write down the details against the item of expenditure or income. Chances are you will forget it at the end of the year, so this reduces stress by splitting that ‘year end’ must do activity into 4 parts and makes it look easier.
4. Automate your investing – SIP – I need not say more do I?
5. Remove the IFA and broker from your speed dial. You do not need to talk to them so often. Promise yourself that you will watch your investments ONLY once in a month. Even better make it once in 2 months. Seriously, the fund performance does not change just because you are watching it everyday. Looking at the investment 4 times a day does not mean you are ‘monitoring’ your investing. You are just doing a time pass activity.
6. Hire a professional for doing work that you are not INTERESTED in doing: I am NOT interested in doing PMS – even for myself. I enjoy some portions of it though. So I have a manager who has access to my latest statement, and who buys and sells on my behalf. Yes most of the decisions are mine, but in case there is a good deal happening and he cannot get through to me (remember I still use an expensive and stupid Rcom connecction?) he has the right to go ahead and decide what to do. I have a CA who files all my returns – service tax, income tax, ..- I do not consider myself competent to do all that routine work without making mistakes or getting bored.
7. A lot of things – like asset allocation, buying life insurance, medical insurance are all one time in your life activity, but you need to review it regularly. Do that, but do not get hassled and worried about doing it on a monthly basis. Some of these need an annual review – sometimes even a review once in 4 years is fine.
8. Automate your expenses: IN Mumbai you can pay your gas bill, telephone bill, electricity bill by making a deposit. So deposit Rs. 20,000 in each of these places – it will save you 36 transactions a year, not a small thing. Your society charges, school fees, credit card payment…can all be automated by doing a simple SWP from your money market fund.

Do all this and see the amount of time that you can release for yourself. Spend time on your hobbies – that is what is going to help you in your post retirement years…