15 Moves You Can Make With Your Money That'll Just Take 10 Minutes Of Your Time

Managing your money doesn't have to take *that* long.

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With so much financial information and advice out there, it can feel like there just aren't enough hours in the day to figure out what to do with your money. But, there are actually some simple money moves you can make that will barely take up any time at all (and we've rounded up a few for you).

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FYI, personal finance is not one-size-fits-all. Analyze your own personal circumstances and make the decisions that best suit your needs. You can always reach out to a financial adviser for personal advice.

Here are 15 quick and painless things you can do to improve your financial health:

1. Check the balance on all of your accounts.

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Knowing how much money you have in all of your accounts can help you avoid accidentally overspending and avoid overdraft charges as a result. Added bonus: Checking through your transactions regularly can help you catch and report unfamiliar withdrawals sooner rather than later. It takes just a few minutes to log into your account to look at your balance. Plus, knowing the balance on your savings and investment accounts can help you drum up new goals for the next few months, or even for the rest of the year.

Now, if you really want to expedite the process, you can use the Simplifi app to track all your accounts. It makes it *so much* easier to have info from multiple accounts in one convenient place.

2. And check your credit score to make sure you're in a healthy score range for any future lending decisions.

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Your credit scores can influence some of the most important decisions of your life — like getting approved for a mortgage on a home or helping you negotiate better credit terms! Credit scores sound kinda daunting and they can seem like a financial report card that follows us forever. But really, credit scores are a way for lenders to make a guess as to whether or not you're likely to pay back new debts. And BTW, you don't need a perfect credit score; maintaining a 700 score is generally considered healthy.

Checking your credit score will help you figure out what healthy habits you need to continue and what you can improve on for a higher score. This can really come in handy if you hope to, say, buy a home in a few years. By checking your score now, you give yourself ample time to work toward making improvements. To get your score for free, you can check with your bank or make an account with Experian.

3. Open up a high-yield savings account to grow your money a liiittle quicker.

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Your current bank might be offering you a veeeeery low return on your savings. While the average interest rate is currently 0.04% for savings accounts, many offer even less, which means you're earning literal pennies as a "thank-you" for keeping your hard-earned cash in that bank.

Some banks offer high-yield savings accounts, which can earn you more interest back on your money. Keep in mind that these rates can change as the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve change, but you'll still get a higher return compared to keeping your money in a super-low interest account. Online banks usually offer higher interest rates than brick-and-mortar banks. This is because they typically have fewer overhead expenses so they're able to offer more. Some, like Ally, currently offer a 0.5% interest rate. Just think about the years of interest you might've been missing out on.

By the way, if you're looking for more ways to grow your savings, check out these tips for pumping up your savings account.

4. If you have a 401(k), ask if your company offers a match.

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A 401(k) can be a game-changing retirement tool if your employer offers one. Basically, a percentage of every paycheck gets automatically deducted and put into a retirement account and your money grows tax-free until you make withdrawals in retirement. Even better, some employers offer a 401(k) matching program. Basically, when you contribute a certain percentage of your paycheck, your employer will match all or part of your contribution. So let's say you need to contribute 5% to get a dollar-for-dollar match; this is actually like getting 10% socked away for retirement.

The match is a great way to get a little extra money for retirement. Double-check with your HR department to see if the company offers a match. And if they do, pay attention to the matching terms of your company: If you don't contribute the minimum match percentage, you WON'T qualify for the extra money from your employer!

And if you wanna learn more about 401(k) plans, we did all the hard work for you! We got financial experts to answer the most common questions about 401(k)s.

5. Or, open up a Roth IRA.

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A Roth IRA is an individual retirement account that you can open for yourself unlike the 401(k), which is tied to an employer. This is a great retirement option if you're self-employed or if your company doesn't offer a 401(k) program, and you can also open a Roth IRA in addition to your 401(k) to really supercharge your retirement savings. With a Roth IRA, you use your after-tax income to contribute to the account. You can allocate the money toward different assets, like target date funds and mutual funds — and you *won't* have to pay taxes on the money when you make withdrawals in retirement.

Vanguard and Fidelity have options for Roth IRA accounts. It'll take you around 10 minutes to input your info and open up an account.

6. Automate your monthly bill payments.

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Setting up auto-pay ensures that your bills get paid in a timely manner — and you won't incur the wrath of late fees for missing a payment. You can schedule payments to leave your account the day after you receive each paycheck. This way, you can pay all your bills before you start spending on anything else.

7. Use cash back sites like Rakuten to earn back a percentage of what you spend on a variety of daily purchases.

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The cost of school supplies, clothes, skincare, home items, and more can really add up over time. So it's actually kinda nice to see a little bit of that money back in your pocket after using Rakuten (as I can attest). Personally, it's my favorite shopping tool since they have hundreds of brands and retailers onboard who give cash back. Cash back offers can vary (some are around 1% but many offer 5–10% cash back). And the money adds up really quickly and gets paid out to you quarterly. Think of it like getting a little discount on something you really need or want even if the item isn't actually on sale. And all you have to do is add Rakuten to your browser and create an account!

8. If you work for a company, ask if your employer can help you make student loan payments.

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Your company may or may not already have programs in place to lend a helping hand when it comes to tuition and student loan assistance. And under the CARES Act, employers can contribute up to $5,250 per year toward an employee's student loan debt balance. This provision was originally slated to expire on Dec. 31, 2020, but it has been extended through Dec. 31, 2025 (so you still have about four years to get in on this!!). You can participate regardless of whether you have federal or private student loans — and you won't be taxed on the money. Plus, your employer gets a tax break for contributing the money so it's a win-win situation. Even if the amount doesn't sound like a lot compared to your student loan balance, it could potentially wipe a few years off the life of your loan!

Start by reaching out to your HR department to open up the conversation. Education Loan Finance provides an email template that you can use when reaching out (just scroll past the Employer Contribution Calculator). The template works as a great starting point if you don't know whether this is something your employer has already considered.

9. Estimate your monthly cost of buying a home using Zillow.

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If you're wondering whether it's more affordable to buy or rent a place, you might be able to get a better estimate of your monthly costs using Zillow. It's a common misconception that buying property is more economical than renting. But when you factor in property taxes, insurance costs, and monthly homeowners association fees, you just might decide that renting suits your wallet better at the moment.

Zillow can help you estimate these costs for a specific property if you scroll down to the section on monthly costs and input how much of a down payment you can afford. It takes basically no time at all to see the estimate for yourself (and it's actually kind of fun to try out for different properties!). Knowing how much it'll cost you to buy can help you more precisely plan ahead so you aren't surprised by how expensive property taxes are after you've already closed on the home.

10. Schedule a meeting with a financial planner.

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A financial planner can analyze your circumstances and outline next steps for reaching your goals. This can be tremendously helpful if you need some more clarity on ways to save, budget, and invest. Let's say you hope to pay off a loan by next year; a financial planner can provide a personalized plan for you to reach that goal (they'll even provide some resources to help you with the process).

There are lots of ways to find a financial planner but SoFi is a great way to schedule those appointments. Just sign up to become a member and you can get an appointment for free. The actual meeting will take just 30 minutes of your time.

And while you don't need to keep in constant contact with a financial planner, making an appointment just once a year can help you gain insight into your current situation and make a plan for the remainder of the year.

11. Unsubscribe from marketing emails.

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It can be sooo tempting to shop every single sale that arrives in your inbox. When you're trying to save money or curb any out-of-control spending habits, it can be helpful to simply unsubscribe from brands. "Out of sight, out of mind" totally applies here. Plus, all it takes is a few clicks. You can always resubscribe when you think your spending habits are in a better place.

It also helps to keep in mind that even when you're shopping a sale, you don't actually save money unless you intended to buy it in the first place.

12. And unsubscribe from any services and subscriptions you haven't actually been using.

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Ten dollars per month may not seem like an obnoxious amount of money to spend on a service (i.e., gym membership, subscription box, streaming service, etc.) that you don't use often. In fact, it might sometimes be easy to miss. But you might actually start to feel the burn when you add it up over the span of a year and see that over $100 went to a service you didn't even look twice at.

Take a few minutes to make a list of all the subscriptions you pay for; don't forget to count any streaming services, membership sites, and recurring fees. Now comes the hard part: Ask yourself if you really care about it as much as you think you do. If not, then it might be time to pull the plug on that service (you can always resubscribe in the future when it better suits your needs).

13. Simply check to see if you already have an item before you decide to rebuy it.

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How many times have you bought something you already own just because you didn't think you'd be able to find it among your possessions? Then, of course, you find it with little to no effort. Turns out, you didn't have to spend money on a replacement!

Get in the habit of doing a sweep of your home to see if you can locate the item you need before you decide to purchase a new one. You'd be surprised by how often you end up finding it, thus saving yourself some cash.

14. Also, deactivate autofill or unsave your credit card info from your favorite websites.

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As convenient as autofill may be, it also makes it way too easy to make spur-of-the-moment buys. It's just sooo tempting to make an impulse purchase when you don't even have to get up and go get your credit card! If you have to leave the couch for the fifth time just to grab your payment info, then you might decide to just wait until the next day to place your order. And after you've had the time to sleep on it, you might even realize that you don't care about it as much anymore.

15. And finally, create a simple budget so it's easier to comb through your expenses to find areas where you may be able to cut back.

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Finding ways to cut back on your expenses each month means that you'll free up some money that can be used toward other things — like a retirement fund, a savings account, the swimming lessons you've been wanting to take for years, or a purchase you've been eyeing for months.

Even if you aren't a fan of budgeting, you can still easily glance through your costs to see where you can spend more and where you can spend less. Just go through your bank statements, open up a spreadsheet (or grab a notebook), and jot down your expenses. You may start to notice patterns of large spending in certain areas. Once you identify those areas, start thinking about ways that you can lower those costs (if possible and if it's an expense that isn't as important to you as some others on your list).

If this sounds like music to your ears (and bank account), check out more of our personal finance posts.