Organizing your financial life

You can't get a handle on your money life unless you know what you owe AND what you own. Here is your ultimate guide to organizing your financial life.

1) Create a budget online

Track your income and your outgo: Software like Quicken and Microsoft Money can help you organize yourself when it comes to your savings and your spending. Currently, Quicken has a FREE online version where you can track all of your MONEY… on one page you can see your retirement and checking accounts at one time.
What's more the program will calculate where you're money is being spent and how you're progressing towards goals.

2) Get rid of the clutter

Cut down on the amount of paper that comes into your house and clutters your home. One way to do that: Opt out of credit card solicitations. Here's the number: (888) 5 OPT OUT.
You can also opt out of mail from companies for five years.
When you register with the Direct Marketing Association mail preference service, your name will be put on a "delete" file. To register go to DMA choice.org.

3) Online bill pay

This is a great way to cut down on clutter AND ensure that you won't have to pay late fees. There are two ways you can do online bill pay: either through your bank or through individual service providers-like your credit card issuer or your utility company.
To pay through your bank, go through the bank's website.
You'll just need a copy of the bill. This way, anytime you want to pay, you just enter the amount that you owe and the bank will pull money from your account to pay the bill. You can also set up your payments to make them automatic…meaning you don't have to click anything-but make sure you are really on top of your budget so you always have enough to cover the bills.

A new year...a new you. Get control of your financial life. From fixing your 401(k) and wiping out debt to saving for college - Gerri Willis has your guide to financial resolutions all this week on American Morning.