Having multiple accounts at different banks and other financial institutions is nothing new under the sun. Many people live that way, especially nowadays. There are various good reasons to open new accounts, and you may often get some attractive bonuses to go with them as well. But at some point, you might realize that you’re struggling to stay afloat and keep track of that huge mess of information.

This tends to happen especially often in situations where you have lines of credit and other types of debt that you’re paying off on a regular basis. You need to have some way of getting a good overview of your finances in a concise manner, and thankfully, modern tech has plenty of answers on that front.

Figure Out Which Ones You Don’t Need

But first, you should start by cleaning out your accounts list in the first place. You probably don’t need every single one of those – so talk to your banks and other institutions and start closing the ones that are no longer relevant. It might take some time to figure out which accounts this applies to, and sometimes you’ll also have to let go of certain things, like your subscription at a specific service or something along those lines.

But in the end, this will free you up to a great extent, and it will lift a huge weight off your shoulders. Living with the knowledge that you are no longer maintaining accounts that are irrelevant to you can be a huge relief in itself, once it’s all said and done.

Use Your Smartphone and Computer

Use any electronic devices you might have to improve your overview of your finances. Your smartphone is a particularly useful tool in this regard, although unfortunately many people underestimate its usefulness even today. From linking your online banking accounts, to comparing deals, you can do a lot on that small screen. You can even easily compare deals on loans if you come to a point where you need to take one out.

The possibilities are practically endless, but it’s still up to you to actually start using that device to its full potential. You should learn how to use the more advanced features of your smartphone at the earliest convenience, and keep yourself informed of any new developments in that field as well.

Talk to Your Bank

Your bank may also have some solutions readily available for people in your situation. It’s not rare for a person to have multiple accounts even at the same bank, and in those cases the situation needs a unique approach from both ends – both the bank and the customer need to align their actions to that.

In fact, your bank may already have been considering getting in touch with you to discuss that situation. You’ll never know unless you take the initiative and talk to them first.

Don’t Forget Security

Having multiple accounts means that you also have multiple places where you can get intruded from. Digital security is no joke, even if some people have a generally careless attitude towards it. You have to make sure that all of your accounts stay secure, and that you always have a good overview of all of them, no matter the circumstances.

Digital security can be approached in many different ways, and these trends are changing fast as well. You should check some of the recent advances in this field, and integrate them into your current situation as best as possible. This is something you’ll ideally only have to do once – after that, you’ll just have to maintain things in a good state. But it also only takes one incident to completely mess up your situation, so you should never allow that to happen.

Are You Losing Money on Any of Those Accounts?

Remember what we said above about unnecessary accounts? Sometimes this actually goes even farther, and you may even have accounts that you’re bleeding money from. This happens often when you’ve forgotten about an old account opened for a specific single purpose. It’s not a rare occurrence either, and many people have to deal with that realization at some point in their lives.

Just go over them and clean them out before closing them. That should put an end to the story, and you shouldn’t have to go through any more complicated operations to keep things clean around yourself. And it’s something you’ll only have to do once too, so the sooner you get it over with, the better you’ll feel in the future.

When you’re still new to online shopping, there are some common mistakes that you will probably be more likely to make. Some of them are harmless, but others are things that you should be really careful about. There is a lot that can go wrong when shopping online without any experience, especially if you are planning to make any more major purchases.

You should prepare yourself with some information on that front before getting started, because otherwise you might find yourself paying too much for the things you want to get, waiting too long for their delivery, or even worse, like getting scammed by unscrupulous vendors.

Do: Be Patient and Compare Deals

The internet is a great resource for comparing what’s available on the market and ensuring that you’re getting the best deal at any time. There are often more offers for what you’re interested in buying than are immediately apparent, and as long as you can afford to take some extra time to go through them, you’ll likely discover that you don’t actually have to spend that much money on whatever it is that you need to buy.

There are even some sites dedicated to the idea of comparing deals and providing you with convenient access to the hottest offers on the market right now. It’s not a bad idea to subscribe to some of them and keep checking up on them regularly.

Do: Research New Shops

You might be used to shopping at one place for a long time, and that’s fine. You probably have a good reason for that too. But you shouldn’t disregard the opportunity that lies in alternative stores. The internet is a fast-moving place, and new stores come and go all the time. You can’t be sure that you’re currently shopping at the best place possible unless you take the time to occasionally check out what else is available.

You never know when you might come across a new favorite shopping spot, and even if it only survives temporarily, you should at least still be able to get some great deals out of it.

Do: Look for Coupons

Many sites run regular promotions where they release coupons for discounts and other goodies to their attentive customers. And it’s not rare that some of these coupons eventually make their way to the internet as well, as various people like to share their own. Don’t be surprised if a quick Google search reveals plenty of coupons just waiting for you to pick them and copy-paste them into the store that you’re shopping at.

They may not always work, mind you, especially if the search results are older. But it can’t hurt to try, and you won’t lose anything in the worst case scenario. And in the best, you’ll get a neat discount and maybe even some other bonuses.

Don’t: Store Payment Credentials Without a Good Reason

Most online stores will give you the option to store your payment details for your own convenience in the future. And while it might seem like an attractive option, you should only reserve it for sites that you use very regularly. And even then, you should only do it at places with an established track record of strong security practices.

Because you never know when that site might get compromised and leak the data stored on their servers, including your full payment information. It’s happened many times in the past, and it will likely happen again. You have to be prepared for that and take it into consideration when doing your shopping. If you’re only buying something once, never store your credentials.

Don’t: Buy on a Payment Plan Unless You Really Need It

Another option you’ll find at many online stores is to buy whatever you need on a payment plan. In other words, you get your item now and don’t have to worry about paying it until later, and even then that usually happens in monthly installments. And while that can be a great idea on the surface, it often comes with some strings attached.

Most notably, the final price you’ll end up paying for whatever you’re buying will likely be much higher than what the item actually costs, and what you would pay for it normally. That’s the whole reason these deals exist in the first place. Unless it’s something you really need, you should only buy it by paying upfront and in full. Otherwise, keep saving up until you can truly afford it at a later point, and don’t rush that purchase.