We should all aim to have perfect personal finances. I have no excuse. I've spent nearly 10 years writing on every aspect of money for Associated Newspaper’s thisismoney.co.uk. I live and breath this stuff. But you don't need to.

Some money websites lecture - and bewilder - readers with the number of things you should be doing in the great revolt against profit-hungry companies. Yes it's good practice to seek out the best deals when buying financial products, but it would be shame to become obsessed – life's too short.

Instead, there's eight simple steps to follow that will give you perfect finances, for good. Well almost.

Many years ago, I published an 8-step guide to fixing all your finances on Thisismoney, inspired by an idea from Dilbert in the US. Many of our 1.5m monthly readers have read it and shared their own shortcuts in the Reader Comments at the bottom of the article. So now you've got no excuse - don't put it off, and don't get bogged down in the detail. Perfect your finances today.

Step 1. Make a will (A guide to will writing - 10 tips for a perfect will).

Step 2. Pay off your credit cards (Guides and tips for clearing card debt).

Step 3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support (Calculate the life insurance you need - Get a quote).

Step 4. Fund your company pension to the maximum (A guide to company pensions).

Step 5. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it (Mortgage/house-buying guides - Compare mortgage deals).

Step 6. Put six months-worth of outgoings in a cash ISA savings account. You can save £5,100 each year in an ISA. (See the web's best savings tables).

Step 7. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index tracking fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker/fund supermarket and never touch it until retirement.

Step 8. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.

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