Your desk is littered with bills, fund prospectuses, tax forms, and credit-card offers, and you don’t know where to start. You have no idea how your investments are doing or whether you’re on track for retirement. And you just learned, six months after everybody else, that your mutual fund has tanked and its manager is off in a country with no extradition treaty.

How can you get it all done without spending every spare moment holed up in your den?

Below you’ll find easy-as-pie solutions that will put you back in control.

60 stock mutual funds with consistently high returns

3 simple portfolios to match your investment goals

5 financial trends to keep your eye on in the coming year

The only downside: Now you have no excuse not to get your money matters in order.

1

Put your savings on autopilot. Have your employer deposit your paycheck directly into your checking account and then instruct the fund company of your choosing to move a specified amount from checking into a money-market or other fund once a month. Direct deposit might even save you money because many banks waive fees if you use it.

2

Pay bills online. The process is speedy, cuts down on paper clutter in your home, and spares you from scrounging for stamps. All major banks and credit unions now let you pay bills online, and an increasing number allow you to receive your bills at their Web sites as well. Most banks provide the service at no charge. If you’re worried about online identity theft, relax. Paying bills online is actually safer than sending checks through the mail.

3

Consolidate investment accounts at one company. You’ll receive three rewards. First, you won’t have to open, read, and file as many statements. Second, keeping an eye on your portfolio’s performance will be easier. Finally, you’ll save some money because, generally, the more you keep at a single company, the less you’ll pay in custodial fees and other expenses.

4

Automate investment tracking. Keeping count of your stock and mutual-fund shares and their prices can be tedious and time-consuming. But software such as the free Quote­Tracker (www.quotetracker.com) can automatically update your portfolio using online data sources. You can also import data from QuoteTracker into spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft’s Excel.

5

Dump your extra credit cards. Why carry a dozen when a few will do? Get rid of cards you never use and merchant cards you applied for solely to get a discount. Keep your oldest card because the longer your credit history, the higher your credit score. If you carry a balance, keep a card with a low fixed interest rate. Card issuers can raise a fixed-rate card’s interest rate, but they must give you 15 days’ notice. By contrast, an issuer can change the interest rate on a variable-rate card regularly and without advance warning. If you’re not satisfied with the cards you have and want to see if there are better deals, try the search engines at www.bankrate.com, www.cardratings.com, and www.lowcards.com.

6

Use one home and car insurer. You’ll have to deal with only one agent, and you’ll snag a multipolicy discount as high as 20 percent on either your auto or homeowners policy or both.

7

Computerize your taxes. If you’re still kicking up eraser dust when you fill out your 1040, it’s time to join the digital age. You’ll probably discover that you save hours of work. The IRS estimates that the average household will spend 14 to 16 hours completing Form 1040 and related forms and schedules, not including Schedule A or D. By contrast, Intuit claims that users of its best-selling TurboTax software will be able to do the job in about four hours.

8

Toss that needless paper. If you save every receipt, canceled check, and bank statement, you’ll spend all your spare time shopping for file boxes at the Container Store. So retain receipts and other records that support items on your federal tax return for as long as the IRS can hit you up for additional tax. Generally, that’s up to three years from the date you file your return, but the clock ticks for six years if the IRS suspects you underreported your income by more than 25 percent.

9

Safeguard your financial identity. Put your outgoing letters in a post-office collection box instead of leaving them in your mailbox for pickup. A thief might beat your mail carrier to the door. Get your name removed from offers for preapproved credit cards and insurance by going to www.optoutprescreen.com or calling 888-5-OPT-OUT. (You will have to provide your Social Security number, but the service, operated by the major credit bureaus, is legitimate.)

10

Draw up a durable power of attorney. Your financial life might be the very picture of simplicity while you’re healthy enough to make your own decisions. But all of your hard work could blow up if you don’t take this final step and hire a lawyer to draft a durable power of attorney for you. A DPA will permit someone you trust to safeguard your assets and pay your bills if you get sick and can’t manage your own money.