As a Licensed Insolvency Trustee and credit management blogger, I find myself drawn to the subject of household finances when I’m on Facebook or surfing the internet. One recent topic that I’ve noticed (and highly recommend) is the idea of spring cleaning your household finances.
Similar to spring cleaning your house or yard, spring cleaning your finances can include decluttering and getting rid of spent or unnecessary items. It could also include making a prioritized list of new items you might need.
Spring is a great time of year to tackle the following tasks:
Clean up the paper
Like a pile of old leaves, piles of paper stuck in drawers, on shelves and on end tables create a mess that blows around the house. Reviewing old statements, old policies and investment portfolios is a great idea for a few reasons.
- You can shred the stuff you don’t need, which truly does declutter the house. There’s always a good feeling attached to that.
- You have a chance to review your purchase history on your credit card statements and withdrawals on your lines of credit. Knowing how, when and where you spend is great information, which can help you stick to the household budget.
- Reviewing your investment statements gives you a future-focused mindset. Projecting out to retirement once or twice a year is a healthy way to stay on track with your retirement savings goals.
- Creating a pile of donation receipts well in advance of next year’s filing deadline may help with a few extra tax deductions.
Review your contracts and get rid of any items you don’t use
New Year’s resolutions have a tendency to be a distant memory by June first. Now is the time to review that gym membership. How often do you actually use the spin cycle in the basement or the weight rack that has become a clothing rack? Cancelling contracts or selling off items that you haven’t used in months or years may be a good way to cover a few summer expenses or pay down credit card debt.
In addition, a review of your home insurance, life insurance policy and cell phone agreement is a good way of making sure you are paying for items you need.
Tune up the summer budget
Spring is often viewed as the opening act to summer’s headline performance. During your spring cleaning of the household finances take the time to prepare for the summer ahead. With a few weeks to get your finances “beach ready,” you should be focused on the following tasks:
- Source out and plan for vacation time. Where are you headed? Whether it’s a backyard adventure, a staycation or a cross county road trip, give yourself time to plan your spending and expenses.
- Make a list of household chores that need doing and their associated costs. Can you fit those costs into your budget? Do you have a home renovation or repair budget? My blog, How to Avoid a DIY Disaster, has a few tips that will help you keep your renovations on track.
- Make note of items that need replacing and items you’d like to purchase. By planning summer expenses ahead of time, (and including them in a well-thought-out summer budget) you might avoid the impulse BBQ or spa pool purchases at the garden center.
Do you tackle a spring cleanup of your finances at this time of year? Tell us about it. You can leave a comment, share your ideas on Facebook or joint the conversation on Twitter. @JScreditcoach
Jayson Stoppel is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee and Chartered Accountant with BDO First Call Debt Solutions. With over 17 years in practice, Jayson assists individuals, families and companies with financial difficulties in Thunder Bay and throughout Northwest Ontario. To reach Jayson by email: JStoppel@BDO.ca
