April 4, 2018 Spring cleaning isn’t restricted to just the kitchen, garage or that overflowing junk drawer. It can also have a positive affect on many facets of your life, including your finances. Considering money tops the list of the biggest stress inducers in America today, cleaning your expenses can help you declutter, de-stress and may even help you make smarter financial decisions in the future. Here’s five steps you should consider taking: Organize bills and receipts. Similar to a junk drawer, there’s the “pile” where all papers deemed too important to throw away go to collect dust. Organizing these receipts and bills is a great place to start. Separating these into three piles (“Shred,” “Pay,” “File”) will help you determine which items need to be tossed and which need to be manged. Once sorted, be sure to actually shred the documents/bills no longer needed. Take a deeper look at recurring expenses. In the world of automated payments, it’s easy to lose track of how much you’re spending on monthly bills. Take a look at some of these regular expenses, such as entertainment streaming services, gym memberships and paid subscriptions to determine what services you’re actually using. Do you pay for multiple entertainment streaming services, but really only watch one? Are you doing more at-home workouts or jogs in the park than gym sessions? Create a savings plan. The consumer world is inundated with messages that tell you to spend, spend, spend, but it’s important to remember the importance of saving. While you take a look at maximizing your recurring bills, you should also think about saving this money for future expenses. Some banks offer linked checking and savings accounts, like this one, that automatically transfer funds to your savings account, making it easier to save money each month. Check your credit profile. Checking your credit or signing up for alerts is something you should keep up with on a regular basis. Use this time to take a deeper look at what might be dropping your credit score (or increasing it). Does your card offer an auto-pay option? Is there a mistake in the amount of hard credit checks? Rectifying or improving your credit score can translate to greater purchasing power and access to lines of credit down the road. It can also lead to lower interest rates that puts more money in your pocket. Conduct an insurance review. Take this time to look at some of your insurance expenses and see where you can make some cuts. Perhaps you could combine your home and auto policy into one umbrella policy to maximize on a multi-policy discount. Or maybe taking some simple steps, like buying an alarm for your home or service for your car, could make you eligible for discounts on your premium. Related Posts Five Easy Ways to Avoid Debt During the Holidays Five Easy Ways to Avoid Debt During the Holidays Five Easy Ways to Avoid Debt During the Holidays