Spring is the ideal time to declutter your home and deep clean every corner. While refreshing your home for the warmer season, tidying up your finances can also be helpful. After all, a lot can pile up over a season. You may be surprised by how much your messy finances can influence your mental health. In fact, financial stress can lead to insomnia, weight gain/loss, depression, and social withdrawal, among other problems.
The good news is you can clean up your finances to start fresh this spring. Use this guide to take the right steps toward a cleaner and healthier financial future by strategically managing your money.
Clean Up Your Paperwork
If you’re still getting paper statements from Financial Research Services institutions, it might be time to take the digital route and say goodbye to physical copies. Accessing your financial statements online simplifies handling your income, savings, and expenses. Not only is it better for the environment to limit paperwork, but it also helps you keep track of your finances.
Going paperless also reduces the amount of physical clutter in your home. So, if you’re ready to switch to digital, contact your bank and other financial institutions you receive paperwork from to send your statements and communicate with you digitally. In addition, you can keep track of your expenses by using online platforms to create budgets through spreadsheets, websites, or apps.
Refresh Your Budget
When you want to clean up your finances, one of the most important things to look into is your budget. The budget that worked for you in the previous year may not be suitable for the new year or season, especially in today’s economic climate. The fluctuating inflation rates over the past year have seeped into many budgets and influenced the purchasing power of many households. So, it’s important to consider the current prices of products and services, the economic situation, and the value of your income when creating a budget.
Refresh your budget by examining your past expenses and comparing them with your bills to observe what has changed. You may need to update a few things, such as the utility bill, the amount spent on groceries, and other essentials while cutting down unnecessary expenses.
Declutter Your Debt
If you have multiple loans under your name, it might be time to pay some off to reduce the financial burden. The first step involves getting a clear picture of your current debt by creating a list. This can include credit cards, education, personal loans, and mortgage. Once you’ve outlined your debt, create payment goals. Is there any debt you can eliminate immediately? Which debt will take you the longest to pay?
After identifying your debt and figuring out a payment plan, consider debt consolidation, a form of refinancing that entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This can be simpler when you want to consolidate a smaller loan, such as credit card bills or personal loans. Take a loan from a reputable lender like GoDay to reduce your debt in other areas. An online loan with an easy and fast experience and upfront fee disclosure will enable you to access the cash you need to pay off other high-interest debt.
Polish Your Savings
A significant component of cleaning up your finances involves polishing your savings. Without savings, you will have a tough time handling unforeseen expenses in the long run. Look for different ways to save money by reducing your expenses, looking for additional sources of income, and creating an emergency savings fund.
