It was a sunny Sunday morning, and I was getting ready to go to church. I wanted to wear something a bit more seasonal or at least spring-like. I grabbed my Dansko sandals and put them on to wear for the first time this year.
When I came home, I went to kick the sandals off my feet and into my closet and realized it was time that my closet needed some serious attention. Our home is a turn of the century house, so my closet is not big. This might be good news, or???
I looked at the bottom of the closet where my shoes are kept. I have most of the boxes for the shoes, but most of the shoes were not in them. I found shoes that I had forgotten about. Some were seasonal, some weren’t comfortable anymore and others I had purchased towards the end of last summer for this year. After matching the shoes and boxes and organizing them into sandals, athletic, boots, and flip flops I vacuumed the floor. I felt like I had gone through my clothes recently as in, November so I didn’t touch many of the clothes. Except, as I moved the clothes aside to make sure I could vacuum under them I noticed three hooks that I had totally forgotten about. There’s one on each side of the closet and one behind my clothes. Weird, I know but I had to get resourceful. Low and behold I found my spring purses! I had two pink purses that I love using in the spring and summer. I also found my black purse again. Seriously, it was like Christmas!
This was a great way to begin the many ways of spring cleaning opportunity! April is the start of the 2nd quarter of the year. It’s a great time to review your budget and see what is working and what is not working. If you haven't ever done a budget, click on the blank one in this blog to get started. You may also be able to do some traveling or go to shows where previously options. Now is the time to be thinking about those summer plans and what your budget needs to look like so that you’ve got the money to do the things that are important to you.
Related to the budget are the costs of insurance. I wrote an article in the March Freedom Flyer about doing an annual insurance check. It’s time to make sure that all your assets are covered and to shop pricing. As a financial coach, I recommend insurance to cover and protect your health, property, vehicle, and identity. There may also be a need for an umbrella policy. This is a great question to ask your insurance agent when shopping for new policies. This could result in hundreds of dollars of savings within the year!
One category in the budget that needs quarterly review is the subscriptions and memberships. Whether or not they are monthly or annual memberships, they are out of sight and out of mind. Be honest, how much have you watched Netflix in the past month? How many times have you been to the gym? How many times will you read the newspaper or that magazine in the next few months? Are there more cost-effective ways to get these things? These types of memberships and subscriptions are easy things to set and forget. The payments naturally reoccur and until your payment method expires, well…you’re likely paying for it.
The last way to tidy up your finances for the season is to request a free credit report. You can do this by going to freecreditreport.com. Take some time to understand what your report says about you and your credit. It’s also a helpful tool to identify and correct errors.
What methods do you use to tidy up your finances in the Spring? I'd love to hear from you! Connect with me on Facebook or Instagram.