At last, spring has sprung! It’s time to shake off winter, it’s the perfect time to get into the neglected corners to clean and organize your home. But why stop there? Take some time to do a spring cleaning of your finances too.
Collect and evaluate
- It’s time to go through the wallet and the dreaded junk drawer! Bring all your documents – receipts, bills, and any other financial documents – together into one place.
- Figure out which documents you need to hold on to, and which you can get rid of. To protect yourself against financial fraud, shredding is the best way to dispose of documentation with personal information.
Categorize
- Divide the remaining paperwork into categories covering all statements and bills.
- Organize your paperwork in a way that works best for you – envelopes, folders, and spreadsheets are just some of the ways you can go about doing this.
- Whether you keep your receipts and bills in a folder, or file them electronically, it’s important you keep them all in one central location – this will make things less stressful when it comes to finding them at tax time.
Refresh your budget
- Now that you have everything in one place, it’s time to take a look at where you stand financially and refresh your budget. Do you have a plan for debt repayment? Do you have an emergency fund in place? Are you contributing to RRSPs or a TSFA?
- Need to trim your budget? Maybe it’s time to reconsider your subscription to that music streaming site, or your cable and cell phone packages – the little things can add up.
- Simplify your finances by consolidating credit cards and closing unused accounts.
Financial spring cleaning isn’t just about purging and organizing your physical home. Apply the same strategy to your finances to ensure you’re getting the most out of every dollar you make.
Youth Get It with Coast Capital Saving’s promise to build a richer future for youth in our communities. Coast Capital is a regular contributor to InTouch e-news, and an active supporter of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s work to provide young people with vital educational and career skills to become successful leaders and contributors to society.