7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Family Finances
Spring is an ideal time for cleaning.
It’s called spring cleaning right?
It’s a great time to clean up your family finances, clear out the clutter, and get a fresh start.
Maybe you have more money left over at the end of the month and could use a budget tweak.
Maybe you feel like you don’t have any money left over at the end of the month and could use a budget tweak!
Perhaps you have too many expenses in automatic, or it’s time to apply the brakes to your credit card spending.
Whatever the reason may be, consider the following suggestions to get a better handle on your family finances this spring season.
1. Clean Up Your Spending
Whether you call it a budget or a spending plan, you only need to look in the rearview mirror over the past few months and write down your repeating bills and expenses.
When you inventory those expenses, assign a priority number from one to three, with one being expenses you must meet to avoid being evicted from your home and three being rather nice to have, but you could live without.
Clear out or reduce your level three expenses.
For example, is the €80 per month tv bill really worth it? Can it be reduced? Try less expensive streaming services.
Make this step really easy by using our budget template by clicking here.
2. Clear the Decks and Put Your Savings on Autopilot
That 50 quid a month you recouped by disconnecting your tv service can now be redirected automatically to your emergency fund.
If you don’t have an emergency fund to cover at least six months’ expenses, you could literally be a few paydays away from disaster.
I can’t say it often enough, the best piece of simple, free advice I can give anyone:
Automate savings and investments.
Treat them like bills and pay your future self first.
3. Review Your Tax Efficiency
Are you contributing to a pension?
If not why not?
Do you know a pension is the most tax efficient way of saving?
If you pay income tax at 40% the government will cover 40% of your pension contributions.
So for every €100 you pay the net cost to you is only €60.
If you are paying into a pension, can you pay more?
If you don’t like paying tax, pay into a pension.
Are you claiming all of your available tax reliefs and credits?
Do a spot check.
4. Inventory Your Material Wealth
Dedicate an hour or two to photographing and cataloging your household possessions.
Concentrate on big-ticket items like your furniture and expensive electronics.
Write out the approximate amount you paid and when you purchased the piece.
As you bring new items into your home, save the receipts and update your inventory.
5. Check In On Your Insurances
Your spring cleaning should include a complete insurance check-up.
House, car, pet, gadget!
Go to your insurance files and take notes.
The date they started and when they are due for renewal.
Set reminders.
One of the simplest wins at saving some money is to rebroke your insurance year after year.
Close to renewal time, set aside one hour one evening to do same.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to check and possibly upgrade your life insurance, especially if your family has grown or your income has gone up.
6. Plug Into Technology
Let the free and secure technology of your online banking platform keep you on the straight and narrow.
Most banking sites have the settings you need to do what you wouldn’t do for yourself.
Revolut is a super example, create wallets.
Automate small savings through this.
Create wallets for separate goals, holidays, birthdays, and Christmas.
Automate money to these wallets each week or month.
Use the loose change feature, any time you tap, the loose change is saved into a seperate wallet.
7. Get Your Paper Files in Order
For the financial papers you must keep, devise an orderly filing system.
If you’re after a more simplistic method, head to your office supply store and buy an expandable folder with month separator tabs.
Stash the papers you usually throw away each month in the appropriate month of the folder.
Gather together your various saving, investing and life insurance documents. Keep them in one place.
Not a nice thought but ensure your next of kin has access to this, just in case.
Summary
In summary, remember that bad financial habits come from neglect and passive spending decisions.
Spring is the ideal time to get back in the driver’s seat and reacquire the big picture for your family finances.
Clear out the clutter and do away with what is not working for you.
Tweak things so that everything is more effective.
Leaving you better prepared and hopefully saving a few quid.
How we help you
If you find this daunting, we can help you.
Our mini financial planning consultation will ensure you become aware of where your money is going.
It will make you aware of leaks and gaps in your finances and put you in a position that makes you feel more confident and you will receive our recommendations on what changes to make to improve.
Get in touch
Schedule your financial planning consultation by clicking here.
Why not visit our insights.
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Our blog posts are intended for information purposes only and should not be interpreted as financial advice.
You should always engage the services of a fully qualified financial planner before entering any financial contract.
To discuss engaging the services of Fortitude Financial Planning please email us at info@fortitudefp.ie.
Fortitude Financial Planning Ltd will not be held responsible for any actions taken as a result of reading these blog posts.
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