The weather seems to finally be warming up, which means it's time for spring cleaning! Time to air out the house, clean the basement or garage, and wash the curtains. AND it's time to give your personal finances a spring cleaning.
Here are four essential tasks to add to your spring cleaning to-do list:
Sort Paperwork
Go through all your paper files and receipts from the past year. Place everything into either a "File/Save" or "Toss/Shred" pile. Shred items such as ATM receipts, bank deposit receipts, and credit card statements.
You can also discard paid utility statements. This helps protect you against identity theft and keeps the clutter away.
If possible, switch to e-statements to reduce the amount of paper lying around. Save PDF files or copies of the e-statements until they are paid, then archive or delete them.
Cash in Rewards
When sorting your paperwork, take note of any unused credit card points, airline frequent flyer miles, store credits, loyalty club memberships, etc. Schedule when you'll need to use these benefits before you lose them.
If you're currently paying a fee to participate in these programs (such as an annual fee for a credit card) do the math to figure out if the reward outweighs the fee. If it doesn't, consider dropping the program.
Reassess Savings
Once you've organized all your paperwork, take stock of your monthly budget. How much are you saving each month? What are you saving for? Spring (aka tax season) is a good time to annually reassess where your money is going. Then, determine if you're on track to meet your financial goals.
If you're putting money into a college fund, for example, there might a tax-deductible account you should be using instead of that CD. Wisconsin offers two 529 college savings plans: Edvest and Tomorrow's Scholar. Talk to your banker about which program is the best fit for your family.
Update Beneficiaries
Look back at insurance and retirement account policies to make sure the beneficiaries are current. It is especially important to update your beneficiary information if your marital status recently changed or you experienced the loss of a child.
Taking a little extra time this spring to work on your money issues will make budgeting throughout the rest of the year much easier.
Peoples State Bank, Member FDIC
