Spring offers an ideal opportunity to refresh financial health. Just as decluttering a home brings clarity and calm, conducting a financial spring cleaning can help gain control, reduce stress and set the stage for future success. Here are key steps to consider:
Review Budget and Spending
Begin by revisiting the household budget. Track expenses over recent months to reveal unnecessary or impulsive purchases and adjust the budget to align with current financial goals -- such as saving for a vacation, paying down debt or building an emergency fund.
Credit Karma, an app from Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU), can organize each transaction by category and track spending habits and identify leftover funds available for investing or saving.
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Tackle Debt Strategically
Addressing debt is an essential part of financial spring cleaning. Listing all debts, including interest rates and minimum payments, can help prioritize high-interest debts like credit cards. Paying off high-interest debt quickly helps save money and can enhance credit scores.
Optimize Savings
Evaluate savings accounts and emergency funds often, but at least once a year. Ideally, an emergency fund should cover three to six months of expenses or more. Automatic transfers to savings accounts can facilitate the steady growth of financial reserves.
Acorns offers an app that can automatically transfer small amounts from a checking account into a savings account to build an emergency fund over time.
Check Subscriptions and Bills
Reviewing and canceling unused subscriptions, as well as negotiating bills such as cable, internet or insurance, can lead to significant monthly savings. The savings can then be redirected toward more important financial objectives.
Rocket Money, an app from Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE:RKT), can help identify unused or duplicate subscriptions and even help to cancel them.
Plan for the Future
Review retirement accounts and investment portfolios to ensure that asset allocation matches risk tolerance and time horizons. For those who have yet to begin investing, spring presents an excellent opportunity to start.
Some online brokerages, like Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) and Webull Corp. (NASDAQ:BULL), offer retirement investment accounts and easy-to-learn apps.
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