Financial Spring Cleaning

Many people know about Marie Kondo, the cleaning/organising guru that became famous with the phrase: “this one does (not) spark joy”. Her approach is excellent, motivating us to clean up, get rid of and let go of things we no longer need. This isn’t only great for physical spaces like our home, but for our mind too.

But what about your personal finances? Perhaps you’ve waited with cleaning there a little bit too long, too? What financial habits could be improved, and what financial issues have you swept under the rug to deal with “later”?

Spring is here, and it’s a great moment for some spring cleaning of your finances. Here are ten things you can do to achieve a cleaner financial life today.

1. Update Your Budget

What’s that? You don’t even have a budget?

It might be a good idea to make one then; check out this newsletter for more information on the subject!

If you already have a budget, great! Now, take a moment to check if it still fits your current lifestyle and habits, and adjust if necessary!

2. Check subscriptions

Monthly payments have a way of creeping up on us and going unnoticed. €2,99 for Prime, €11,99 for Netflix, Spotify Premium for another €12,99, Apple iCloud for just €0,99. They all seem small and harmless, but together, they add up! Have a look at your subscriptions and see which one you can do without!

3. Check your insurances

True, the beginning (or end) of the year was a great moment to change it. But we’re in spring now, and many insurances can still be stopped on a monthly notice. So what are you insured for at the moment, and does it fit with your wishes? Maybe you have a credit card that already covers the same thing as your insurance? Many of us are actually insured for the same things twice, resulting in a lot of wasted money. Spring is a great moment to adjust your insurance to only what you need.

4. Get a credit card with rewards - but use it well

This one may sound counter intuitive, but it's not. While it’s not too common here, but credit cards can actually be very useful. Not only do they act as insurance for things like travel, delays and car rental, but they also protect your online purchases with insurance (and they’ll fight the scammers for you, getting your money back in many cases). Furthermore, some credit cards offer access to airport lounges and rewards in terms of points you get on all money you spend with them, unlocking rewards like free airline tickets.

Not all credit cards are equal, however, and some are more beneficial than others. I will do a proper review of some cards available here in Europe later here on moneyminds.io. Personally, I am using American Express Platinum at the moment and loving it. [DM me if you want a link 😉]

BUT. As great as credit cards are, this is only true if used well. You should never spend more just to get some kind of reward. Only use the card where you can on stuff you would already buy anyway. Also, keep track of your spending so you are not surprised at the end of the month. And make sure you pay the card off each month so you don’t end up with debt (and worse, having to pay a hefty amount of interest!).

Get rid of any cards that cost you a monthly amount and are not worth it, with perhaps the exception of a simple credit card issued by your main bank.

5. Have a look at your bank account(s)

Sometimes, it makes sense to shop around for banks, with some of them giving nice introduction offers, a better user experience or other benefits. Switching banks is quite a hassle, however, so you could also opt for keeping your current bank account and opening an extra one that will be your ‘main’ account while all old payments and income still gets handled by your current bank account. This can be overwhelming, so for most of us, it might be more beneficial to get rid of any old accounts we don’t use anymore. You might be paying for those accounts, which is a waste of money. Less = more!

6. Look for higher interest rates savings accounts

Speaking of banks, some of them will offer better rates than others when it comes to your savings account. Have a look around and see if you can put your cash (for example, your emergency fund) in an account which gives (some) interest. Make sure the money is not locked up, and you can always access it!

7. Organise your Documents and Passwords

Are you also getting tired of constantly having to find your password when trying to log into a website? Make smart use of Apple’s Keychain, Google password manager or third-party solutions like 1Password. Don’t reuse passwords, as there are data leaks constantly.

And no, just adding another “1” to your previous password is not a waterproof solution either.

8. Sell your old stuff!

If you also did a physical spring cleaning, you might have discovered that you have some old clothes and other items lying around that you no longer use or wear. Get rid of them! Not only will it make you feel good, but you’ll also make some € if you sell them. Apps like Vinted are useful for selling old clothes (or so I’ve heard), but you can also try eBay, Facebook Marketplace or whatever is common to use where you’re based.

9. Revisit your (financial) Goals

Maybe you’ve made new years resolutions. Maybe you’ve set yourself goals for this year, whether that’s professionally, personally or financially. We’re now 1/4th of the year in (time flies). So have a look at your goals. Are you on track to meet them? Should you adjust the course, run harder or slow down? Are you still saving, spending and inesting the way you wanted to? If you don’t know where you are, it’s hard to go anywhere!

10. Clean your phone

Okay, this is maybe not a financial tip, strictly speaking, but bear with me.

Your phone is a bit like your room. Over time, you slowly start filling it with more stuff (apps). And if you don’t clean it, you may one day come to the realisation that it has indeed become a mess.

We look at our phones A LOT throughout the day. If you see a cluttered screen with folders and bright-coloured apps every time you open it, well, that doesn’t exactly scream “calmness” to me.

Take a morning to completely redesign and clean your home screen(s).

For iPhone users: you can remove apps from your home screen without deleting them. Try to have just one screen, no folders, with just the apps you use a lot. Everything else goes into your app library (swipe all the way to the left, so navigate all the way to the right to find it). Search for apps by name. If you don’t know the name of the app, it’s probably not that important to open anyway.

Consider making different screens using the different focus modes. For example: hide social media in the morning and only show workout and reading apps.

Think I’ll write a more elaborate post on this soon 😉

Now go clean!

Spring is a great time to clean! Evaluate your (financial) habits and come up with a way forward for the rest of the year. Armed with these tips, you are ready for anything. 😊

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