Spring Cleaning Your Finances Part 2

A few weeks ago we pondered the process of tidying up your finances for spring, covering the first three steps: 1) knowing your numbers, 2) ditching what doesn’t serve you, and 3) simplifying.

Now that Spring is nearly over (hello, summer time!), we’ll pick up in the second installment with the next steps for achieving a clean financial slate. Each of these steps involves establishing a routine for tidying up your finances.

Equip Yourself with the Right Tools:

Set up a structured budget plan. Whether it’s an app on your phone, a spreadsheet in Excel, or a notebook and pencil, a tracking tool will help you see your spending patterns over time. These types of tools have helped me nail down the right budget for my own household for each season.

Establish Your Money Goals and Priorities:

We’ve discussed creating a vision for your finances. And this step is so very important, so don’t skip it!

List your goals, discuss with your partner, and create actionable steps to achieving each goal. Overwhelmed? Make the problem smaller, and just start with just one or two top goals.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan:

Starting with a checklist from this list could help keep you on track and prevent distracting side-quests along the way. It’s also a great way to make this cleaning routine easy to repeat next spring!

Keep The Momentum Going:

Along the way, celebrate the small victories in your financial organization. An example is each time you check an item off your list, give yourself a little reward. This doesn’t mean that you have to buy yourself something — even just the act of moving a marble from one jar to another jar with each checked off item can be rewarding to your brain and keep momentum rolling.

Do Your Future Self Some Time-Saving Favors:

Encourage a sustainable and ongoing approach to financial cleanliness. In other words, this practice is not a one-and-done, so create an organization method that allows you to repeat these actions down the road without reinventing the wheel. In addition to a checklist, keep files in a physical or digital folder, organize apps on your phone where you can easily log in and review next time. Your future self will thank you.

Create a Schedule for Checking Back In:

Establishing a routine can take effort at first, but once the habit is built, it can make a world of difference for your future. Identify a rhythm for checking on your money that suits your needs and your season of life.

I’ve shared that I pay off our credit cards every Friday morning. That habit kicks off a chain of checks that, in all, takes me about 10 minutes once a week. I open my financial apps and take a quick inventory, making sure nothing looks crazy. I click a few buttons and pay off credit cards, roll through my investment balances, savings picture, and checking account balances.

Twice a month on Saturday, I roll through our credit card transactions and categorize them in my budget spreadsheet, see where we’re stacking up, and my husband and I discuss our progress and align to a plan (or a pivot when necessary).

At the first of each month I record a snapshot of all accounts to record our net worth, a simple measure of all assets minus all liabilities. It’s one of my favorite financial activities because I get to see results of all our hard work — our growth!

Your Turn!

What are your money tools, routines, and practices? Do you need help establishing some? Reach out for personalized coaching to get you started and keep you going!