It's time for Financial Spring Cleaning

Spring is the perfect time to do some cleaning and decluttering. Purge the closets, get rid of the stuff that is sitting around collecting dust…and declutter your finances. I know people don’t think about that last one when they think of spring cleaning. But I gotta tell you…it feels great and it’s something that we should all get in the habit of doing.

In this podcast, I am going over how you can declutter your finances so you get organized, pay fewer bank fees and create space where you feel really positive about tackling your finances.

Show Notes:

Hello, and welcome back to another round of, “Our Heart Of Money Talks”. This is episode 18, and today we’re going to spring clean your finances. Moving ahead financially means letting go of the things from our past that no longer serve us. It’s spring, and we’re going to clean house. When I educate people on investment advice, I often refer to the dress in my closet that still has the price tag, and that I have never worn.

It’s a dress that has been in my closet for 10 years. And I know you’ve got one out there too, and it just brings on feelings of guilt. When I see it, I often push it back of the closet and then tell myself, okay, I’ll deal with it later. What does this have to do with money advice? Often I see people that have a mediocre investment that has underperformed for a long period of time.

When I asked them to tell me about this investment, they can’t remember when or why they have it. This is where decluttering comes in. We need to declutter our money and our life so that the two can work together with one another. I’ve put together a few things you can do right now that are super easy and quick to declutter and create more space for your money.

Okay. So here is your declutter checklist. First, clean your purse or wallet out. I honestly can’t tell you how good this feels. I have a confession to make. I carry around a really large bag and I call it a purse. And in there is another purse and in there is maybe makeup and a bag that in case I go to the gym, which of course, I haven’t been to the gym in a while, but I’ve got a bag for it just in case. I’ve also got a laptop that I carry around in there.

So if at home I get my energy or power bill, I’ll put it in my purse and think, “ Ooh, when I get to work, I’ll pay that.”

And then at the end of the day happens. I forget to pay it. So I put it back in my purse. And before you know it, I’m carrying around a lot of stuff. I also might have a couple of forks and a couple of spoons in my purse, just in case you need one.

So cleaning it out… not only will the bag be lighter, but your mind will feel lighter around that. It’ll create some of that abundance. Next, delete any newsletter subscriptions that no longer feed your soul. A whole bunch of emails that come in that I just throw into the trash. Why don’t I put it in the junk? Because then I won’t have to see it, but I haven’t done that.

I just hit trash out of habit. So deleting that will help clear up some space as well.

This is the third one and it might feel a little bit harder than the first two. That is to go through your unopened mail and sort it out. Now I know if we are in scarcity mode, I know exactly how that feels when you open the envelope.

And if it is bills and their expected bills, it’s not like they’re random…they’re coming. We usually get that little pit feeling in our gut and it’s “Ah, I just don’t want to open it. I can’t deal with it right now.”

This is your time. You’re going to open up that mail and get it sorted out.

I only said sort I didn’t say pay because this is baby steps. This is just sorting. It will get you to the next step. And then the next step will be a lot easier when it comes to paying it.

Number four. This was so goofy, but it’s so true. Clean your fridge. Yes. This actually does help and it feels good.

It feels clean. Then I go to the grocery store and then I fill it with some really good food and I throw it all the things that have expired. It just feels good.

Okay, next one, go through your closets. That dress I keep pushing to the back? I am going to give it to Goodwill. Go through your closets and clean out the items you no longer use.

Give to Goodwill because that creates abundance as well as giving, but also find the ones that you think are really good quality and sell them, get some extra money. I have a friend, they sell things and then they put it in their jar or they save it. It’s their trip money when they go away and they use that for spending money.

I’m guessing it feels guilt-free because they’ve created that money to be able to spend guilt-free. I love that.

Next one. Consolidate your numerous bank accounts that have $5 balances, but cost you monthly fees. This will feel good.

For those that have been working home right now, it is so easy for your home office space to get really decluttered and messy. This is my encouragement to tell you to give it a nice clean and decluttering. Create positive energy for your money here. I know we’re not paying your bills with this. It’s not making your space pretty other than for your workday, but it’ll clear your mind and give you space and energy to then do your finances.

So that’s it for today. Short sweet yet these action steps are so impactful. Go ahead. Tackle a few of them right now. I also want to hear from you, so share with me, send me an email [email protected] or go to our web page on our blog or podcast.

Share one thing with me that you can do to declutter to make more room right now. And tell me what have we missed! And what have you done that works? I want to hear. Thanks so much until next week. Talk soon.