Longer and brighter days are on the horizon, making now an ideal time to have a therapeutic spring clean.

We’re not talking about scrubbing windows to a shine, though we admire the spirit! No, we’re thinking about clearing financial clutter, getting your admin sorted, and making the most of the money-saving tips you’ve heard about but haven’t acted on.

Here are five motivating tips to help you get started.

1. Sort and organise your paperwork
 
Spring-cleaning is about clearing clutter as much as it is about deep cleaning, so go through your emails and paperwork and get rid of all the out-of-date items.
 
You probably don’t need the tatty stack of 10-year-old bank statements anymore, and you should be able to shred the loan agreement for the car purchase you paid off years ago, too.

Do the same with your online records as well as all hard copies.
 
Once you’ve cleared out everything you no longer need, set up new filing systems – physical and virtual – to make it easier to find documents you might need in a hurry in the future.

2. Review your regular monthly outgoings

As well as tidying your paperwork, check if anything’s cluttering up your bank account.

Review all your regular outgoings, including standing orders and Direct Debits, checking that the sums being collected fit with what you’d expect.

A recent survey revealed that Brits spend up to £1,200 a year on subscriptions, so weed out any subscriptions you no longer use – cancelling these could save you up to £400 every year [1].
 
Sort subscriptions and save with these cleansing steps:

• Make a full list of everything you pay for.
• Note which services you use and the renewal date.
• Review the list, highlighting services you value and those rarely used.
• Cancel services that you aren’t getting value from.

With a clean slate, try signing up to one service at a time: watch, enjoy, cancel, and move on to the next.

3. Set up a simple budget so you can see what’s coming in and going out

While you’re looking through your bank statements, make a simple budget spreadsheet, listing all your income sources on one side and regular outgoings on the other.
 
Review your discretionary spending and work out how much you tend to spend on things like dining out, buying clothes, or weekend trips.

Once you can see where your money is going each month, you may find potential to make savings.
 
4. Take control of credit card debt

If viewing your expenditure in an easy-to-see format is a wake-up call to how much you spend on credit card debt, act now:

• List your debts.
• Note the interest you’re paying.
• Devise a plan to repay each one in turn.
• Start with the card with the highest interest rate.
• Maximise repayments to that, then tackle the next. 

If you have savings, the interest rate you’re earning is likely far less than what you’re paying in credit card debt. You may be better off using your savings to clear your debt – just remember to keep your emergency fund intact.

Depending on circumstances, it may be worth investigating 0% balance transfers.
 
Check the terms and conditions to ensure the transfer charge won’t negate any savings you thought you’d make.

5. Check your savings rate

When did you last review the interest rate on your savings?
 
Reports suggest that 29 million of us could be missing out on £20 billion worth of interest every year. [2]
 
While your emergency fund should be in an easy access account, there’s no reason not to shop around for the best deal. At the time of writing, there are several easy access accounts paying around 4% interest. [3]
 
If you’re prepared to tie your money up for an extended period, you could benefit from even more attractive interest rates.
 
Get in touch
 
If you’d like some moral support or expert advice to help you get on top of your finances and plan for a brighter future, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Email [email protected] or call us on 0800 048 0150.

Please note
The information contained in this article is based on the opinion of Titan Wealth Planning and does not constitute financial advice or a recommendation for any investment or retirement strategy.
All information is correct at the time of writing and is subject to change in the future.