Freshen up your finances

Freshen up your finances with the 30 Day Challenge!

Spring is in the air, so it’s time to start cleaning … your finances, that is! With these great tips, and a little help from the 30 Day Challenge, you can get your finances squeaky clean and in tip-top shape. And that means more funds and more fun come summertime!

Ahh spring. The time of love, sunshine, flowers … and spring cleaning. But as well as cleaning out the cobwebs around the house, spring’s a great time to freshen up your finances as well – and the best part is you won’t even have to struggle with the rubber gloves to do it!

If you need to give your money ‘stuff’ a bit of a once-over, take a look at our handy guide to spring cleaning your finances ….

Don’t work hard, work smart!
Okay, let’s bust one myth right from the start – spring cleaning your finances doesn’t need to be hard. And it doesn’t even need to be boring!

One of the simplest 'budgeting tools' is organising your paperwork so that you can put your hands on everything you need quickly and easily next time you need to find something and take the stress out of tracking down that receipt you know you put somewhere! So get hold of an expanding file and label a section for each day of the month, or grab some individual files if you can’t find a nice big one that will do the job. File your paperwork as it comes in into the section for the day when you need to do something about it and make a point of checking your ‘in-box’ each night to see what you need to do the next day.

If you want to keep your organisational system even more streamlined set it up in your calendar on your computer and set alarms to remind you when you need to pay each bill. Next, get some folders and dedicate one to each bill, statement or account and transfer things from your in-box to this permanent filing system once they’ve been dealt with. There’s no rule that says these have to be plain either – Ikea has some fantastic ones, and you can also pick up some fun and funky folders at most of the big discount stores. To make things even less stressful, set up an automatic debit system from your bank account – you’ll take the pressure off having to remember to make the payments and you’ll be able to make sure you don’t get slugged with late fees again!

Taxes don’t have to be taxing
All right, we know what you’re thinking: doing your taxes is even worse than cleaning out the laundry cupboard! But if you have everything sorted out ahead of time so you don’t have to run around doing everything at the last minute, it doesn’t have to be!

If you’re planning on going the DIY route, you need to have your return lodged by the end of October, so now’s the time to start organising those receipts, group certificates and other important pieces of paper you’ll need to get the job done – then grab a Tax Pack, set aside an afternoon, and get it done. And if this is one bit of financial spring cleaning you’d really rather bring in the professionals for, you can have a tax agent handle your return. It gives you a slightly longer deadline, but you still need to organise all your paperwork – and the sooner that’s done, the better.

Now here’s the good bit: by starting early you can jump online or speak to your tax agent to find out exactly what deductions you could be entitled to, and you’ll have plenty of time to hunt down all the receipts you’ll need to claim them if your paperwork from last year wasn’t as organised as it could be!! Common deductions are work-related expenses if you’re an employee, school expenses under the Education Tax Refund if you’ve got school-age kids and charitable donations, but there are plenty of other things you can claim, especially if you’re self-employed – so get cracking, because the best savings turn up when you look for them!

Delegate
All right, you’ve done your part – now it’s time to put your money to work! There are plenty of different ways you can make your money work harder: make sure that you’re getting the best possible deals on the most your mortgage, credit cards, personal loans and savings accounts, that your utility, phone and internet packages are right for your needs and that you’re getting the best value for money at the supermarket. And that’s just the start. There isn’t enough space to go through all the possibilities here, but you can find out all you need to know by grabbing your copy of Save $30 000 in 30 Days and embarking on the 30 Day Challenge. The Challenge will help you make sure that your money is doing its bit to keep you financially ahead. Remember: you’re in charge of your money management, it’s your cash that should be doing the hard labour for you!

With these great tips behind you and the 30 Day Challenge ahead, you have everything you need to freshen up your finances. And if you still feel a bit like procrastinating on the spring cleaning … we promise you won’t have to clean out any wardrobes until Day 26 of the challenge!