Today’s post is from our regular Wednesday contributor, Cat.
I promised myself that I would stay organized with my finances this year.
Typically, I am pretty organized as it is but I knew I’d have a lot of big changes this year with a move across the country and having kids.
So, I started spring cleaning my finances a few months ago just to make sure everything was secure and set up for a very hectic few months. There are still some medical bills from my delivery that I’m waiting on and my budget has been a bit off track with my move, but I’m still happy with how things are going so far this year.
I especially started organizing when it came to my taxes and then made sure all of my accounts were in order. Because I’m self-employed, I have to pay quarterly taxes, and all it really takes is a little bit of time at the end of each month to get it all straightened out.
Of course, last year I waited too long to do my taxes and ended up having to calculate a few months at a time. Things are going much better now that I’m taking care of the paperwork at the end of each month.
Of course, here are some benefits of spring cleaning for everyone:
1) You catch errors
If you go through your statements and expenses regularly, you can catch discrepancies, late payments, and incorrect charges. You can look to see if you’ve been refunded for your returns or credited back that time a store charged you twice. If you wait too long to go through these things, you tend to forget to look for them, which can cost you in the end.
2) You save time
If you wait until the end of the year or the end of the quarter to organize your finances, it can take much, much longer. Again the reason is because most of us forget the little charges and expenses that we can deduct from our taxes. You might see a charge to a vendor but not remember what it was for. You might know you bought a new computer but can’t remember where you put the receipt. Taking care of your finances as they happen means that you are much more likely to avoid mistakes and avoid fees. Again, that saves you time and money in the long haul.
3) You feel accomplished
Cleaning and organizing in general aren’t my favorite things to do in the world, but I always enjoy the end result. If you stay on track with your finances or at least go on a big spring cleaning fest to get there, you’re going to feel so awesome when it’s over. There’s nothing quite like knowing how much is in all of your accounts and feeling like all of your bills are going to be paid on time.
Are you going to spring clean your finances or do you have a monthly cleaning regimen already?
Check out some of our favorite personal finance resources:
Are you getting the best credit card rewards? Check out the top cash back credit card offers (updated daily)
Make extra money: 15 ways to make money from your computer
Get the First Chapter Free!
Join our online community and get the first chapter of the book Student Loan Solution absolutely FREE!
I like to think we’re in a constant state of “spring cleaning” our finances. Each month we re-evaluate each of our expenses, looking for ways to bring them down or eliminate anything that’s unnecessary. Any receipts we need for taxes are put into a binder for safe keeping, and the monthly budget framework is laid out on the first day of the month….I like to stay on top of things!
I’m really good about staying on top of my finances daily. The moment I get more than a day or two behind, I just lose track of everything. Particularly with freelance income that takes forever to come in.
I do a monthly zero-sum budget and that’s generally when I look things over. And yes, it does make me feel accomplished.
I do my budgets on a monthly basis, and I go through statements to make sure all the charges are correct. Sometimes, I still can’t remember what a charge was for, which is horrible. I’d be so out of luck if I waited until the end of the year to look through everything!
Man I hate dealing with quarterly taxes! I made the mistake of letting things just slide on by last year and paid for it at the end with needing to spend a lot of time to catch up. We’ve moved to going over things monthly and it helps me feel much better about things, especially when it doesn’t take nearly as long anymore. :)
Waiting until the end of the year to deal with your taxes is really a nightmare when you own a business. I have a friend who does this and he is always stressed in January for about 3 weeks.
That is almost a good reason to have a regular job, so you don’t have to do quarterly taxes! Well, maybe not really, but it is much easier when someone else pays the gov for you. I’ve done it for so long that I’m used to it, but one June I forgot all about the estimate and was calling Jim from an amusement park in KY to send in the payment. I don’t really even think it matters as long as it’s all in by Jan 15th, but I’m still not sure what gets a penalty and what does not, so I try to always hit the filing deadlines.
I check in with my finances monthly, but more in depth quarterly. It is a tedious exercise, but it really does save so much time down the road and you catch things quicker and make changes easier when you are looking at your numbers regularly.
We go over our finances every few days, but the one thing I should do soon is get my free credit report. Always good to stay on top of that. I also need to organize my paper files. We’ve been tossing them into a drawer, and it’s becoming a big mess.
I definitely try to stay on top of our finances and not just because, you know, it’s my job. :) It really does make things easier when you’re organized. Otherwise it really can be brutal at year-end, especially when you’re self-employed or a business owner. It can sometimes be a pain to build your systems, but once they are in place, you quickly see it was worth effort. Glad everything is going well for you, even though you’ve been dealing with quite a few changes lately. :)
This will be the first year that I actually spring clean my finances. I’ve always been a take care of it as you go kind of person. I might do my cleaning in the next week or two…we’ll see what I dig up!
I need to spring clean EVERYTHING right now. lol! If I ever get some downtime I’m seriously going to dedicate a week to get stuff organized.
I need a week off to organize too.
Woo hoo! Go for it!
Haha I bet it does help to be a financial planner :)
Oh yeah I always put that off too but it only takes a few minutes!
Ha I know right? Quarterly taxes are a pain!
Yeahhh not the best thing to do!
I did the exact same thing!
I haven’t done my budget the last two months- serious pf fail!
It’s definitely nice to be organized!
Ah yes I’ve been there. Organization is definitely key!
I just did some spring cleaning in the house (our windows and blinds, which were shockingly filthy). Next on the list, our finances…specifically trying to find a cheaper cell phone carrier.
I try and keep pretty organized financially. Reconcile all statements, every month. Have a folder each month for receipts. Log everything in Quicken.
And at year end, i.e. tax time, it’s just data entry. Easy peasy.
No Nonsense Landlord Getting to know you the last few months through blogging and whatnot, I feel like you are a master of simplification. I like to think I’m a pretty organized guy, but the logistics of having 25 rental properties/units like you do seems like a logistical nightmare. Obviously you have figured out a system that works, and that’s awesome!
On a side note, I may reach out to you with some home maintenance/renovation/etc. questions. Seems like you’ve learned a lot over the years from being a landlord.
DC @ Young Adult Money No Nonsense Landlord
Feel free to contact me anytime.
Once you do a thing once, doing it the second time is not double the effort. Somewhat like a computer, all you have to do is replicate the process.
Since my wife has been at home full time the house has pretty much been spotless and so I never need to clean anymore :)
For me the online stuff I stay on top of, but the papers, not so much. I’m almost glad when they say their gonna charge for paper statements, because then I quickly opt out of that (no way I’m gonna pay for that!) and just do everything online. It reduces clutter coming in the mail. :D
MonsterPiggyBank Dude your wife must rock. I’m at home full time now and I can barely do one load of dishes.
debt debs I like doing everything online too!
All very true! I just wrote an article on spring cleaning your credit, which is only part of it. Great reasons here.