15 Tips for Spring-Cleaning Your Financial Life

Spring is a time for new beginnings, and many people opt to spend these months getting their homes organized.

While decluttering your house can be a good use of time, spring-cleaning your finances could have an even more positive long-term impact on your life.

If you're not sure how to start this process, consider these 15 tips for getting your financial affairs in order and learning to better organize your money management going forward.

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You should start your financial spring-cleaning by getting a big-picture view of your finances. This will let you know what areas need some extra attention as you reorganize and optimize your money management.

Make a list of debts and assets and consider tracking spending for a few weeks so you can calculate your net worth and get an idea of where your money is going. This will give you a good road map for what needs adjustment.

ALSO READ: Want to Know Your Net Worth? Don't Forget This

A good budget creates a solid foundation for all of your other financial decisions.

You should review yours to make sure that it's realistic in light of current high levels of inflation. You'll also want to make sure that you are devoting enough money to important financial goals and aren't overspending in any areas where you could easily make cuts.

By tidying up your spending plan, you can set the stage for more conscious spending going forward.

If you owe money, it's important to make sure you're paying it off in the most efficient way possible. That's why it's worth considering if your debt payoff plan needs some reorganization as part of your spring-cleaning.

If you have multiple debts to pay, you should generally focus on paying off the loans with the highest interest rate first to save the most money over time. If you have trouble staying motivated, though, you may want to instead work on paying off low-balance loans first so you can score some quick wins.

Refinancing could also reduce your total repayment costs and allow you to consolidate debt if you can get a personal loan or do a balance transfer at an affordable rate that lets you repay multiple existing creditors.

ALSO READ: How to Pay Off Debt

If you haven't taken a look at your credit report and score lately, take care of this task as part of your financial cleanup.

Your credit score affects all areas of your financial life, and if it's lower than you'd like, you'll want to know it so you can make a plan for boosting it.

Your credit report could also contain errors that you need to get corrected, or it could reveal accounts have been opened improperly in your name as a result of identity theft. Both of these issues need to be addressed ASAP as black marks on your credit report can be a far bigger problem than a little dirt around the house.

If you want to streamline your financial life going forward, automating as much of your money as possible is one of the smartest moves you can make.

Consider setting up automatic bill payment, as well as automatic transfers of your money to savings. If you do this, you'll make sure you're never late with a payment and that you stay on track to accomplish all your goals.

You'll also be able to spend more freely since you'll know any money left over isn't earmarked for other things.

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Did you know that you can ask your credit card issuer and lenders to change the date your payments are due? Most creditors will be willing to make this modification, and it can be worth making the request to make your life easier going forward.

You could, for example, change your due dates to better correspond with when you get paid, or you could set all your due dates for around the same time so it's easier to remember to pay all your bills.

ALSO READ: 4 Ways to Make Sure You Never Miss a Credit Card Payment

If you've been using the same credit card by default for a long time, you could be missing out on rewards and cardholder perks that have a lot of value.

Don't just stick with the status quo without doing an annual review of your spending and your credit card rewards programs. If your spending isn't well aligned to your card's bonus program, it could be time to clean out your wallet and apply for some new cards to use instead.

Bank fees can needlessly reduce the money you have available, and it's time to clean up your accounts to avoid these unnecessary expenses.

Take a careful look at your bank statements. If you've been paying overdraft fees, account maintenance fees, or ATM fees, it may be worth switching to a different bank that won't charge you.

ALSO READ: 4 Ways to Eliminate Bank Fees for Good

It's important to make sure you're contributing enough to your 401(k), IRA, or other tax-advantaged retirement plans.

You can't live on Social Security alone, so you'll want to be sure you've set retirement goals that will give you enough supplementary income and that you're on the way to achieving them.

To do this, confirm how much retirement income you'll need and how large your nest egg must be to provide it -- then use a retirement savings calculator to see how much to invest each month to make sure you're on track.

Many people leave their investment portfolio alone and pay far too little attention to it over time. And that's a much bigger problem than letting your baseboards get dusty or leaving cobwebs around your windows.

See, if you don't have the right mix of different assets, you could be exposed to either too much risk or too little. That could increase your chances of suffering big losses or not earning enough with your investments to achieve your financial goals.

To avoid this, check your portfolio balance carefully each year, make sure you aren't too concentrated in any one investment, and adjust your asset allocation to match your current risk tolerance.

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Insurance is crucial to protecting assets, but far too many people simply buy coverage and forget about it. You don't want to be one of them.

Carefully review your policies to make sure you have the right amount of coverage, that you aren't paying for unnecessary protections, and that your deductible is affordable.

And consider getting some insurance quotes from other companies to ensure your premiums are still affordable relative to what competitors offer.

ALSO READ: How Do Insurance Companies Make Money?

If you've subscribed to streaming services or apps, or have other monthly membership or subscription fees you're paying, it's time to take a close look at whether they are still providing value.

Many people simply forget to cancel unused subscriptions, and this is a needless waste of money. Clean up your monthly accounts by getting rid of any services you don't need so you won't waste your hard-earned cash.

Keeping too much financial paperwork around can clutter up your home and make it more difficult to find the documents you actually need.

Tax documents more than three years old can typically be purged, as can older bank statements. And if it's been more than seven years since you paid off a loan or credit card, you can toss old statements in the trash.

This step cleans both your home and your finances, so it provides a double benefit.

ALSO READ: Keep Tax Paperwork Forever!

Estate planning isn't something most people like to think about, but an annual review of yours is an important part of your spring-cleaning. You can make adjustments necessitated by any changes in your lifestyle, such as having a child or buying assets.

If you don't already have an estate plan, make creating one a priority to protect your loved ones.

Finally, you'll want to look at what your financial goals are, make sure that the objectives you set are still important, and make any adjustments that you need to stay on track.

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