Do your finances need a Spring Clean? Why scheduling a day to deal with the build up of pesky tasks is great for your sanity, your peace of mind and your finances.
Spring is traditionally the time when we go through our homes, give them a good old shake out and clean – and doesn’t it feel simply wonderful once it’s done? It can be hard to find the time, or indeed the inclination, to do this though – despite how good we KNOW it will feel afterwards.
One of our clients refers to this as a “life admin” day, and regularly schedules them throughout the year to clear out those tasks that get forgotten easily, such as car insurance quotes, old receipts and cancelling those Apple subscriptions. So, what could your life admin day look like?
Cancelling Subscriptions That You Don’t Use or Need
So you have a Netflix account, the Calm App, MyFitnessPal Premium and countless others. Start your life admin/Spring clean session by making a list of every subscription you currently pay for, then add up how much that is per month or for a year – we can promise you that the amount is pretty shocking when you see it in black and white!
Now, make a list of the “must have” subscriptions, perhaps ones you use for scheduling your work or family commitments or meditation apps that help you set up your day properly. Whatever is left, take a long hard look at….then hit that cancel button and delete the apps from your phone. Not only will you save yourself a ton of money, but you’ve also cleared some headspace (and phone memory!) – what a fantastic feeling!
Gather Up Your Receipts (And Give Them To Your Accountant!)
We know that this is one of those faffy jobs that ends up being a complete nightmare come year end (which is just one of the reasons we work with our clients on a monthly basis!), of course you can’t remember why you bought fuel on Tuesday 8th July last year and which client you were charging it against! However, to be as tax efficient as possible, it is a necessary evil that you go through your bags, down the back of the sofa and in the glove compartment of your car and get sorting those receipts out – you may find that you can claw back monies owed to HMRC simply by having a root around for the right receipts!
With HMRC looking to make tax digital, and therefore more efficient for them and business owners, now is the perfect time to get into the habit of going through your receipts regularly to maximise your financial gains!
Have a Literal Spring Clean of Your Home
If you’re anything like us, firstly you’ll have a LOT of “stuff” lying around that you don’t use and secondly, you LOVE getting rid of things! Decluttering is a really cathartic activity, although sometimes the little people in the home don’t always agree!
Why not break your Spring Clean into sections, the attic, the shed, the toy cupboard and clothing for example. Categorise the things you have into sections and spend some time photographing the items, then get them onto Vinted, Ebay, your local Facebook selling site or donate to charity. It’s an easy way to get extra cash for the things you no longer use or to create space in the home, just make sure the kids are out when you tackle the toy cupboard!
Spring Clean Your Future Finances
And now for the slightly morbid stuff! None of us like to think that we will age, and one day may not be here but it is a fact of life and we all should be prepared, particularly if we have dependants.
Schedule some time for the morbid – it will actually make you feel better to know it’s all in hand, we promise! If you have a will in place, make sure that it is drafted correctly and you and any of your dependants are happy with the details. If you don’t have a will in place, now is the time to get one drawn up. There is some great advice on the government website and you can always take independent advice or contact your solicitor.
If you have a pension, or even a few, now is a good time to see how they are working for you and how they could be used to make your retirement more comfortable. Whilst we cannot advise on pensions, we can help to point you in the right direction if you need some advice.
Book a Business Finance Spring Clean Chat
To have a chat about your business finances and how Insight Finance Solutions can help you give them a good old shake up for Spring, get in touch.