How to Spring Clean Your Finances One Step at a Time

Part of the pain of doing our taxes is that it makes many of us realize just how disorganized our financial records have become. For some, the problem is that they aren’t always sure of what to save and what to discard so they end up keeping everything, which only makes it harder to find the things they actually need when they need them. Others find out at the worst possible time that they threw out important documents, usually when it’s too late to do much about it. The first is like a gardener not distinguishing between weeds and vegetables and the second is like the gardener neglecting to plant the vegetables in the first place.

Maybe it’s time to “spring clean” our financial records. There are always articles on this topic from financial news sites like MSN and CNBC at this time of year but their long “to do” lists can feel overwhelming and lead us to doing nothing at all. This blog lists 200 tips alone. That’s great if you have the time to go through it all but if you’re like the rest of us, “bite-sized” steps might be more manageable. For that reason, Financial Finesse will be posting one spring cleaning tip per day on our Facebook and Twitter accounts for the next ten business days. If you have questions about specific documents or have additional tips to share, feel free to post them as well. In the meantime, happy cleaning!

Liz Davidson is the founder and CEO of Financial Finesse, the leading provider of unbiased financial education for employers nationwide, delivered by on-staff CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals. For additional financial tips and insights, follow Financial Finesse on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.