As is tradition with the coming of the spring season, we’re all bent on cleaning our homes and making sure that things are as tidy and organized as possible. So too should businesses approach their finances. Isn’t it time for you to brush up on your current finance practices and make sure that they’re up-to-date? That’s the goal of the post written by moneyStrands last week. moneyStrands is a startup devoted to helping you manage your finances, monitor your budget and control your spending. Essentially they’re your financial service startup that wants to make sure your fiscally sound.
So what are some steps you can take to to spruce up your financing? Here are eight of them from moneyStrands:
- Merge and purge: Dig out all the financial paperwork- bills, statements, paystubs, etc.- that are stuffed in various drawers around your home and organize the important documents, while purging the rest.
- Systemize: Ideally you want to have a system in place so that you don’t end up with the same clutter next year. Whether that’s online or something more traditional, make sure that there’s some sort of structure to help you handle and file things.
- Review your accounts: take a look at all your accounts to see if the data is current. This includes your mailing address and contact information along with seeing if it’s easier to consolidate your accounts into a singular one. It may be easier to manage, but might not be for some accounts. And while you’re reviewing your accounts, find out if anything has changed since you last reviewed – including interest rates, features, support, etc.
- Automate: Make your life a little easier by signing up for online bill pay. You’ll get email reminders when bills are due, plus you can sign up for automatic pay to avoid late fees.
- Revisit your 401K: It’s always a good idea to review your portfolio annually and make adjustments as necessary.
- Check your credit: If you don’t already know your credit history and credit score, this would be a good time to find out. Its important to know this information because its used to evaluate your applications for credit, insurance, employment, and renting a home, so you want to make sure everything is accurate and up-to-date. If you see any inaccurate information, you can dispute it and get it corrected. Checking your credit history is also a good way to monitor for identity theft!
- Review your goals & adjust your savings: Now is a good time to review your spending and be sure you’re on track to reaching your financial goals. If you received a raise, a bonus or got hefty tax return, you may also want to consider increasing your savings and investment deposits.
- Cash in your change jar: While you may have been scrimping and saving all the change from the couch or each day after work, moneyStrands is suggesting that you go ahead and cash that in and place that in some sort of savings account. This is probably one specifically for those entrepreneurs that are just starting out…don’t let your change go to waste. Make sure that you leverage all cash and change you have on hand.
Whatever your next steps are, what’s important here is that you take the time at least once in a while to look at your financial position and strategy to make sure that it’s current and that you’re on track to handle any issues or needs you may have in the future. As always, make sure that you consult with a qualified financial planner or investor before proceeding with anything relating to your fiscal standing.
Source: moneyStrands
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