Now that tax season is behind us, it’s a great time to spring clean your finances. You can create space, increase your online security, make bill paying easier, and save money.
Get Rid of Paper
Instead of receiving paper bills and statements, sign up for e-delivery. You will receive email notifications that a bill or statement is available online. If you want to save a copy, you can download it to your computer. Set up a document filing and naming system in your computer so you can easily retrieve a document later.
If you prefer to receive paper and want to keep copies of these bills and statements, you can scan them to PDF documents and save the scans to your computer. Scanning and electronically filing tax returns and tax documents can free-up a significant amount of space.
How do you scan documents? You can use a:
- smart phone app,
- scanner (such as my favorite, the Fujitsu Scan), or
- scanning service.
When storing documents electronically, keep in mind that you want to keep paper originals of some important papers such as titles, mortgage deeds, estate planning documents, and vital records.
You also need to keep electronic documents secure. I recommend requiring a password to open your computer, and regularly backing up your e-documents to both a remote back-up and an external hard drive.
Set Up a Password Manager
Storing your login credentials in a password manager is a secure way to quickly log into your websites without having to keep a paper list of passwords and manually type them each time. You want to have a strong unique password to access the password manager.
Update Passwords
Passwords need to be periodically updated. If you are concerned about cyber security, this is especially important. Changing passwords is a task many of us put off. If it seems overwhelming, focus on a handful a week. Make a list of all your online accounts. Starting with the most important ones, go through them one-by-one and change the password, ideally to a complex password at least 12 characters long. According to Weforum.org, a password of 8 standard letters can be cracked instantly. A password of 12 characters containing at least one upper case letter, one symbol and one number would take 34,000 years for a computer to crack. Click here for more information on creating and storing passwords
Streamline Bill Paying
There are different ways to this. You can pay bills online from your bank’s website. To do this, log in to your bank, look for the “Bill Pay” feature and follow the prompts. It may take time initially to set up all your vendors, but in the long run, when you pay your bills, this will save you time. With this approach, you can control the amount and the timing of your payments.
An alternative is to contact each company you pay either by phone or online and have them automatically deduct the monthly payment from your bank account or charge it to your credit card. The advantage of this approach is your payments will never be late. You need to make certain there are always sufficient funds available to cover the payments.
Cancel Unused Subscriptions and Forgotten Donations
Now is a good time to review all your subscription and streaming services. Do you still want to support any charities to which you are making automatic monthly donations? Comb through your bank and credit card statements and your phone apps to locate them. Can you cut any subscriptions you are no longer using? Are there services you can reduce to a less expensive package? Are there charities you no longer want to support? Cutting these expenses will save you money.
I encourage you to try these financial spring-cleaning techniques. You may be able to save money, feel more secure, and free up space in your home.
This blog is published to provide you with general information only and is not intended to provide specific or comprehensive advice. Money Care, LLC encourages individuals to seek advice from competent professionals when appropriate.
