You remembered to clean the light switches and wash the range hood. But have you gone through this spring cleaning checklist? This is the list that will overhaul your budget for the better.
When you wake up to a beautiful day, you can’t help but throw open the windows to let in some fresh spring air. After a long winter of being cooped up inside, it’s time to give the house a face lift.
Most of us like to get started on some spring cleaning this time of year. It feels so good to shake everything out and start fresh.
But why stop there? This is the perfect time of year to give your finances a good shake out, too. So today, I want to show you a spring cleaning checklist that will clean out something else.
Your bills.
A Spring Cleaning Checklist for Your Finances
Big Savings
There are a few areas of your budget that can really reap some serious savings. Of course, getting really big savings takes some big work. But trust me, it’s totally worth it.
Mortgage
When is the last time you checked your mortgage rate? Rates have been pretty low lately. And even if they begin to creep up, you can sometimes find a “sale” happening at your local bank.
Since your mortgage is likely your biggest bill, you’ll save the most money here. We refinanced a couple of years ago when rates dropped, and we managed to save over $200 on our bill every single month.
That is money that we were just giving to the bank as a thank you for loaning to us! None of it had been going towards our principle.
It’s crazy to hand over more of your hard earned money to a bank than you absolutely have to.
Action Steps:
- Know what your current mortgage rate is.
- Call around to local banks for their best conventional rate.
- Don’t get sucked into a mortgage that will balloon to a larger payment later.
- Check several different banks. You may be surprised at what a smaller bank can offer you.
Be aware of:
- Be sure that closing costs won’t wipe out the savings you’d earn by refinancing.
- If possible, shorten the length of your mortgage and save even bigger over time.
Insurance
This is another big area of savings, especially because you likely have a variety of insurances to review.
Action Steps:
You’ll want to make some calls to make sure you are getting the best rates on:
- Car insurance
- Homeowners or renters insurance
- Life insurance
- Health insurance (unless you get this through work)
- Read How to Find Affordable Insurance
Find a trusted insurance broker who can shop around for you and get you the best rates. That will save you both time and money!
Be aware of:
Be sure that you are comparing apples to apples. You don’t want to save the money on insurance only to find that it doesn’t cover important things like replacement value rather than market value. That’s not fun to learn about during an emergency!
Debt
We have a BHAG to make some serious payments towards our debt this year. Part of our strategy is to make sure that we are getting the best rates possible on the debt that we have.
Action Steps:
- Review your current rates on any loans and credit cards that you own.
- Call and ask for discounts in your rates. Sometimes this involves multiple calls or requests to speak to upper management before you’ll get the answer you want.
- If you have no luck with discounts, look for ways to refinance to a lower rate.
Be aware of:
Don’t be fooled by great looking rates that come in your junk mail. Many of them require you to pay at least a 3% balance fee on the entire amount that you’d transfer to that 0% interest rate card. Do the math to make sure that won’t wipe out any savings you would have made.
Also be sure to never consolidate unsecured credit card debt by using a home equity line or other collateral. It’s not worth risking your home for those kinds of savings.
Other Savings to Consider
Utilities
If you live in a state that has deregulated utilities such as gas and electric, you might be able to save some money this way. Learn about options and what the rates and stipulations are.
Action Steps:
Go down your budget list and carefully consider your choices for every bill that you pay.
- Phone (land/cell)
- Trash
- Propane
- Water
- Gas & electric
Read The Best Tips for Saving on Utilities and Shop Around for Easy Utility Savings Every Month.
Be aware of:
Any stipulations a different company might have as far as contracts or fees they won’t advertise up front.
Memberships and Subscriptions
It’s time to take a hard look at your memberships and subscriptions. Especially the ones that are charged to your credit card or taken from your checking account on a monthly or yearly basis. It’s easy to forget about them, because they are often automatic deductions or infrequent bills.
Action Steps:
Consider whether each of your memberships and subscriptions are really worth the cost. If you can afford them and they bring you joy (or some other great benefit), then they should stay.
If not, try to find a cheaper or free alternative.
Some of these bills might include:
- TV (Cable, Netflix, Hulu, etc.)
- Try free movies from the library, get an antennae for local channels, stream from internet
- gym memberships
- Try home exercise videos, run outside, yoga channels on YouTube
- magazine subscriptions
- Try Pinterest, your favorite magazine’s website
- shopping memberships
- Consider if Costco or Sam’s Club is saving you enough to pay for your fees
Beware of:
Fines for ending contracts early.
Also, many of these companies will not be happy to lose you as a customer, so they will give you enticing offers to stay. If you take advantage of a great price with a time limit, make a note of it on your calendar to review it again before time is up.
Free Printable Checklist
Let’s keep this easy! My subscribers get a free printable spring cleaning checklist to help them lower rates on all of their bills.
Not a subscriber yet? It’s easy, and it’s totally free. Plus, you’ll get a short email from me each week with extra tips for saving money that I don’t share on the blog.
Choose your biggest savings area and save the money for more fun things!
Now that you have lowered all of your bills, let’s sort out that budget mess. My bi-weekly budget template makes that totally easy!
What bill were you able to save the most money on?
I'm Jamie, and I want to help you afford a beautiful life with your family. 
Some great tips to get the fiscal year started right! 😀 Thanks!
This is such a good idea for me to try! After we do our taxes, my husband and I were planning to rework the budget and maybe pay off a few of our smaller debts. It would be smart to look at some of these other areas, too. Thanks for sharing this post with the Wednesday Showcase!
This is something we need to do. Because it gets to be this time of the month, and the Mister keeps saying there isn’t enough money to go around. I know that there is, because the math checks out, but I don’t actually see the finances, so I’ve no way of saying “well, there’s all the money, and it can go around.”
Instead, I’ve just been trying to do the best with the grocery budget, and hope for the best. Because, well, that’s all I’m allowed!
I’m currently saving up to switch phone carriers (I would have changed already, but cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs to terminate my account). I need to have 350$ saved by the middle of September, and I’m right on target. I’m taking the coupon savings from grocery shopping, taking that out of my checking account, and setting it aside. It wouldn’t work for large bills that come up fast, but it’s a decent way to store a couple of dollars a week without really missing it!
Looks like you have a smart goal in place for your cell phone savings!
Maybe you and the Mister can sit down and have a budget meeting together? Then you could look over your finances and see where everything is going. Two heads are better than one and all of that!
Sorry Jessica, but that sounds really dodgy… having a spouse hide the finances from you, and telling you there’s no money when you are sure there is, is very suspicious. He could be hiding a gambling problem, or some other secret from you.
As a married* couple, you’re meant to be a team. But your current arrangement doesn’t allow for teamwork.
Perhaps it’s because I studied Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ in school, but only being “allowed” a grocery budget screams ‘red flag’ to me.
Jamie put it nicely, but if you can’t read between the lines, this is what many people who read your comment would be thinking.
Get on the same page, and have a budget ‘date night’, à la The Barefoot Investor. You don’t need to take over the budgeting. You don’t even have to care much about it. But not being *allowed* to participate in your own financial affairs is unacceptable.
*I’m assuming ‘Mister’ is your husband
I’ve never thought of spring cleaning my finances before. But, it is such a smart idea!! I’m actually reworking my budget this week and trying to eliminate all unnecessary spending. So, I guess I started on the spring cleaning without even knowing it. These are some great tips and things that I’ve been considering lately. I think that hubby and I particularly need to look into whether we can get a better interest rate on our debt.
Good luck!
Great tips I think we could all use this advice – thank you Jamie for sharing with Pin worthy Wednesday
Thanks for visiting!
There are good ideas Jaime. I’ve been at it slashing away at our monthly as well. We are stuck in an agreement with DirecTv, but they are getting cancelled as soon as the contract is up!
Love the idea of a spring clean for my finances! 🙂 I really need to call about our car insurance because I’m about 99% sure we could pay less! Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you so much for all the great money saving advice here and am definitely in need. So appreciate this greatly 🙂
Awesome concept- Spring cleaning finances. It is a good time becasue our minds are focused on the positive and growth with the coming of spring. We haven’t started our spring cleaning yet here at the base of the Rockie Mountains but one of our rituals is selling any unused items that can be sold for some extra cash to put back into the budget.
Great ideas – we really need to spring clean our finances! I’ll definitely be showing this to my husband!
Glad I could help!
Great tips! We saved so much by cancelling all our subscriptions, etc – I ended up really getting into early cinema as it’s pretty much all public domain now! 🙂 #FridayFrivolity
That’s a great tip! There really are so many ways you can watch shows and movies for free.
Love the idea of spring cleaning our finances! Thanks for linking up at Frugal Friday! 🙂
Great advice! Double checking your financial situation does almost always find some spot you can save on!
I never even considered “spring cleaning” my finances. I did recently switch car insurance providers because my car insurance was slowly creeping up when I have no tickets, accidents, what have you, so I shopped around and switched. We could look at other aspects of our finances and start cutting down in those areas too. Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea to take a look at your finances again. We refinanced several years ago and our interest rate was cut in half. We also switched from a 30 year to 15 year fixed.
These are great tips, there’s so many ways to shave a bit off here and there. We wish we could refinance our home again, we did in the past and save over $100 a month, we are getting rid of our television boxes, and going with goobang which will save over $100 a month too. These are great tips and I will be looking over the other suggestions, throwing money away is so painful, isn’t it!
Great ideas! Subscription boxes are killer — they are so easy to sign up for. Even something so simple as BarkBox for your dog, adds up!
Great tips for spring cleaning! There’s always areas where you an save. Thanks for sharing!
Jill
Doused In Pink
Such simple things but we just forget to keep an eye on things. Thank you for the reminder and linking up with us at #OvertheMoon.
Awesome tips Jamie!! Thanks for sharing at #FridayFrivolity – pinning and tweeting. 🙂
Love this idea! I did this last year in January, but need to remember to check on thins annually. Thanks for sharing at the Wednesday Showcase!
There are some really good ideas here, Jamie! It’s amazing how the savings can add up with a few changes. Thank you so much for sharing this post with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop. Sharing!
Thank you for the helpful tips! Finances is always an area of my life that could use some help 🙂