When it comes to spring cleaning it not just your home you need to think about. Taking time to look at your finances and see if there are things you can change is a must. It's important that we get into good money habits. So that is why I'm sharing with you some of the things that you can do to make better financial choices and habits so that you get your family finances in order. There are also a great selection of financial freedom books out there that are really helpful.
Review your direct debits and standing orders
First thing to do is look through your direct debits and standing orders to see if there are any that you no longer need. Maybe you are paying for the gym but not using it? Or still paying insurance on a phone you no longer have. It's easy to sign up for something and completely forget to cancel.
Review your bills/budget
When looking at your budget it's worth making sure you can get the best deals on your bills. Comparison sites are a big help on what's best for you depending on your needs/usage.
Automate your accounts
Setting up a direct debit to your savings is one less thing for you to think about. Using a savings app such as Chip is a great idea too as they automatically take money as well as you being able to manually save, set up a payday put away and more. There are also other online banks such as Starling and Monzo this handy post on Starling Vs Monzo is really informative if you are interested in knowing more about them.
Download a budgeting app
There are many about such as Emma, Cleo, money dashboard and at the moment I use snoop. I like that these apps show me what I'm spending my money on so I know which areas I need to improve. For example I spend quite a bit on Amazon although I've managed to cut that down quite a bit. These tips on how to stop spending money are useful.
Can you get a better mortgage deal?
Not something I know much about to be honest. However if you do own your own home it is most likely your biggest monthly outgoing. You might be able to get a better mortgage deal which means paying less each month with less interest being added to the amount you owe every month.
Cutting back on entertainment
How much do you spend on entertainment each month? Looking at what subscriptions you have and cancelling some is a good idea as they all add up. We don't have sky but I do pay monthly for Netflix and yearly for prime and Disney plus. If you can afford to paying yearly for your subscription with Prime and Disney plus works out cheaper. As for Netflix we have the basic package which is the cheapest at £5.99 per month. This is for one screen because we really don't need more than that. So you can save if you are on the premium or standard by downgrading what package you are on. Alternatively you can share with other people and save that way. For example the standard is currently £10.99 for using on two screens so you can split the cost and pay £5.50 each or on premium it's £15.99 for using on 4 screens so would work out £3.99 a month.
Do you have any other ideas for giving your finances a spring clean?
