With the spring season in full swing, now is a great time to think about cleaning.  While you may be thinking about maybe cleaning your garage or working on the yard, your finances can probably also use some tidying up.  A spring financial clean up is a great time to take a look at your finances and make sure everything is in check.

Begin with taking a look at your budget.  Is it still as effective as the first time you made it?  What’s working?  What could use some tuning up?  Has it helped you save money?  Maybe there are new expenses that needed to be factored in.  You want your budget to allow some wiggle room but to also be effective.  Taking a look at it every couple of months ensures you can make adjustments as necessary without getting stressed out.

If you have a filing cabinet that you use to keep all of your financial paperwork, it’s a good time to sift through it.  Bank statements that are a year old can be safely thrown out, but you’ll want to keep tax documents around for at least seven years.  You may also want to divide your personal, business, and home documents separately to keep track of everything.

Now is also a good time to make sure all of your accounts are in order.  Bank accounts, your 401K, retirement accounts, credit cards, all of these are worth taking a look at to make sure there are no discrepancies or something that you may have overlooked.  You may also be able to negotiate a better rate.

These financial tips are provided to you by Fort Lauderdale bankruptcy attorney Bigge & Rodriguez, P.A.  If you need a Fort Lauderdale bankruptcy lawyer or have questions about Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, call 954.400.7322 to speak with us.  We also specialize in foreclosure defense.