11 Little Ways To Clean Up Your Finances In Just About 30 Minutes

Clear out the cobwebs and maybe put some cash back in your pockets.

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While spring usually means analyzing your wardrobe and cleaning out anything that no longer serves your home, there's one more thing that could use a bit of dusting off: your finances!

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Maybe there are some habits your wallet tolerated a year ago that just don't serve you now. Orrr, maybe you can find some ways to make your money start really working for you. Either way, you'll thank yourself for looking at your situation and turning over a new leaf (even a tiny one!).

Here are some simple changes to consider if your finances could use a makeover for spring:

FYI, financial advice is not one-size-fits-all. As always, do what works best for your personal situation. And when in doubt, you can always reach out to a financial professional for extra help.

1. Glance over all of your accounts. Knowing your balances can help you create new goals or adjust the ones you have.

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Savings account, checking account, retirement account, investment account — you name it! It takes just a few minutes to log into your account to look at your balance (and a few extra minutes if you wanna double-check deposits and withdrawals). Knowing this info can help you drum up new goals for the next few months or even for the rest of the year. Like, maybe you check your balance and realize that you'll need to save an extra $20 per month to get the new laptop you want for school.

And as an added bonus, checking through your transactions can help you catch and report unfamiliar withdrawals sooner rather than later. Now, if you really want to expedite the process, you can use the Simplifi app to track all your accounts. It makes it *so much* easier to have info from multiple accounts in one convenient place.

2. Make an appointment with a financial planner.

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A financial planner can analyze your circumstances and outline next steps for reaching your goals. This can be tremendously helpful if you need some more clarity on ways to save, budget, and invest.

Let's say you hope to pay off a loan by next year; a financial planner can make a personalized plan for you to do so (and they'll even provide some resources to help you with the process). But the most valuable thing I got out of my appointment with a SoFi financial planner (free when I created an account) was learning about where to put my next best dollar. Your next best dollar means figuring out where to put your money to make the biggest impact on your goals. It's a little like a flow chart that shows whether your money is most useful going toward a savings account or going toward credit card bills. This type of clarity makes decisions about allocating money feel sooo much easier.

While you don't need to keep in constant contact with a financial planner, making an appointment just once a year can help you gain insight into your current situation and make a plan for the remainder of the year.

3. See if you can switch to a cellphone plan that's more affordable.

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Sure, cellphone bills aren't the *most* exciting expense, but deciding to break up with your plan can be a huge cost saver. Take some time to revisit your plan and your bills to see how much money you've spent in the past 12 months. If you can find a service provider that offers you basically everything in your current plan for a lower price, it might be time to make a switch. Saving even $20 per month on your phone bill can make a huge difference when you're also paying for rent, utilities, groceries, and other necessities!

And if you feel a little overwhelmed by the thought of drastic changes in your coverage, there are service providers that make new plans feel a lot more digestible. Mint Mobile, for example, gives you unlimited talk and text and 5G or 4G LTE starting at $15 per month. New customers can just pay for three months up front ($45 total) and after that, they can pay for a year of service to maintain the lowest price. A year of service on the most affordable plan can work out to be as low as $180 (total!!!!). And on the most expensive plan, that's $360 for a year of service — and that's still way cheaper than the average American cellphone bill, which is $840 per year!!!!

4. Check your credit score and try doing one thing to improve it.

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Your credit scores can influence some of the most important decisions of your life. For starters, they can determine whether or not you're approved for a mortgage or other type of loan. They'll even impact the interest rates you pay on a loan; a healthier credit score usually means lower interest rates.

There are lots of ways you can check your credit score for ~free~ but I like Experian because it shows my FICO score (aka the score lenders use for 90% of credit decisions). And if you don't like the score you see, you might see if their free Boost feature can instantly raise your score a bit. It works by having you connect the bank account you use for paying your bills (like utilities, phone bills, and even your Netflix subscription) on time every month. I never thought I'd say this, but in this case, paying for Netflix might actually help your credit score! FYI, Boost won't work if you pay your bills using cash, Venmo, or checks. And whether you try Boost or not, Experian analyzes your credit habits and breaks down some steps you can take to improve your score.

5. Create a budget if you haven't already.

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Budgeting is not the enemy here. A good budget can help you avoid spending more than you have. In fact, when you know how much you make versus how much you spend, you have the power to "assign" a job to every dollar you make. This means you're in control of how much you can spend on your favorite restaurant, the amount you save, and even how many new ~wonderful-smelling~ candles you can buy this month.

Your budget doesn't have to be complicated! It can be as simple as putting your income and expenses into a spreadsheet. But if Google Sheets aren't your jam, there are plenty of ways to create a budget without spreadsheets. Apps like Mint also make it easy to categorize your expenses to create monthly budgets. Regardless of how you go about creating a budget, the most important thing to remember is that you need to be *honest* when tracking your spending. Don't work in purchases you already made so you can pretend you budgeted for them. Budgeting works best when you're fully honest with yourself about your needs and wants.

6. Automate your bill payments and savings.

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Life happens, time flies, and before you know it, the due date for that bill is in your rearview mirror. Setting up auto-pay ensures that bills get paid in a timely manner, and you won't incur the wrath of late fees for missing a payment. When it comes to savings, automating those transfers means you've already taken care of yourself before you spend on any other expenses. So instead of saving what's left over after you spend, you're spending what's left over after you save.

You can schedule payments and fixed amounts for savings to leave your account the day after you receive each paycheck.

7. Switch banks if your current bank doesn't suit all of your needs.

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It's kind of hard to keep your money in the bank when monthly maintenance fees and overdraft charges are taking huge bites out of your balance. Some banks have so many fees that it can be hard to keep up. You might think that the maintenance fee and overdraft fee are the only ones that matter. But did you know that some banks will charge a fee for making too many withdrawals for the month? And did you *also* know that you can be charged fees for insufficient funds, ATM usage, and wire transfers?

At this rate, it almost feels like you'll barely have any money left to actually live on. Make sure your bank doesn't eat up too much of your money by picking a bank with very few or no charges. You still have to be responsible with your money, but at least you won't literally have to pay for the tiniest slipups. Marcus by Goldman Sachs is one option that offers a high-yield savings account without fees.

Also, evaluate whether or not your current bank is making your life easier. Maybe getting to your bank's ATMs is inconvenient for you so you wind up paying fees every time you need to take cash out. See if you can switch to a bank with branches or ATMs located closer to where you live and work.

8. Cancel any subscriptions you've only used sparingly in the last three to six months.

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Letting go is always hard...but spending money for a service you don't use can be even harder. Do a quick run-through of all the services you subscribe to and cancel everything you haven't been using as often as you thought you would. Saving even $20 per month from doing this can go a long way. You can always sign up again if your circumstances change and you'd like to start using the service again.

9. Analyze your grocery bill and try some strategies to lower it.

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After rent or a mortgage payment, groceries will probably be your next largest monthly expense. Look back at your receipts from the past few months and see if you can pinpoint areas where you overspent. Maybe you tend to go a little too overboard when buying snacks. Or maybe you always buy more fruit and veggies than you actually eat and they end up spoiling.

Another effective way to save on food is meal prepping. When you meal-prep, you've basically got all your meals covered for the entire week. This can save you money if you know you're prone to last-minute grocery shopping when you're hungry or ordering out when you don't feel like cooking.

Or, you can try calculating your shopping total as you move through the grocery store. Seeing where your total is at every time you pick up an item can help you keep your budget in mind. And you may even consider the cheaper version of some items when you see how the price immediately impacts your total.

10. *Finally* return that package you said you would send back weeks ago.

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Remember when you said you'd return the weird-fitting pants you ordered? Or the watch you bought that looked gorgeous online but not so impressive IRL? Now's the time to finally return those packages so you can get your money back! It may be small, but think of what you could do with the money you get back. Just make sure you read the return policies on all the sites and stores you shopped from to see if you still have time to make a return.

11. And, check in with yourself about your retirement savings.

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Now's the perfect time to visit the balance on your retirement savings and make any adjustments to what you're contributing. Maybe you got a promotion and can contribute a little more money to your company-sponsored 401(k) plan. Or, maybe you have a few additional expenses to take care of and need to lower the amount you put in your Roth IRA each month. Or, perhaps you've never considered opening a retirement account, but now you're ready to take your contributions from $0 to $50. Review where you stand and make the decisions that best suit your needs today!

If this sounds like music to your ears (and bank account), check out more of our personal finance posts.