Every spring, many of us spend time thinking about, planning, and ultimately performing activities relating to cleaning our homes. The annual “spring clean” is a tradition for most households, as we push winter to the back of our minds and embrace the onset of the warmer months with a new, sparkling home. However, do we do the same for our finances? Do you perform quarterly financial check-ups? Fall is the perfect time to assess your finances.

We find ourselves back in a transitional season, the heady days of summer behind us and the long, dark nights of winter ahead. There’s no annual “cleaning” spree associated with fall, but perhaps there should be, and it should focus on the other crucial aspect of life: your finances. 

Why You Should Perform a Fall Financial Check-Up

Thanksgiving. Black Friday sales. Christmas. There’s no doubt about it: the last few months of the year are expensive. This is one reason why getting your finances in order at this time of year is a fantastic choice.

If you take the time to get a full overview of your financial situation now, then you can plan accordingly to ensure you can enjoy the holiday period with a budget that fully works for you. Remember, we have tips on how you can extend these benefits even further by ensuring you can avoid overspending at Christmas! 

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It’s also worth noting that it’s generally a good idea to schedule a full check-up of your finances annually. This ensures that you stay on top of your goals. Additionally, you can make any course corrections that might be necessary. While I personally recommend a quarterly review of your finances, if you haven’t performed one yet this year, the fall is a perfect time.

If you only going to perform one financial check-up a year, fall naturally makes sense as the other seasons are usually already occupied: winter is for the holidays, spring is for cleaning, and summer is for enjoying the great outdoors and the weather. In contrast, fall and its turbulent weather can mean a lot of time spent sheltering indoors – a perfect scenario for a financial overhaul. 

What Aspects of Your Finances Should You Be Assessing?

A fall financial check-up can be as expansive or as limited as time allows, but there are a few areas it’s always worth looking into:

SPENDING: How much money is flowing out of your accounts? It’s all-too-easy for spending to creep up, especially given the sheer volume of products and services that are now subscription-based. So many of the subscription services are automatically charged to your credit card. The cost of what, individually, seems like small monthly fees can soon mount up. By going through all of your regular expenses, you can identify any subscriptions that you no longer use. Cancelling these will save you money. Furthermore, you can also check to see if you can reduce set costs, such as utilities or your phone contract. Additionally, check to see if you can negotiate a lower price with your existing provider, or even consider switching to a new provider who offers a preferable deal. 

BORROWING: Go through your existing borrowing and check to see if you can lower interest rates or potentially reduce repayments on any debt. Check out the calculators at Pigly.Com and similar sites. These can really help in this regard. You could also consider looking for a new mortgage deal. 

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS: While not the most pleasant of subjects to think about, considering how your finances could cope in case of an emergency development. Nobody plans to lose their job. However, planning for a job loss or a sudden, unexpected expense can be very helpful in the long run. Particularly, focus on your emergency fund. If you don’t have one, consider starting with the advice from nerdwallet.com. If you do have a fund in place, is it sufficient to cover your expenses for three months solely? However, if you do not have a fund, consider planning to increase in the future. If your fund can meet the “three-month” threshold, then consider looking for a savings account that offers a decent return, so you’re actually making a little extra money on being financially prepared.

OTHER AREAS TO CHECK in Your Fall Financial Check-Up:

There are a few other areas that you should check. Insurance includes house, auto, health, and life. If you haven’t reassessed your insurance and coverage in all these areas, contact your insurance agent.

Taxes: Will you owe at the end of the year or will the government owe you?

IN CONCLUSION

Going through your finances in the fall might sound like an unconventional idea. However, we hope the above has helped to inspire you to give it a try for yourself!