Clean Behind the Furniture – Look for Leakage or Unused Expenses. It is so, so easy to forget about a subscription or to assume small expenditures are not affecting you. So easy, in fact, I have a perfect example for you from my own life. I recently started playing this game on my phone called Fishdom©. I found that I really enjoyed it because there weren’t any advertisements. However, the way they make money is by charging you to get more lives or help with the level you are on. Every now and then, I’d pay $2.99 or $0.99 and sometimes $4.99 if there was a special. When you are in the game, it’s super easy to spend money. And I found myself doing it thinking - It’s only $2.99, I’m not going to the movies this week. Or, it’s $0.99, that isn’t anything. Well, doing my spring cleaning, I decided to tally up all my game expenses for the month. Shockingly, I was at $48.81! What! How is that even possible? Needless to say, I’ve removed the app from my phone. That amount of money would serve me much better in another area. An area that is moving me toward my goals and sadly, spending money on a game isn’t doing that. So, I encourage you to take a good hard look at subscriptions, game spending, another entertainment spending, specialty coffee drinks, etc. There are all kinds of ways that small amounts of money get spent without us realizing what the totals are. So, look in those dark spaces, you might be surprised (like I was) at what you find. These are just a few ways you can spring-clean your finances. Paying attention to our money is one of the best ways we can improve our financial situation and our mindset about money. It’s all about empowering ourselves with knowledge. Knowledge gives us choices.You might choose to leave things as they are, or you might choose to make some changes. Either way, gathering the knowledge (spring cleaning), is the ticket - The ticket to conscious financial decisions that just might help you reach your goals faster.
Sherry Parks, CPA, is a Life & Money Mindset Coach who helps women escape feeling trapped by their finances. She is passionate about helping women change their mindsets, emotions, and actions regarding money so that they learn to keep what they have and generate more. Check out her 5 Steps to a Better Money Story workbook or join her women-only Facebook group More Than Enough Money Sisterhood. https://mailchi.mp/0ba1f1d8913a/money-workbook
