It’s nearly time to wave goodbye to winter, so it’s a really good time to de-clutter, so start with your finances.

Go through all your financial paperwork –bank statements, credit card statements, utility bills

Separate out (in sections if you wish) your bank statements/ credit or store card statements,  personal loan agreements/hire purchase documents, utility bills, insurance policies, car documents and personal items like wage slips, medical records and birth certificates.

Some documents need to be kept from year to year, for example P60 and tax documents.

It’s a good idea to keep at least one previous year’s bank statements. And keep hold of annual bills like council tax & water.

Shred anything that you do not need to keep (make sure you dispose of anything with personal details securely). Keep everything together in a filing cabinet or documents file.

Deal with all your post & emails, either daily or once a week

This means you will not miss anything important, you can update your budget with any changes to utilities or mortgage/rent, and you will be aware of any problems like overdue bills or missed payments immediately.

You can recycle any junk mail and avoid getting scammed, For example, if you receive a letter/email saying you have won the lottery and they want £20.00 to “release the cheque”, it’s extremely likely to be a scam!! However, if you are having money problems or have no one to discuss things with, it can sit around just tempting you to reply.

Be in control. You won’t actually have more money by having a filing system, but you will know exactly what is going in and out of your bank account. This means you can start looking at ways to save money & get a good deal where possible.

If you haven’t started a S.M.A.R.T budget – see previous blogs - think about doing it now.