Financial Spring Cleaning: 7 Steps to Organize Your Finances

EP 138 - Financial Spring Cleaning: 7 Steps to Organize Your Finances

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Introduction: The Need for Financial Spring Cleaning

Let's start with a question. Do you feel weighed down by financial clutter? Is your budget, a mess that leaves you stressed every time you look at your bank account. I know, I feel like that's some days well it's time for some financial spring cleaning. That's our goal on today's show. I'm going to give you seven steps to get those finances. In tip-top shape. So make sure you listen today.

Welcome to Ask Ralph Podcast

Welcome to the Ask Ralph Podcast, where listening to an experienced financial professional with over 30 years of experience can help you make sense of confusing questions, current headlines, and industry trends about taxes, small business, financial decision making, investment strategies, and even the art of proper budgeting.

Ask Ralph makes the complex simple by sharing his real world knowledge from a Christian perspective with all things financial. Now here's your host, Ralph Estep Jr.

Welcome to our financial Friday show. I'm so glad you chose to join us as always. I [00:01:00] want to thank you for listening and supporting the program. I'm coming to you live from the Estep Farm at the Saggio Accounting studio let me put on my podcaster, put down those overalls and push that, adding machine to the side and let's get into some financial wisdom from a Christian perspective.

The Essence of Financial Spring Cleaning

In today's episode, we're going to tackle how to declutter your finances and get everything organized for a fresh start. Just like spring cleaning your home. And I'm going to tell you folks, there are days when I think we all could use this.

Well, don't forget to subscribe to the show and join our email list. You do that at askralphpodcast.com . So you don't miss tomorrow show and here's what we're gonna be talking about tomorrow. What do I do with my retirement plan? When I change jobs, it's a question I get very often in my practice. Sometimes you change jobs, you've got this 401k or this 403B plan or some other retirement plan. And you're wondering, Ralph, what do I do about that now that I'm leaving the job. So we're going to handle that on tomorrow show. So if you know anybody that's changing jobs [00:02:00] or looking to change jobs, you want to share tomorrow's program with them as well.

I want to remind you. We also just launched an insider's group on Facebook. And I encourage each of our listeners to join the group, to continue the conversation from the show. It's a great place to share ideas for the show. Discuss your triumphs and even talk about your challenges. There'll be a link to the Facebook group in the show notes today.

Well, let's start with a key verse from Proverbs chapter 27. Verse 23. You know, I always like to ground us in scripture before we get started. And it says this. Know well, the condition of your flocks and give attention to your herds I will tell you this on the way over this morning, I checked on those cows and they look like they're doing great. It seems like it's going to be a bit of a rainy day here on the farm, but at least I've checked on the herds. Well this verse reminds us that God calls us to be diligent stewards. Of what he has given us. And remember he's given it all to us. So let's play close attention to our financial condition. And make some key improvements.

So let's get into our discussion about spring cleaning our finances.

Seven Steps to Declutter Your Finances

I [00:03:00] promised you seven actionable steps to get you started. So let's get into it right now.

And step number one. This is the starting point.

Step 1: Organize Your Financial Documents

You want to gather your financial records and documents. First gather up all your financial records, your documents, your bank statements, your credit card statements, all your files. Make sure you collect your tax returns, your bank and investment statements, your bills, your receipts, your insurance policies, and any other financial items. This is a time to gather all those things together. Well, you might ask why am I doing that Ralph? Well, here's a good time to do this. You're going to organize them into folders or binders by year and category. This is a great opportunity to shred anything. You no longer need to keep having everything in one place will give you a clear picture of your finances. One of the things we do when we spring clean is to make sure that all the things we still are looking at are relevant. It's a great time to shred items, which are no longer needed. And make sure you still have those items you will need. It's a good time to [00:04:00] look at those insurance policies and make sure they're still up to date. Look at those tax returns. If you've got old tax returns that are past their prime or past that seven to 10 years, it's a good time to shred them. Why hold onto those things? So that's the first step, like I said, the first step gather all your financial records and organize them.

So let's move on to step number two.

Step 2: Review Your Past Year's Spending

And that's review your spending from the past year. carefully review your spending from the past year, dig up old bank and credit card statements and categorize all your expenses. If you're not keeping track of those on a monthly basis, this is a great time to take a look back and see what you're doing. Look for spending patterns. I look for unnecessary expenses and places you can cut back. Here's a great time to identify your biggest money leaks. This spending review will reveal areas needing improvement, but if you don't take the time to dig into it, you're never going to find those areas. This is also a great time to enlist the insistence of a financial app to keep track of your finances. I [00:05:00] did a show a few weeks ago about the best apps for managing your personal finances. And I encourage you to go back and listen to that.

Well, let's move on to number three. So once you've gathered all your documents, you've looked at your spending.

Step 3: Setting Clear Financial Goals

Now it's time to set some clear financial goals. Do you want to pay off debt? Do you want to boost your savings? Do you want to increase giving this is a time to be as specific as possible with timeline-based smart goals. Again, I did a show about those smart goals in the past. I would highly encourage you to go back and listen to this, but you want to write them down and commit to sticking to them. It's great to make goals, but if you don't put those into action, you're not going to accomplish everything. So here's another verse from scripture it's verse 21:5 from Proverbs that says this, the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance and Hey, that's what we really want. But everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. that is a sharp edge on that. So be diligent and plan wisely.

Step 4: Crafting a Detailed Budget

Let's move on to [00:06:00] step number four and that's make a detailed budget. This is a great time to revise your budget. Or if you don't have one, create one, remember this? I say this probably two or three times a week. You're probably tired of me saying it. what gets measured gets done with your goals made it's time for a detailed budget list, your income, then break your expenses down into categories. Categories such as housing. Food utilities, transportation, et cetera, whatever categories work the best for you. And then you want to develop a budget realistically for your needs while aligning with your financial goals. You set those goals in the previous step. Well, now it's time to put those goals into action and build a budget around it. There are a ton of budget templates to track or keep track of your spending. You can find those online Proverbs again, 27 12 says the prudent sees danger and hides himself, but. The simple, go on and suffer for it. So be prudent and make a wise budget. This is the time to [00:07:00] really focus in on your goals and create an action plan. That's what a budget is no more than an action plan of how to accomplish those goals.

Now I'm going to move on to step number five and this isn't for everyone, but I think it's a good thing to do.

Step 5: Automating Your Finances

And that's automate your finances. Automating your finances will keep you on track, set up automatic bill pay and transfers to savings that happen automatically. I truly don't understand those who have a hesitancy in doing this. It's a great way to keep yourself organized. You can start off by having a portion of your paycheck directly deposit into savings or to giving. Automation helps build consistency and it helps build that discipline. And as Proverbs 13, four says the soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. While the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. Automate so you can be diligent. Hey, if God put it in scripture, it must be important.

Let's move on to number six.

Step 6: Simplify and Streamline Your Finances

And that is once you've done all these other steps. It's time to simplify [00:08:00] and streamline, get rid of unnecessary complexity, consolidate old bank and investment accounts. If you got multiple bank accounts and it doesn't make sense to have them anymore, this is a time to consolidate the same thing with investment accounts. You don't know how many times I've met with clients who have this account and that account I say to them, is there a reason why you have so many accounts? Well, no, Ralph, you know, I had this account back when I did this and this is, this is a great time to consolidate. It's also. Also a great time to call service providers to negotiate better rates. You'll maybe you call your cell phone provider. Maybe you call your internet or cable TV provider, call your insurance provider. This is a great time to negotiate with them and see if you can get better rates and a pet peeve of mine. While you're looking at your statements, figure out what services you're subscribed to and unsubscribe from unnecessary services. It amazes me how many people pay for services. They don't use, they don't need, but every month it just drafts out of their account. So [00:09:00] simplify your financial life. So it's easier to manage it. The book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 5:13 says this. There is a grievous evil that I have seen riches were lost through bad affairs. Don't be a loser riches are lost through bad affairs. So streamline your finances to avoid this evil. Remember it says this, there is a grievous evil that I have seen. riches were lost through bad affairs. Don't be a person with bad affairs

Step 7: Seeking Accountability and Support

and finally get to number seven. And this one is critical. A lot of people can't do this on their own. So it's time to get accountability. And support. Finally get some external accountability and support, share your goals and budget with a financial mentor or an accountability partner consider meeting with a financial advisor. A coach, a lot of people will do this as an entry-level meeting for free. If you're interested in setting up a financial counseling appoint with me, and yes, I do that. I work with people. We have a zoom meeting or an in-person meeting if you happen to be in [00:10:00] Delaware, but we can do it on zoom. I say, I do this all the time where I'll sit down with you and go over your financial picture. We can develop short term, intermediate term and longterm plans. I will help you build a budget. I will help you get a game plan to go forward with so that you can achieve those goals. If you're interested in doing that, simply go to askralphpodcast.com/store, and you can schedule a consultation right there with me. And remember this. The book of Proverbs chapter 11, 14 says where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety. Do you hear what that says? It says, but in an abundance of counselors, there is safety. So that means you need to seek wise guidance for the safety of your finances,

Conclusion: Achieving Financial Peace and Generosity

Well there you have it. Seven steps to spring, clean your finances. They're not difficult by gathering your documents, reviewing, spending, setting goals, making a budget. Automated simplifying and getting [00:11:00] support. You'll get your financial house in order. I promise you folks, if you'll do these seven things, you will see results. It might not be overnight, but you will see results. It takes diligence and prudent planning, but the reward is financial peace and generosity. And we all need to find that the Bible reminds us to steward our resources wisely. So take time this spring to tackle these action steps, declutter that budget, organize your money and align your finances with your faith. How many times have you thought about. Are my finances align with my faith, becoming a why steward allows you to use what God has given you for kingdom purposes. If you're not stewarding your resources.

Listen, I had a. Interview the other day. And I said this to somebody. If your financial house is not in order, you are never going to be in a position where you can help others.

Encouragement to Share Financial Wisdom

So visit askralphpodcast.com for more financial wisdom, and be sure to share this episode.

I want to ask you for a special favor today. I want you to [00:12:00] picture someone who is really struggling financially. Think about that person in your life, whether it be a friend or a family member or a colleague at work. And I want you to make a point of sharing today's episode with them. And the show in general, my goal is very simple. My goal is simply to help people achieve financial prosperity. I'm not talking about some pie in the sky idea just to provide for themselves and their family. But the truth is folks. We are all living in tough financial times. The president might say that people have money and things are great, but I don't know about you when I go to the grocery store and everything costs more. When I go. To fill up my tank of gasoline. It costs more, we are in tough financial times and we all need to find resources to help us. So please share the show. Share with everybody, you know, and let's grow the audience and reach more people with a positive message of financial prosperity from a Christian perspective.

Remember we always ground ourselves in our Christian perspective.

Signing Off and Final Thoughts

So as I always say [00:13:00] before I sign off, stay financially fit and may God bless you today.

Thank you for joining us on the AskRalph podcast. And with a simple click to subscribe, we'll invite you back to our next episode. And remember, financial issues don't have to be complicated. Just AskRalph. The information contained in this episode of AskRalph is based on data available as of the date of its release.

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