Clear the clutter: Tidying up your finances

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WJAR) — Spring cleaning is about more than just purging your closet or organizing your basement – it's about making your life easier.

“I see that time and time again when folks come into our office, they're like, 'I have this account over here' and they lose track of these different assets,” explains Keith Ellis, owner of SHP Financial.

Ellis says spring is the perfect time to assess your finances before the distractions of summer begin.

Like Marie Kondo's home organization method, Ellis outlines a five-step process to help you tidy up your accounts.

Step #1: Sweep out bad spending habits.

“What are some of the worst spending habits you guys see?” asks NBC10’s Emily Volz.

“I mean frivolous spending,” says Ellis. “Stuff that you don't need to spend money on.”

He adds, “You know, you're paying $3 for a cup of coffee when you can make it at home for $0.35.”

Ellis says, instead, you should be using that money on Step #2: Catch up on late payments.

“You can look to consolidate some of the higher interest rate debt into a low to no interest rate debt,” explains Ellis. “Or if you can't consolidate it, attack the higher interest rate debt first.”

Step #3: Brush up on retirement goals.

“The IRS allows you to put $6,000 a year if you're under the age of 50 into an IRA,” says Ellis. “If you're over the age of 50, you get a catch-up contribution of another $1,000.”

Step #4 – Tidy up your accounts.

“You want to make sure your beneficiary change forms are up to date,” says Ellis.

He adds, “Maybe you've set up a trust, have you made that change into the trust?”

Step #5 – Take out the trash and go digital.

Sift through your old financial documents, and shred what you no longer need.

Ellis also recommends signing up for free electronic services to better monitor your accounts.

You can find more information about what to keep and what to shred here.

You can shred documents you no longer need at NBC10’s Great Shredding Event on Saturday June 29th from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Cardi's Furniture on Route 2 in West Warwick. NBC10 and Shred-it will shred one box of documents for free.