With spring approaching, let’s take action to tackle cleaning your home efficiently and affordably. Many may see spring cleaning as an overwhelming task they want to avoid and are willing to pay (on average) $200 or more for this service to be done for them. Instead of rearranging your monthly budget to find those additional dollars, save that money for something else (wanted or needed) and create a systematic room-by-room schedule to tackle your spring cleaning yourself this year.
Where to start and where to go
Look at your calendar and reserve a large chunk of time over several days. This will help make spring cleaning a priority for you.
Make a list of all the places in your home that need to be tackled, then go room by room and figure out what needs the most love and attention.
Create a schedule of which days you will tackle which rooms. Some people want to start with the least intense rooms that need an overhaul, while others want to jump in head first and get the hard one(s) done when they have the most motivation. However you want to approach this is up to you, but lay it out to help keep you on track.
Before diving into individual rooms, take a laundry basket around your house and throw anything in the basket that doesn’t belong in that room, then drop them off where they belong. As you take these items to their designated space, determine if there are things you don’t need or want anymore – could those items be sold or donated? Do you have enough items for a yard sale?
Then as you clean, take it one room at a time.
Decluttering rooms and your mind
A suggestion to help you when deciding to get rid of a piece of clothing is to ask yourself, “Have I worn this in the last year?” If the answer is no, perhaps it is time to sell or donate those pants you haven’t worn in years. Take the time to sort through all drawers and closets.
Be bold and pull everything off the pantry or bathroom shelves and wipe down the shelves. Sort and dispose of old products or items that aren’t good anymore or that you don’t use.
Do you have a desk that is a catch-all? Does it constantly have books, magazines, bills, etc., stacked upon each other? Think through how you can organize that space better – does this mean you need a bookshelf in this room? Maybe it’s time to invest in a filing cabinet to organize your monthly statements and invoices.
Clutter adds stress to our lives. The more you declutter your home, the more you will declutter your mind in the process.
What to Use
There are thousands of products advertised to clean your home with and many subscriptions for products you can get suckered into. Still, many products only fill your home with chemicals, blow the budget, or talk you into buying more products than you need.
The most straightforward cleaners you can use in your home are steam cleaners to sanitize and clean surfaces or a simple combination of white distilled vinegar, baking soda, and water. You can pick up a spray bottle at your local dollar store to always have this mixture on hand. If you don’t own a steam cleaner, ask if a friend or family member would be willing to loan you one. And when it comes to rags and towels – that old t-shirt that hasn’t been worn in years could easily be cut up and turned into cleaning rags for dusting or scrubbing.
Spring Cleaning not only your home
And while you are at it, find other areas besides your home to spring clean…AKA your BUDGET! The same concept of how you spring clean your house can be applied to your budget.
Pull out the spreadsheet, pen and paper, or app (whichever is your preferred method for budgeting) and dedicate some time to review it in detail. Review each line item and see if the planned amount aligns with your monthly spending habits. Or is that line necessary at all now?
Review your sinking funds. Do these need to be updated with new goals, which means your budget needs to be updated with the new monthly allocated amount?
Changing of seasons
As winter continues to fade and we hit spring, remember that spring cleaning doesn’t have to be extravagant, overwhelming, or expensive. Create a fresh start for spring, and possibly make a few extra dollars from those items you don’t need anymore. Use your spring cleaning to declutter your home and your mind.
Spring is considered the season (and timing) of new beginnings. Does all this cleaning, organizing, and starting fresh have you motivated to start budgeting for the first time? If you’re interested in learning more about creating a budget and starting fresh this spring season, call one of our financial coaches today to set up a meeting!
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