{"id":79381,"date":"2017-04-01T21:47:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-02T01:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=79381"},"modified":"2017-04-01T19:04:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T23:04:56","slug":"are-you-spring-cleaning-your-finances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=79381","title":{"rendered":"Are you spring cleaning your finances?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Spring is right around the corner in Madison County, and while some people use the fresh air as a reminder to clean out their closets and drawers, many forget that it is equally important to take a look at finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people tend to overlook this beneficial step,\u201d Community Bank N.A. Chittenango Branch Manager Roberta Button said. \u201cLife changes quickly\u2014it\u2019s important to do an annual financial clean-up to keep you on track. I always recommend doing a deep financial clean in the springtime since many people are already thinking about tidying up their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

So before taking advantage of the warm weather and sun, Button recommends gathering your documents and setting aside a day to buckle down and complete this financial spring cleaning checklist:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Organize, organize, organize: <\/strong>Financial wellness is all about feeling in control. As tax season comes to a close, you might find your documents in disarray from scrambling to finish by the deadline. Take time to go through your files, bank statements and receipts to organize and shred what you don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Check your credit score: <\/strong>Credit scores can be scary, but knowing where you stand is essential to develop a strong financial infrastructure. Take the time to see where you are, and if you don\u2019t like what you find create a plan to reach your ideal score.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Conquer lingering debt: <\/strong>The holidays were nearly three months ago, but that doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t still debt lingering on credit cards. Take a look at both credit card and loan debt to access what you owe, and if your budget allows, make a larger payment toward outstanding balances. A few large payments might be all it takes to wipe out remaining debt.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Scrutinize household spending: <\/strong>While you might feel that there have been no big changes in your life, your budget still might need adjusting. Review household bills, especially those that are automatically deducted\u2014are there things like unused gym memberships that can be canceled?<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Create a financial calendar<\/strong>: <\/strong>Continue your momentum beyond spring and say goodbye to ignoring financial tasks until the last minute. Set reminders throughout the year to conquer tasks like reviewing insurance policies, rebalancing investments and making payments. Use the calendar in your phone or buy a paper version\u2014either way this will keep you on track for the remainder of 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring is right around the corner in Madison County, and while some people use the fresh air as a reminder to clean out their closets and drawers, many forget that it is equally important to take a look at finances. \u201cMany people tend to overlook this beneficial step,\u201d Community Bank N.A. Chittenango Branch Manager Roberta […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}